It’s always a delight to be in Bangkok when the International Festival of Dance and Music is on. Under the royal patronage of Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, it brings to the city the world’s leading musicians, ballet and dance groups, orchestras. and opera companies. Over the past years, we have seen performances we otherwise could not have seen like the Mariinsky Ballet from St. Petersburg and maestro Zubin Mehta conducting the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. A few years ago, we were also lucky to catch the show of Sara Baras and company, one of Spain’s foremost flamenco troupes, which was sold out when we were in Seville but had tickets available when we had a stopover in Bangkok.
This year, its 14th running, the festival had a glorious start last Sept. 10 with some breathtaking folk dances from Ukraine’s Virsky National Dance Company, an ensemble of 60 versatile dancers who have performed in over 60 countries. They were acclaimed by the New York Times as “brilliant and matchless” and by the French critic Rene Servin of El Figaro who wrote that this was a must-see show that “combines beauty, virtuosity and the joy of life... a consummate performance that one gets to see only once in a decade or two.”
For its second offering, the phenomenal Gypsy Kings of the ‘80s performed with their descendants to form the new Seven Kings. Known for their “rumba Gitano,” the sound of South America’s rumba rhythm married to flamenco guitars, the group is set to release a much-awaited debut album. It has an impressive pedigree — Jose Reyes, the father of Gypsy Kings’ Reyes brothers, sang with guitarist Manitas de Plata to form the popular duo admired by the likes of John Steinbeck, Pablo Picasso, Miles Davis, and Salvador Dali.
The third show, on the other hand, had the feel of a hot club night with the pulsating energy of a pop concert. Blaze from the Netherlands was a non-stop dance show featuring 16 of the best street-dancers and break-dancers handpicked from auditions around the world.
The fourth show was one of our favorites, featuring classical Indian dance from the Orissa Dance Company performing the 2,000-year-old epic Ramayana. Probably the most influential poem in India and Southeast Asia, having been recast as Javanese shadow plays, Thai masked dramas and Khmer dances, this version of the Indian dance company was mesmerizing with the vocalists, musicians and dancers concocting a potent brew of magic, murder, romance and rebellion. The nine rasas or emotions which are the basic ingredients in classical Indian dance, music and theater, were all masterfully delineated in the different episodes: From the sringara where hand gestures and facial expressions are used to show Rama and Sita sharing in the joys of love to veera rasa or chivalry as epitomized by Rama’s breaking of Shiva’s bow to win the hand of Sita. Hasya rasa or humor and laughter predominated when the demoness Shooparnaka was sent back and forth between Lakshmana and Rama and the wonderment of adbhuta was infectious as the army of monkeys, in helping Rama rescue Sita, built the bridge to connect with Ravana’s kingdom of Lanka.
We were also enthralled by the next one on the program that showcased contemporary dance from Brazil’s Quasar Dance Company, named fittingly after a heavenly body with an extraordinary capacity to radiate energy. Although there were shades of Pina Bausch in some movements, the choreography was fresh and new and upon reading the credentials of choreographer Henrique Rodovalho, we discovered why: He actually has a background in martial arts and physical education and worked as an actor and dancer. His creative research based on the existential complexity of body and soul no doubt led to the creation of unmistakable rhythmic “signals” that give the dance company its unique identity. Modern dance can sometimes be too angst-ridden, mechanical and tedious but this one was graceful, joyous and quite sexy, especially in “So Close,” a piece that questions the distance that exists between people and to what extent we should get close to strangers. The choreographer shows ordinary people on stage, “modified by the intensity of the feelings that pervade them as they construct and deconstruct relationships.” The set design conceived by Rodovalho consists of a furry carpet covering the entire stage where he says “subtleties interfere in the relationships as they unfold: they arouse, potentialize and expose emotions. This ‘skin’ in which performers dance could suggest different sensations like intimacy, comfort, warmth, lust.”
Another modern dance offering came from Poland’s Baltic Dance Theatre, a noted group of outstanding dancers featured by BBC in a documentary. Their shocking rendition of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring has the trademark groundbreaking choreography they are known for. But choreographer and artistic director Izadora Weiss says that she “tries to convey positive emotions in the stories told by her dances, based on a value system in which love, human worth, faithfulness to one’s ideals, family and friends, combined with the love of truth and justice, are always guiding forces. These beliefs are the opposite of the wanton destruction promoted by modern cultures or even so-called ‘subcultures.’”
The series of modern dances in the program culminated with the multi-media presentation from Italy’s Spellbound Dance Company and their rendition of Vivaldi’s classic of all time, The Four Seasons, interspersed with original electronic music. All-encompassing and expansive as this musical piece may be, Mauro Astolfi’s choreography comes, he says, “from a little space, which may seem like a little house, but it’s a ship, a tree... a mysterious place where it’s possible to observe the seasons changing, a place where you can take part directly in the cycle of nature, which renews itself.” More than just the physical manifestations of each season like leaves falling or flowers blooming, “all this has to be conceived as nature inside us, a primordial and magical ritual, an event that people imagine and try to imitate. Events are evoked so people can become an integrated part of them, participating in the drama of nature, which dies, but also has the potential for rebirth.”
We would have wanted to extend our stay if only to catch the other exciting shows lined up till Oct. 14: The Chelyabinsk State Opera Theatre from Russia was scheduled to present a multi-awarded production of Carmen, Bizet’s masterpiece opera and Puccini’s beloved Madame Butterfly. Their accompanying State Symphony Orchestra was having a concert of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet and Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9. Staatsballett Berlin, Germany’s top classical ballet company, will do Swan Lake. A screening of BBC’s Planet Earth on large screen will be accompanied by live orchestral music.
For a touch of magic, there’s Peter Marvey, Switzerland’s leading illusionist who is ranked today as equal to David Copperfield. Dance buffs shouldn’t miss the Limon Dance Company from New York, the first dance group to perform at the Lincoln Center and the winner of the National Medal of Arts (USA). There’s also “Tango Legends,” the festival finale featuring Argentine artistic directors Mariela Maldonado and Pablo Sosa and their dancers.
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All performances are at the Thailand Cultural Center at 7:30 p.m. Log on to www.bangkokfestivals.com for show schedules and details. Tickets can be booked at www.thaiticketmajor.com