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Published on April 7, 2008

Since 1982, the Unesco-initiated International Dance Day has been celebrated annually on April 29 with the intention to broaden the awareness of dance as an important art form which benefits both the body and the mind, as well as to instil a sense of community by bringing people together. In Thailand, the free event, in its eighth year with a new name, the "International Dance Festival," was moved up to about a month earlier than in previous years, to March 28 to 30, to better suit the schedules of the artists of an increasing number.

What was different about this year's festival was not just the name and the timing. Apart from having shows offered at the usual venue at the Benjasiri Park, the main stage was set up at CentralWorld as well, which is a bigger space and has the capability to attract shoppers who roamed the mall during its Midnight Sale period.

The festival was partially used to showcase Dance Centre School of Performing Arts - the event's main organiser. Also being seen and heard were local dance studios, companies, and dance-major university students. Moreover, the festival could not have had the word "international" in its name if the claimed "highlight performances" by artists from different countries are not mentioned.

Imported from Sri Lanka was the country's first contemporary dance ensemble, nATANDA Dance Theatre, under the direction of Kapila Palihawadana, who is also the company's lead dancer. Their performance comprised four short pieces linked with the same theme of nature, which successfully achieved the company's aim to "[bridge] the cultural diversity found in [Sri Lanka and transform] different areas of [their] tradition into contemporary dance forms, dance theatre, and modern dance." Although the dancers of clearly different shapes and sizes did not possess high technical skills, the fusion - or the attempt towards it - between the traditional East and the contemporary West was evident both in the movements and music.

The crossover spirit continued throughout last Sunday evening, though in slightly different manner. In a modern dance piece "Dancing with 'BIG LUCIANO'," by an Italian troupe Kromaton, the dancers, as the title already suggests, performed to different arias beautifully sung by the legendary opera singer Luciano Pavarotti.

Also not quite reaching the audience's expectation was the Thailand-based French-born Philippe Saint Paul's modern interpretation of the one-act ballet "L'Apres-midi d'une Faune", which replaced a fawn sleeping in the woods and eating hay with a man slouching in an armchair, drinking bottled water. The performance created by a veteran dancer with such impressive work experience like teaching at the Ailey School in Manhattan did not have any "wow factor" and was monotonous albeit its smooth dance sequences.

The evening's most memorable show was inarguably "YOU," a collaboration by classically trained-gone-modern artists from Israel. The show was richer than others partly because it was the only one that featured live music and singing. Pianist/singer Ohad Chitman and pop-dance diva Michal Amdurski started off doing their version of Queen's "Love of My Life" with Ido Tadmor, an acclaimed dancer, moving gracefully to the song. Tadmor's technique was superb no matter how slow and controlled or fast and dynamic the steps were. Besides, the three performers did not only concentrate on their separate roles, but also interacted with one another on stage, transcending their specialised performance disciplines. For example, Amdurski joined in the dance, and Tadmor spontaneously created music on the keyboard Chitman was playing.

And just a final thought: if there had not been a huge TV screen continuously blaring various advertisements rather loudly less than 100 metres from the stage, the festival could have in fact been more enjoyable to a considerable extent.

Jasmine Baker

Special to The Nation