Dance and Theatre
Previews, Interviews, and Reviews (yes, and Photos) of Dance and Theatre in Thailand (well, and elsewhere) written by "The Nation" dance and theatre critics
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Thursday , November 19 , 2009
Sibling RIVELRY
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Reader : 86
, 07:23:46
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Theatre 2009
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 With the uplifting Blood Brothers, the Bangkok Community Theatre offers some cash-crisis consolation.The Bangkok Community Theatre (BCT) hopes to cheer up everyone with Blood Brothers, a rousing musical about twin brothers separated at birth to lead "prince and pauper" lives. The brothers fall in love with the same woman and tragedy looms, but this is ultimately "a bright, high-energy,....
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Wednesday , November 18 , 2009
PROMENADE Performance
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Reader : 85
, 08:45:37
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Theatre 2009
Singapore Arts Festival 2009
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 A new approach to performance pulls viewers in, blurring the line between theatre and real life. Arts festivals offer more than ticketed performances and free street shows these days – they give us new experiences in innovative theatre. These take place outside the arts centres and playhouses, in places we regularly frequent, like cafes, and sometimes it’s the viewers who become the actors. I experie....
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Tuesday , November 17 , 2009
MEKONG FESTIVAL: a reach as long as the river
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Reader : 114
, 19:17:26
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Dance 2009
Theatre 2009
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 The Philippine Educational Theatre Association extends its aid to nurture far-flung arts groups and address their social challenges. Theatre can entertain—and it can also foment change in society. In fact, if theatre's sole purpose were entertainment, it would not have survived the advent of film and television. Witness the Mekong Arts and Media Festival “Weaving Cultures, Weaving Visions” from Novem....
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Sunday , November 15 , 2009
a MIXED bag of MOVES
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Reader : 138
, 01:15:19
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Dance 2009
Theatre 2009
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 Three Sisters was more memorable than We’re Gonna Go Dancing 2009.Within the span of less than two weeks in August, Japan Foundation and Patravadi Theatre co-hosted two contemporary dance events, involving four works by Japanese performing artists and one by local troupe as part of the Mekong-Japan exchange year. On August 14, Japan Contemporary Dance Network (JCDN) was back in town after the success....
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Saturday , November 14 , 2009
CLOUD GATE blows open
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Reader : 119
, 23:18:32
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Dance 2009
Bangkok Festivals 2009
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 Two performances—in Bangkok and London—show different sides of Taiwan’s top contemporary dance company. Weeks have passed and people are still talking about Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan’s first visit to Bangkok when they staged two unforgettable performances of Moon Water, as part of Bangkok’s 11th Festival of Dance and Music. The financial and administrative efforts of the Taipei Economic and ....
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Friday , November 13 , 2009
Bangkok STAGE full of Japanese SKILLS
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Reader : 123
, 08:36:22
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Dance 2009
Theatre 2009
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 The Japan Foundation is bringing in top talents to share with Thai artists and audiences. Thanks in part to Japan-Mekong Exchange Year, the Japan Foundation Bangkok has become the city's most active cultural organisation. It has two visual arts exhibitions—“Twist and Shout” and “Here and Now”—on view at the Art and Culture Centre and 100 Tonson Gallery, and on the way to Thailand are a contemporary d....
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Friday , November 6 , 2009
TISTOU and his GREEN thumbs
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Reader : 148
, 22:28:16
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Theatre 2009
Bangkok Festivals 2009
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 With Crescent Moon Theatre's actors and Kae Dam Dam's puppeteers pulling the strings, puppets conspire to bring about world peace.Silpathorn laureate Sineenadh "Nad" Keitprapai, artistic director of Crescent Moon Theatre (Phra Chan Siew Kan Lakorn), has long been a fan of the puppet-theatre troupe Kae Dam Dam (literally "blackish sheep"), and was keen to collaborate. “His string p....
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Wednesday , November 4 , 2009
FUN+
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Reader : 108
, 07:44:00
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Dance 2009
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 A new dance performance promises various moves and some thoughts.Fresh from performing the title character in 12 Inch Theatre's Carmen last month, dancer and choreographer Meuanphun "Orn" Ampunsang has invited some Carmen pals to join students from her Point Studio, which is celebrating its fifth anniversary, for her new production titled Phun ("Dream"). "The English title i....
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Tuesday , November 3 , 2009
Interaction between FOREIGN GUESTS and LOCALS
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Reader : 166
, 00:55:45
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Dance 2009
Bangkok Festivals 2009
Melbourne, October 2009
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 At the Fairfax Studio in Melbourne’s Arts Centre, I was listening to a Jerusalem-born, Brighton-based talk in a public forum as part of Melbourne International Arts Festival where his company was performing. As far as I enjoyed his talk, and later that evening, was impressed by his company’s performance, I had an odd feeling when an audience asked him, “How much do you know about Australian dance?”, ....
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Sunday , November 1 , 2009
DEMONS meet MERLION
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Reader : 183
, 11:46:29
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Dance 2009
Theatre 2009
da:ns 2009, Esplanade
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 For shoppers in Singapore, the big event last weekend was the opening of Ion, yet another high-end shopping centre on Orchard Road. But for performing arts fans, it’s the ions of movement at da:ns Festival 2009 at the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay. The highlight was the world premiere of Dunas, a collaboration of Maria Pages and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, which met all expectations. Sharing the spotlig....
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Bangkok Theatre Festival 2009: Thailand’s Gifts to Tokyo
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Reader : 202
, 01:59:20
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Theatre 2009
Bangkok Festivals 2009
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 Smaller in scale but still top quality, the year’s largest display of contemporary Thai theatre is ongoing, city-wide."In keeping with this year's theme, 'Lakorn Thai Unlimited', we want to focus on the real variety in Thai theatre," says New Theatre Society's Parnrut Kritchanchai, one of the producers of Bangkok Theatre Festival 2009 (BTF09)."The genres and styles may be the same as i....
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LOSING his HEAD
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Reader : 206
, 00:28:32
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Dance 2009
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 The astonishing moves of Xavier Le Roy give artists and fans across the region much to think about. In what has been a cultural coup for Southeast Asia’s dance fans, the past fortnight has seen France-born, Berlin-based dancer and choreographer Xavier Le Roy perform three different works in three cities. First came Product of Circumstances in Jakarta, then Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring) i....
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Thursday , October 29 , 2009
LOM HAICHAI the MUSICAL: Boyd in the Skeletal Form
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Reader : 367
, 01:31:21
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Theatre 2009
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 The flawed script leaves Boyd Kosiyabong's songs a ghost of a chance. The success of jukebox musicals lies first and foremost in the script, or how the already famous songs are tied together in a plausible and entertaining, if not also thought-provoking, dramatic plot. And when the musical book writer(s), due to a lack of either time or creativity, fails to reinterpret—and the music director to rearr....
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Wednesday , October 28 , 2009
“da:ns festival 2009”
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dance_and_theatre
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Reader : 325
, 02:20:52
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Dance 2009
da:ns 2009, Esplanade
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 Bangkok’s 11th International Festival of Dance and Music wrapped up with “The Trocks”, who are heading South to Australia after delighting us. And, with some memorable performances by the companies we’ve never seen like Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan and Shanghai Ballet, it’s fair to say that the dance part of our festival keeps improving every year, no matter how slowly. Now, the spotlight of th....
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Sunday , October 11 , 2009
Are you sure you’re dancing?
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Reader : 462
, 19:46:08
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Dance 2009
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 Science-schooled Xavier Le Roy offers Southeast Asia—Bangkok included—a look at his experiments in movement. The Goethe Institut continues to spice up contemporary dance in the region, showing us new possibilities of what can be considered dance. Besides the upcoming website TanzConnexions, it's hosting a visit by experimental dancer Xavier Le Roy of Berlin renowned for his conceptual dance, or the w....
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Friday , October 9 , 2009
G’Day, Leonardo!
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Reader : 349
, 03:03:47
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Dance 2009
Theatre 2009
Melbourne, October 2009
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 Da Vinci finds himself Down Under in the midst of Waltz, opera and some very modern creativity. The previous artistic director of the Melbourne International Arts Festival put it on the world map, and now her successor, Brett Sheehy – fresh from four successful years at the Adelaide Bank Festival of Arts – is eyeing the universe.Sheehy tells Daily Xpress, “I’m very keen to address as many art forms a....
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Tuesday , October 6 , 2009
The Legend of RE KHAI FUN: CHALIANG the Musical
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Reader : 1667
, 08:51:06
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Theatre 2009
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 Weaving the popular band's songs into a jokey script takes a great deal of time.True Fantasia and Work Point Entertainment, better known and more acclaimed for TV work than theatre, have together produced a stage musical with pricey tickets—Bt3,500 for the best seats, the highest among local theatre works. For another Bt500 you could see Chicago and MAMMA MIA!The Legend of Re Khai Fun: Chaliang the M....
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Sunday , October 4 , 2009
An Angel’s COCKTAIL
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Reader : 392
, 02:21:29
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Theatre 2009
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 The story of how Dr. Krisana Kraisintu gave hope to millions with her generic HIV/AIDS drug is told in a mix of dialogue, movements and biting satire. After a lengthy battle against government officials, corrupt politicians, and multinational pharmaceutical companies, Dr. Krisana Kraisintu not only succeeded in creating the GPO-VIR (generic fixed-dose combination of stavudine, lamivudine and nevirapi....
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Cloud Gate’s THAI PILLAR
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Reader : 387
, 00:54:25
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Dance 2009
Theatre 2009
Bangkok Festivals 2009
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 Somkid Tiwan is a mainstay–and an inspiration–for the Taiwanese dance theatre company, who know him as Sung Chao-chiun. Somkid Tiwan moved to Taiwan at the age of 15 and went on to finish his bachelor’s degree in electronic engineering. If all went as planned, he might now be working for a semiconductor company in Taipei.Instead, he’s been performing with Asia’s most renowned contemporary-dance compa....
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Saturday , October 3 , 2009
Masterpieces from TAIWAN and CHINA
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Reader : 404
, 23:35:33
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Dance 2009
Theatre 2009
Bangkok Festivals 2009
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 Bangkok’s 11th Festival of Dance and Music—Thailand’s largest showcase of international opera, ballet, dance, classical music and jazz—is running at the Thailand Cultural Centre, and the focus, as highlighted in our preview picks in August, remains on the three dance productions from Taiwan and China. Apart from the fact that Bangkok has never seen contemporary dance from Taiwan or ballet from China,....
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comparing two CARMENs
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Reader : 400
, 12:40:04
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Dance 2009
Theatre 2009
Bangkok Festivals 2009
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 Two memorable adaptations of Carmen were seen in Bangkok—13 days apart.On Sunday, September 13, the Kiev Modern Ballet Theatre made a triumphant debut on these shores with Carmen TV, part of Bangkok’s 11th International Festival of Dance and Music. Thailand Cultural Centre’s main hall was not full, but that was no surprise given few dance fans have heard of this three-year-young Ukrainian company, an....
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Friday , October 2 , 2009
In a DIFFERENT WORLD
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Reader : 393
, 23:48:20
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Theatre 2009
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 Nophand Boonyai, one of Thailand's most exciting stage directors and scriptwriters, returns to the theatre this weekend alongside veteran thespians Farida Jirapan (Waiting for GD) and Damkerng Thitapiyasak (Hi 5 Eiei) for The World According to Farida and Damkerng. "Initially, it was supposed to be stories from their lives," says Nophand, whose 2008 production Sunflower received critical a....
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Saturday , September 26 , 2009
the COLOUR and the RELEVANCE
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dance_and_theatre
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Reader : 404
, 00:33:35
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Dance 2009
Theatre 2009
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 The return of Pichet Klunchun's Ganesh offers another chance to take a stand on current politics.Politics has become so melodramatic lately that it's surprising the subject isn't inspiring more local plays, like it did in the 1970s. What's more surprising is how Pichet Klunchun enables classical dance-theatre to make a strong political comment. Pichet's studio theatre in Thon Buri had corrugated zinc....
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Saturday , August 29 , 2009
EUREKA moments on stage
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Reader : 485
, 07:49:46
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Dance 2009
Theatre 2009
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 "Run" and "Begin Again" reaffirm the value of experimentation. Comprising 13 scenes of varying lengths and utilising different presentation styles from dialogue, movement, dance, video and animation, “Run”—last month’s debut production of the theatre troupe “numen.n.co”—lived up to its tag line as “an exploration of theatre” and beautifully transcended the conventional understandi....
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Thursday , August 27 , 2009
FILMS are so DAFT
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Reader : 453
, 22:18:21
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Theatre 2009
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 Sonthaya Suchada has poked fun at the way books and plays are written. Now it's the movies' turn. If a movie's outrageous leaps from reality have ever made your jaw drop, Sonthaya has a funny story to share. Since winning the Sodsai Award as a senior at Thammasat University in 1994, Sonthaya has consistently presented thought-provoking and entertaining plays, "The Insane and Sudsakorn" amon....
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