PREVIEW
JENNIFER PARKS
Every year Bangkok's International Festival of Dance and Music brings to Thailand the best of the West and East.
The Eastern element at the 10th festival is provided by the National Dance Theatre of Korea presenting "Korean Fantasy", and danseuse Madhavi Mudgal and her troupe showcasing "Sankriti", Classical dances of India. Both performances offer a peek into the culture and traditions of these ancient lands.
The Korean performance on October 1 also marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Thailand and South Korea.
A lot of effort has gone into updating traditions for the 21st century. The National Dance Theatre of Korea was founded with the aim of not only maintaining, but also re-creating traditional Korean dance.
Over the years it has employed the talents of leading choreographers like Song Beom, Kang Seon-yeong, Choe Hyeon, Kim Mun-suk, Jo Heung-dong, Guk Su-ho, Bae Jeong-hye and Kim Hyun-ja to achieve this aim.
Today, leading the dance company is artistic director Bae Jung-hye who has directed the Korean National Classical Music Institute, the Korean Municipal Dance Company and the Korean National Dance Company, among others.
"Korean Fantasy" brings together different traditional Korean dance forms in a seamless presentation labelled "Jung Joong Dong" (dynamism in the midst of tranquillity).
The dance combines calmness with powerful energy as it moves from one dance to the other. Expect to see court dances, ritual dances, drum dances and the fantastic fan dance among others.
From India, on October 11 comes five classical dances: Bharat Natyam, Manipuri, Odissi, Kathakali and Kathak, brought together in a production conceived and choreographed by one of India's leading classical dancers and choreographers, Madhavi Mudgal.
Sankriti was performed last year at the Lincoln Centre, New York, to sold-out performances and the company is still basking in the glow of its triumphant success.
A composite presentation, Sankriti brings together the disparate styles of all the classical dances of India, bringing into play the traditions of the natya shastra (a treatise on dramatic theory encompassing dance and music in classical India by Sage Bharata, believed to have been written between 200 BC and 200 AD).
The first part titled Shiva has Mudgal performing an invocation to Lord Shiva in the Odissi dance form. Geeta Chandran takes over in Bharat Natayam in Bho Shambho, which describe Shiva as the ultimate destroyer of all evil. Kathak by Prerna Shrimali speaks of the omniscient beauty of Shiva. The second part begins with an invocation from the Rig Veda seeking harmony amongst disparity, highlighting the inherent interdependence of all elements within a unified whole.
One of the oldest dance forms nurtured in the temples and courts of southern India, Bharata Natyam takes the lead to the notes of Lord Krishna's flute presenting Rasa - a timeless love play of the supreme soul and the body. Manipuri dancers then bring into play their devotional style, as sinuous Odissi, which has been in existence since the 2nd century, takes over. It is a dance immortalised in the sculptures of Konark, Orissa.
The choreography then moves on to stories in masks ... the Kathakali dancer dons his ample skirt and intricate make-up to become the character unveiling primordial moods and emotions in the temple courtyards of Kerala, retelling the myth through elaborate technique and a highly sophisticated language of gestures and expressions.
The recital continues with sparkling footwork and whirling movement of Kathak, a North Indian classical dance shaped variously by mythological narratives of practitioners, temple dances, the Bhakti movement and the Mughal influence.
The five featured forms come together once again in the grand finale.
'Korean Fantasy' by the National Theatre of Korea is on October 1. Tickets cost 2,000, 1,600, 1,300, 1,100 and 600 baht.
'Sankriti', Classical Dances of India is on October 11. Tickets cost 1,500, 1,200, 1,000, 800 and 400 baht.
Tickets are available at Thai Ticket Major outlets. Call 02-262-3456.
For more information, contact International Cultural Promotions Ltd on 02-204-2394.
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