She moves with mesmerizing grace. Gorgeously adorned with
tapering gilded crown and silver-embroidered costume, she slowly
twists and turns, lifting a foot and effortlessly raising and
lowering the body all the while tracing a beguiling pattern with
outstretched hands and backward-curving fingers.
To
say that the Thais have innate grace is a travel
brochure cliche, yet watching a classical dancer
perform is to glimpse a certain truth behind
the stereotype.
Although the traditional performing arts are
not as vibrant as they once were, suffering
inroads by western entertainments 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.
The Thais reputedly first acquired a dance troupe
when, in AD 1431, they conquered the ancient
Khmer capital of Angkor and took as part of
their booty an entire corps de ballet. Dancers
whose performances had once been seen as a symbolic
link between earth and the realm of the gods.
Cultural transfer through conquest was then
common in Southeast Asia, although the Thais
always adapted whatever they acquired and over
time they developed various forms of dance in
a style inimitably their own. The typically
elaborate masks and costumes, for example, owe
more to Thai innovation than to ancient Khmer
traditions. More
Although the traditional performing arts are
not as vibrant as they once were, suffering
inroads by western entertainments 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.
