THAI DANCE
The fascinating and famous Thai dance in northern Thailand is “Fan Leb” (“Fan” means dance and “Leb” means fingernail) or fingernail dance. The dancers usually wear bronze nails on every finger except for the thumbs; mostly, Fon Leb is performed together with Fon Tien. This beautiful dancing is performed with lovely, sweet music and has slow movements; it is usually performed in a group during the daytime. The chignon hairstyle worn by the dancers is typical of the North. Originally, the long chain adorning hair pieces would have been made of jasmine, but today they can be made of silver or some other bright metal. “Fon Tien” or “Candle Dance” is another famous type of dance in northern Thailand. It is performed in groups and has very slow, graceful, and almost meditative movements. Fon Tien is usually performed in festive occasions or before important guests in open air at night.
Thai dancing originated as long as 1450 years ago. It began in 850 AD at around the time when Thailand wasfounded. The Khmer had a heavy influence on the Thai people and most of the first dancing was Khmer. Eventually the Thais took control and created their own city-state which they named Sukhothai. Thai culture flourished and they developed their own types of dance and music.
Thai dance is known as “Fawn Thai”. Usually the dances are performed by four to six dancers, but on special occasions, several hundred dancers perform. Each dance has its own Thai music and rhythm.
However, among the best known Thai folk dances is Fawn Thai which dance is accompanied by folk music from the northern region. Such dances include the Fawn Leb or Fingernail dance (which originated in Chiang Mai), the Fawn Tian or Candle dance and Bamboo Cane dances.
The female performer of the Fingernail dance wears long thimble-like extensions of her fingers made of silver or gilt cardboard that taper to a point. Each finger and hand gesture is invested with meaning.
In the Candle dance, lit candles are held instead of the thimble-like structures. In the Bamboo Cane dance, eight male dancers in pairs beat long bamboo canes together in time with the accompanying music while dancing couples weave between the canes when they are held apart.