Voodoo anonymous

'Namenlos-Anonymous' by Haitian dancer Karine Label portrays three women from different cultural backgrounds in a sinking boat.

Published on February 15, 2008

Weekend Magazine

The Bangkok Fringe Festival 2008 wraps up this weekend, and if you haven't made it to Patravadi Theatre, this is it, your last chance to take part in this year's experimental showcase of international dance, music, film and theatre.

The spirit of intercultural collaboration continues in the dance performance, "Namenlos - Anonymous". It deals with the ocean, a boat, and three women with dreams of a better life, sinking into the depths.

Featuring three bodies with their own dance language shaped by their respective culture of each woman, this world premiere work deals with the international migration process. Three veteran dancers, one from Haiti, an American, and a Thai, lose themselves in the search for safe shores.

The production is initiated by "Austria's only Haitian dancer", Karine LaBel. Born in Cayes, Haiti, LaBel ran the course of initiation in Lakou Souvenance, the country's most important centre of the Voodoo religion, and studied Haitian dance during the 1990s. At the same time, she travelled back and forth to Paris, where she taught dance to children and studied African dance. Over the past decade, she has made her home in Vienna and taught at the University of Vienna Sports Institute and Summer Academy Zante in Greece, while continuing to practice contemporary dance and improvisational dance techniques at Tanz Quartier Wien.

"Living in different countries sometimes is a good experience; at other times, it can be hard as an immigrant as well. It's even harder when you're a woman," LaBel says. "As the only Haitian artist in Austria, though, I'm able to bring what people have no knowledge about - the Voodoo religion. I'm able to show to them that Voodoo is not like how Hollywood movies have shown them."

Apart from migration, another central theme for "Namenlos - Anonymous" is acceptance.

On stage, LaBel will be joined by American classical and modern dancer Shannon Hancock and classical Thai dancer Puttiluk Songklib. The former has been working with LaBel on this piece for a few months in Vienna, while the latter just joined the team for a little more than two weeks.

Hancock, a Texan, brings a different personal viewpoint to this piece. "Haiti and America have a special relationship - we migrate there [illegally] by boat," LaBel says.

As for Puttiluk, "we were scared a little bit at first because this is a fulllength piece and we're working with someone we've never known or met before," LaBel says. "She had to learn how to accept me, and vice versa. I'm not a great choreographer. I let things happen, to see what [Puttiluk] brings to the piece. What she brings is similar to what we're looking for. For me, actually, it doesn't matter what dance backgrounds we have."

A new initiative of Bangkok Fringe Festival is "Off Fringe", which gives student dance and theatre troupes a chance to stage their works alongside professionals. The second runnerup of Bangkok Theatre Festival 2007's Health Promotion Award, Chulalongkorn University Dramatic Arts Club's "The Tragedy of Bellies" is selected for this slot.

In this 40minute play - women, including "someone" who wishes he were a woman - of various ages, heights, lifestyles, waistlines, cup sizes and fat densities share their stories, ranging from crash diets (and crashing diet courses) to shopping for clothes. The play is based on the student troupe's hypothesis that no woman is totally satisfied with all parts of her body.

Details

'Namenlos Anonymous' will be performed at 8pm from today until Sunday at Patravadi Theatre. Tickets are Bt600 (Bt300 for students). 'The Tragedy of Bellies' will be performed at 7pm from tonight until Sunday in Patravadi's Studio 1. Tickets are Bt300 (Bt150 for students). Films are shown at 1pm, 3pm and 5pm. Tickets are Bt100. Reservations can be made at True shops, online at www.weloveshopping.com or by calling please call (02) 412 72878.

The writer can be contacted at Pawit.M@chula.ac.th

Side bar:

More films at the Fringe

The second weekend of the Thai Film Foundation's "See the SEA" programme at the Bangkok Fringe Festival features short films and features from Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand. Here is the schedule:

Tomorrow

1pm, SExpress Malaysia: "Pool" by Chris Chong Chan Fui; "Qalam" by Hadi Koh; "Westbound" by Kubhaer T Jethwani; "A Day in the Life" by Syed Oamar

3pm, "Tuli", by Auraeus Solito: Daisy, a beautiful young Filipina, is facing an arranged marriage, but she has her eye on a different life.

5pm, "Birth of the Seanema" by Sasithorn Ariyavicha: Through the cracks of the sea emerge the images from which a tale of a lost city is woven.

Sunday

1pm, SExpress Taiwan: "Shopping Cart Boy" by Hou ChiJan; "Street Survivor" by Lin JingJie; "Waterfront Villa Bonita" by Lou YiAn.

3pm, "The Last Communist" by Amir Muhammad: Banned in Malaysia, this semimusical documentary observes the early life and legacy of Chin Peng, leader of the Malaysian Communist Party.

5pm, "A Short Film About the Indio Nacional" by Raya Martin: A loving historical tribute, this is the story of a man torn between his duties to the Spanish state and as a Filipino.