The Art of Thai Dance
thai dance THERE ARE few performances more elegant than traditional Thai Dance with its graceful movements, its brilliant color, its soft rhythm and its radiating presence. Thai Dance, known as "Fawn Thai", was originally an art performed for the royal courts of old Siam. The dance troupes were formed within the courts and their precision and beauty was the highlight of every performance. Today, although "Fawn Thai" is still a very important part of royal performances, the dancers are selected and trained from among the general population and dance performances themselves are often an event for the general public.
"Fawn Thai" in its many forms is usually performed by four to six pairs of dancers, and on some very important occasions it is performed by hundreds. There are five "Fawn Thai" styles: "Fawn Tian" or the Candle Dance; "Fawn Leb" or the Finger nail Dance; "Fawn Ngiew" or the Scarf Dance; "Fawn Marn Gumm Ber" or the Butterfly Dance; and "Fawn Marn Mong Kol" or the Happy Dance. Each of these is accompanied by a special orchestra of traditional Thai musical instruments and each has its distinctive tempo and movement.
The dance costumes are rich in color and style and vary from region to region. Along with the choreography, uniformity of step and movement by the dancers, performances are appreciated more for their artistic quality than for any meaning or message. The stately beauty of "Fawn Thai" in its five styles is most important.
thai dance The accoutrements of the dancers as they perform project a special flare and highlight hand movements, an essential feature of Thai Dance. In the "Fawn Tian", for example, dancers hold lighted candles, while in the "Fawn Leb" they wear six-inch-long brass nails. In the three others they make use of various lengths of scarves. The "Fawn Tian" and the "Fawn Leb" were once sacred dances performed at court functions on days of special festivals. Because of their special significance and the similarity of accompanying instruments, they were usually performed on the same day.