Thailand report
by Pornrat Damrhung
Asia – Pacific Channels | June 2013
The Nora Thummanit Thaksin University Group who performed Nora: Klong Hong in January 2013 in the ‘Our Roots Right Now’ research
forum and festival at Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts.
Pulling up the Roots
Earlier this year (19 – 28 January 2013) a festival-workshop-conference called Our Roots Right Now pulled up the roots of Southeast Asia’s dance cultures at the Sodsai Pantumkomol Drama Center in Chulalongkorn University. The ten-day extravaganza with more than fifty participants from a dozen countries in Asia impressed national and international audiences. A recipient of university support for work on ASEAN projects (as well as help from many other organizations, businesses and individuals), the festival aimed to showcase the new work growing from Southeast Asia’s diverse cultural roots, and to allow artists many opportunities to interact with students and the public in Bangkok.
The event opened with a performance choreographed by keynote speaker Professor Emeritus Dr. Surapone Virulrak, chair of the Thai chapter of the WDA, in his contemporary khon piece The Tragedy of Ravana. Besides the amount of fun it generated, the event was an opportunity for contemporary dancers, choreographers, performing artists, musicians, theatre directors, and performing arts scholars
to meet, exchange, watch and learn. Two other keynote speakers were Danny Yung from Hong Kong and Dr. Joseph Gonzales from ASWARA in Malaysia.
Among the performance highlights were ASWARA Dance Company’s Rooted in Silat work, playing off the reconstructed silat court dance form by Dr. Zamin Haroon, by his young choreographers and dancers. Other performances were Noor Effendy Ibrahim from The Substation in Singapore with his Dancing with the Ghost of My Child, and two Cambodian contemporary dances from Amrita Performing Arts, directed by Fred Frumburg, Bach Cello Suites by young dancers Chey Chankethya and Chumvan Sodhachivy, and Ferocious
Compassion by Canada-based choreographer Peter Chin.
Thai professional dancers performing in the event included Pichet Klunchun, who used a classic virtuoso Thai wooden xylophone
work Tam Kai to let his dancers improvise as they ‘followed the chicken’ across the stage, Waewdao Sirisook and Ronarong Khampa
with the piece Fawn Leb / Identity, and Jitti Chumpee’s Muet piece of contemporary khon. On the more traditional side, we had the nora master Thamanit Nikomrat and a Shan State diaspora group performing works about birds in Asian dance cultures, with the swan the focus of the former and the peacock the focus of the latter. Pornrat Damrhung worked with Tai-Lüe dance drama in the collaborative effort Lanka Sip Ho, while Bhanbassa Dhubdhien had young people from Wat Ban Don in Rayong stomping and energetically casting shadows over the walls, floors, and screen with their large shadow puppets in their new nang yai piece Yok Rob.
Finale performances included the tripartite Fire Fire Fire, presenting the episode of Sita’s trial by fire in the Ramayana as interpreted
by three Southeast Asian artists funded by the Goethe Institut since 2010—listed as they performed: Sophiline Cheam Shapiro with her all-female performance, followed by Pichet Klunchun and his troupe, and finally Eko Supriyanto leading his dance group. All told, the ten-day festival and workshop made brilliantly clear not just the vitality of the roots of dance culture in Southeast Asia, but also signalled
a need to continue and enhance sharing and collaborating across the region.
Chy Ratana from Amrita Performing Arts leading a workshop at
'Our Roots Right Now'. Photo: L. Skar.
Ke Jun, director of the Jiangsu Kunqu Opera Troupe, leading a workshop on kunqu, at 'Our Roots Right Now'. Photo: L. Skar.
Sophiline Cheam Shapiro’s section of the tripartite Fire Fire Fire,
on 28 January 2013 in the ‘Our Roots Right Now’ research forum
and festival at Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts.
Fawn Leb / Identity by Waewdao Sirisook and Ronarong Khampa
in January 2013 in the ‘Our Roots Right Now’ research forum
and festival at Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts.
Thai choreographer Pichet Klunchun in his section of the tripartite Fire Fire Fire, on 28 January 2013 in the ‘Our Roots Right Now’ research forum
and festival at Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts.
Photo: L. Skar
Jitti Chumpee’s Muet performed by 18 Monkeys Dance Theatre
in the ‘Our Roots Right Now’ research forum and festival at Sodsai Pantoomkomol Centre for Dramatic Arts on 21 – 22 January 2013.
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