This simple dance creation by Sun Tawalwongsri and Chatchanok Hemachandra may have sprung from a loose and hackneyed concept — our relationship with other human beings and our surroundings — but it succeeds in being minimal and controlled. Sun and Chatchanok are athletic dancers and move with clean precision. They are not identical, however. Sun usually has a penchant for melodrama, but here he keeps it under control. Chatchanok is more matter-of-fact when she dances but still knows how to show her vulnerability. The two have found an interesting way of incorporating pedestrian movements into their choreography; they not only dance with their arms, legs and feet but are also very expressive with their hands. For a piece about relationships, the show feels emotionally disjointed, and the dancers could have had more of a connection with each other. The most touching scene comes at the end when Sun backs away from Chatchanok as she continues to feel his imaginary form with her hands. The sense of absence and loss in that simple moment makes more of an emotional imprint than all of the other scenes combined.
The Room.
Alpha
In Alpha, a male and a female pole dancer are pitched against each other in a competition of athleticism, technical precision, sensuality and seduction. Choreographed by Arco Renz, Eisa Jocson and Daniel Kok, this exhilarating dance puts notions of female and male sensuality to the test. Jocson has a strong, dominant presence. Her sequences are marked by a quiet, dark mood, her seduction subtle and tightly controlled. Kok, on the other hand, pops onto the stage with neon-colored underwear and a loud glittered hat. He is immediately comic — more of a caricature of male sensuality and strength. He flexes his muscles and strikes heroic poses. This contrast between the two dancers seems to question our perception of male and female seduction and power. Why do we deem female seduction as more natural and serious? Is it because we are more used to seeing women as objects? Does male seduction work only when it is comic and ironic? Why is male sensuality more mocked than its female counterpart? Or is it a mockery of female sensuality? Accolades must also be given to lighting designer Fujimoto Takayuki, who uses LED lighting to create shadows, silhouettes and movements. His lighting design has its own dynamic choreography and feels like a large cast of captivating characters in a play.
Alpha. Photo by Jesper Haynes
The Gentlemen
Another of Pichet Klunchun Dance Company's creations about power, politics and the regime of men in boots, The Gentlemen uses the past, to critique, even emasculate, the power of the present. Inspired by Chanan Yodhong's book Naii Nai, about the gentlemen-in-waiting at Rama VI's court, the piece imbues a traditional warfare inspired game of tee jub with homoeroticism through classical Thai dance–based movements. Pichet's choreography is comical, sensual and virile all at once. And his excellent dancers, (Sunon Wachirawarakarn, Porramet Maneerat, Padung Jumpan and Jirayus Puatput) clad only in super-tight and super-short military camouflage shorts, prove to be versatile — funny, graceful and energetic. The production's art direction is an intriguing marriage between art and science. The piece as a whole is underdeveloped, however. Pichet gets to the point fast and lingers way too long.
The Gentlemen. Photo by Peerawat Navicharern
