Dance in Thailand


Dance in Thailand is the main dramatic art form of Thailand. Thai dance, like many forms of traditional Asian dance, can be divided into two major categories that correspond roughly to the high art and low art distinction.

Overview

The Thai terms for dance, รำ ram and ระบำ rabam, derive from the Old Khmer words រាំ "raṃ" and របាំ "rapaṃ" respectively. The multitude of Khmer words relating to dance, music and performance and similarities between the gestures of Thai dance depictions of dancers in ancient Khmer sculpture and bas reliefs suggests extended influence of ancient Khmer forms on Thai classical dance and performance.
According to Surapone Virulrak, Thai performance art took shape during the Ayutthaya period, where Chak nak Dukdamban, a "ceremony depicting the churning of the ocean to create the immortal spirit, was performed on special occasions." This ceremony drew the Indian epic of the Mahābhārata. Virulrak states that "These performing arts were gradually developed into Khon, Lakon nok and Lakon nai during the Late Ayutthaya Period, adding that "This period also enjoyed various imported performing arts from neighbouring countries." According to Paul Cravath, this ceremony was also depicted in bas reliefs at Angkor Wat and could have been the forefather of Khon.
Although the traditional Thai performing arts are not as vibrant as they once were, suffering inroads from Western entertainment and generally changing tastes, Thai dance drama is not extinct. What survives displays the elegance of an art form refined over centuries and supported by regal patronage.
Aside from folk and regional dances, the two major forms of Thai classical dance drama are Khon and Lakhon nai. In the beginning, both were exclusively court entertainments and it was not until much later that a popular style of dance theatre, likay, evolved as a diversion for common folk who had no access to royal performances.

Classical dance drama

Thai classical dance drama include khon, lakhon, and fon Thai.
The first detailed European record of khon and other Thai classical dances was made during the Ayutthaya Kingdom. The tradition and styles employed are almost identical to the Thai traditions we still see today. Historical evidence establishes that the Thai art of stage plays were already perfected by the 17th century. Louis XIV, the Sun King of France, had a formal diplomatic relation with Ayutthaya's King Narai. In 1687, France sent the diplomat Simon de la Loubère to record all that he saw in the Siamese Kingdom and its traditions. In his famous account Du Royaume de Siam, La Loubère carefully observed the classic 17th century theatre of Siam, including an epic battle scene from a Khon performance, and recorded what he saw in great detail:
The Siamese have three sorts of Stage Plays: That which they call Cone is a figure dance, to the sound of the violin and some other instruments. The dancers are masked and armed, and represent rather a combat than a dance. And though every one runs into high motions, and extravagant postures, they cease not continually to intermix some word. Most of their masks are hideous, and represent either monstrous Beasts, or kinds of Devils. The Show which they call Lacone is a poem intermix with Epic and Dramatic, which lasts three days, from eight in the morning till seven at night. They are histories in verse, serious, and sung by several actors always present, and which do only sing reciprocally.... The Rabam is a double dance of men and women, which is not martial, but gallant... they can perform it without much tyring themselves, because their way of dancing is a simple march round, very slow, and without any high motion; but with a great many slow contortions of the body and arms.

Of the attires of Siamese Khon dancers, La Loubère recorded that: "hose that dance in Rabam, and Cone, have gilded high and pointed, it was introduced by persian lombok hat in King Naraya reign. but which hang down at the sides below their ears, which are adorned with counterfeit stones, and with two pendants of gilded wood."
La Loubère also observed the existence of muay Thai and muay Lao, noting that they looked similar, but the hand-wrapping techniques were different.
The accomplishment and influence of Thai art and culture, developed during the Ayutthaya Period, on neighboring countries was evident in the observation of Captain James Low, a British scholar of Southeast Asia, during the early Rattanakosin Era:

Khon

Khon is the most stylized form of Thai dance. It is performed by troupes of non-speaking dancers, the story being told by a chorus at the side of the stage. Choreography follows traditional models rather than attempting to innovate. Most Khon performances feature episodes from the Ramakien. Costumes are dictated by tradition, with angels, both good and bad, wearing coloured masks.

Lakhon

Lakhon features a wider range of stories than Khon, including folk tales and Jataka stories. Dancers are usually female who play both male and female roles and perform as a group rather than representing individual characters. Lakhon draws inspiration primarily from the Ramakien. Percussion instruments and Piphat, a type of woodwind accompany the dance. Thai literature and drama draws great inspiration from Indian arts and legend.

Fon

Fon is a form of folk dance accompanied by the folk music of the region. The first fon originated in the northern region of Thailand. It was designed and taught by Chao Dararasami of Chiang Mai. Since then, a variety of fon came into practice, featuring the music and style of each province, such as the fon lep fingernail dance from Chiang Mai, fon ngiew from Chiang Rai with the influence of Burmese music and costume.
Fon Thai is divided into three types:
Thai classical arts exercised a strong influence on neighboring countries, especially Burma and Cambodia. The two golden periods of Burmese literature were the direct consequences of the Thai literary influence. The first transmission happened during the two-decade period in which the Toungoo Dynasty briefly managed to subject Siam as its vassal state. This conquest incorporated many Thai elements into Burmese literature. Most evident ones were the yadu or yatu, an emotional and philosophic verse and the yagan genre. The next transmission of Thai literary influence to Burma happened in the aftermath of the fall of Ayutthaya Kingdom in 1767. After a second conquest of Ayutthaya, many Siamese royal dancers and poets were brought back to the court of Konbaung. Ramakien, the Thai version of Ramayana was introduced and was adapted in Burmese where it is now called Yama Zatdaw. Burmese literature during this period was therefore modelled after the Ramayana, and dramatic plays were patronised by the Burmese court.
and its sphere political as well as cultural hegemony
Cambodia had fallen into the control of Siamese hegemony around the reign of King Naresuan. But it was during the Thonburi Kingdom that the high cultures of the Rattanakosin kingdom were systematically transmitted to the Cambodian court who absorbed them voraciously. As Fédéric Maurel, a French historian, notes:

It was during this period of Siamization that Thai literary influence had a wholesale impact on the Khmer literature. The Nirat or Siamese tradition of parting poetry was emulated by Khmer poets; and many Thai stories, such as Ka Kee, were translated from the Siamese source into the Khmer language. One study on comparative literature found that Cambodia’s current version of Ramayana was translated directly from the Thai source, almost stanza by stanza. The Cambodian royal court used to stage Thai lakhon dramas in Thai language during King Narodom's reign.

Folk dance

Folk dance forms include dance theater forms like likay, numerous regional dances, the ritual dance ram muay, and homage to the teacher, wai khru. Both ram muay and wai khru take place before all traditional muay Thai matches. The wai is also an annual ceremony performed by Thai classical dance groups to honor their artistic ancestors.

Central Thailand

Many folk songs in Thai dance have story about the history of Thai dance.