Dancing a day
When presented with the theme for the 4th ASEAN Dance Festival, "Complexities of Modern Living", a single image flashed into the mind of Associate Professor Surapone Virulrak. The creative director of Thailand's dance performance at the festival saw a mental picture of the Erawan intersection, in the centre of Bangkok, where, he says, "absolutely everything" is on display.
"There is a Hindu shrine with Chinese worshippers and Thai dancers, all watched by tourists, overlooked by a pseudo-Egyptian hotel, pseudo-Greek buildings and modern shopping malls. All this complexity - all this mess, in just one intersection."
To bring this vision to life in Thailand's performance, Professor Surapone gathered a team of young dancers under the charge of a 25-year-old choreographer, Peerapong Sensai. "I wanted very much a contemporary interpretation, one that reflects the views of young people, who are the centre of Bangkok life," he said.
The troupe of a dozen dancers was drawn from four tertiary institutions in Bangkok and encouraged to contribute to the composition of the dance. "There is room for everyone involved to have input, to improvise," Professor Surapone said. "I don't want a dance in a chorus style - rather a unity of diversity which reflects both the theme and the nature of Bangkok.."
Mr. Peerapong explained that the dance covers 24 hours in the life of Bangkok, loosely centred around the Erawan intersection in five acts. In the first, the dancers rose as the cocks began to crow, scrambled to get ready for work, gave alms to monks, then endured a crowded and uncomfortable bus ride, he said. Then, they began their day's work - from traditional dance at the Erawan shrine to shuffling papers in the office and answering mobile phones.
"As in real life, some are really working, some are just going through the motions," Mr. Peerapong said with a laugh.
But while demonstrating some of the negative aspects of modern urban life, which characterise all ASEAN cities, Professor Surapone said he also wanted to look towards a positive future, something most fully expressed in the final act of the performance, representing dreams. "When the body rests, the mind begins to travel into the twilight zone in search of something to develop one's wisdom and enhance one's spirit in order to wake up with hope for a better life the next day."