DHARMA in the DANCE
Komonlagoon’s Thai contemporary dance aims to prove that Buddhist teachings are more relevant to us than we’ve ever thought.
“Whenever someone speak of Buddhist teachings their friends would say something like, ‘You should enter monkhood’ and I wonder whether Dharma is really that remote from our way of living today,” says choreographer and director Thongchai Hannarong of his inspiration to stage “Tribhumikatha”, Komonlagoon Dance Company’s annual production, after the acclaimed “Phra Lor” (2006) and “Mahabharata” (2007).
“I think Dharma is simply our nature, and I’d like to discuss the issue of Karma, heaven, and hell, and that’s while we’re still alive not after our death.”
Written by King Mahadhramaraja Lithai, the millennium-old literature “Tribhumikatha” discusses the three planes of existence as understood in the Sukhothai period: Karma Bhumi (nether world), Rupa Bhumi (physical world) and Arupa Bhumi (ethereal world).
“In this dance theatre, we start with how the king was trying to unite his people with this religious literature that made people aware of the consequences of their vices. It was effective during that time when people’s beliefs greatly varied and when there were no laws. I think nowadays people are less ashamed of their vices.”
“Despite our contemporary interpretation, we follow the three-part structure of the original. For example, we interpret Arupa Bhumi as the abstract happiness that leads to Amatanipana, or achieving the supreme state of contentment.”
“The strength of our troupe is the unique choreography,” says Thongchai.
“Many of our performers have been trained both in classical Thai dance and western dances. However, we’re not simply mixing all the dance vocabularies altogether. The choreography still retains much Asianness—we’re pretty much grounded and concentrating on the angle of legs and circles of arms, instead of the western dances’ vertical movements and straight lines.”
“Technically speaking, we show more fluidity in movements. From the audience’s point of view, it would look more exciting than classical Thai dance.”
“We’re also making use of video projection, as relevant abstract images will help enhance meanings of each scene.”
“Tribhumikatha” performs at Patravadi Theatre on Friday, November 28 and Saturday, November 29 at 7:30pm. Tickets are Bt 400 and 600 (50% discounts for students), available at Total Reservation outlets (Siam Paragon, Emporium, BTS Mo Chit and
For more details, www.PatravadiTheatre.com , and www.KomonLagoonDance.com
written by Pawit Mahasarinand
published in Daily Xpress on Friday, November 14, 2008
all photos courtesy of Komonlagoon Dance Troupe & Patravadi Theatre
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