Pichet Klunchun, Thailand's hottest exponent of traditional dance, steps toward a burning issue.  

In the midst of a hectic international touring schedule, acclaimed dancer-choreographer Pichet Klunchun has chosen to premiere his latest work here in his homeland.

The title of this solo performance, "Recycle", might lead you to believe that this is merely a collection of excerpts from his previous globally acclaimed works.

But you'd be wrong. In fact, it has a lot to do with one of the world's burning issues—pun intended here–global warming.

Wait a minute. Global warming and khon?

"I've been following the development of this problem for a long time," says the 37-year-old artist.

"I feel that it has parallels with the survival of classical Thai dance in contemporary Thailand. despite their significance, most of us don't actually realise their gravity, and haven't done enough to solve these problems, as they haven't seriously and directly affected us, yet.

"It's like having a fever. You never realise how serious it is until other symptoms develop and, before you know it, you're in hospital, unable to work for days," says the now healthy 37-year-old artist, recalling a recent stay in hospital.

"Recycle" is nothing short of an electrifying new dimension to the Silpathorn Award-winner's lifelong mission of "creating a bridge between the language of Thai classical dance and contemporary sensibility, while keeping the essence and wisdom of the tradition intact".

"The message is how we can still make use of what’s considered old and obsolete."

"I was inspired by the global warming campaigns—using recycle bags, setting the air-conditioner’s temperature at 25C, for example. I think, though, that many more relevant issues need to be addressed—you’re not going to save the world only by using cloth bags, are you?"

"In fact, I believe culture be recycled as well."

Pichet has already proved this point. He was initially trained in khon (classical Thai mask dance theatre), and subsequently in various dance and theatre disciplines, and have recently finished a trilogy of works—"PK and Myself" (premiered in 2004), "I Am a Demon" (2005), and "About Khon" (2007), attempting to re-introduce this classical Thai art to the dance world as they have been staged in major cities across Asia, Europe, Australia, and North America in the past four years.

"Compared to my previous works, the audience would probably find that ‘Recycle’ is broader in scope and perspective, as many environmental notions have been applied."

"The first scene is titled ‘Rethink’," Pichet starts to give us a brief preview.

"On the stage will be scores of khon masks, adorned with the signs that read ‘National heritage’ and ‘Please do not touch’. In this scene, obviously resembling that of a museum, I perform a man sitting there and growing older and older. It aims to show that our country’s cultural preservation issue needs to be reconsidered now; otherwise, we’ll soon be in big trouble."

"In the following scene, ‘Rewind’, I’ll dance, in a strictly classical style, to a kiew [courting] song. Here, for about four minutes, I’m asking the audience to look carefully at our classical art. Next is ‘Reconstruct’, in which the same song is performed on a piano by Sinnapha Sarasas, and, accordingly, my movements change. This is perhaps like how you can use pieces of wood from an old cupboard to make a new piece of furniture."

"The next scene ‘Refresh’ reveals truths of the here and now of our society, culturally and environmentally—not through dance movements, but texts projected on the screen. The last scene follows the seven concepts of ‘Recycle’—and hence I use this title for the performance. Here, using real objects, I’ll show how we can make use of those extra rubber bands we have in our kitchen," Pichet ends with a smile.

"Recycle" will be performed on at 7:30pm on Thursday, May 15 at the Alliance Francaise Auditorium, South Sathorn Road. Tickets are Bt400 (Bt250 for students and Alliance Francaise members). Call 0 2670 4231, or see www.PKLifeWork.com or www.AllianceFrancaise.or.th.

special thanks to Sojirat Singholka for all assistance

published in Daily Xpress on Friday, May 2 and Wednesday, May 14 

written by Pawit Mahasarinand