Bangkok says au revoir to 'La Fete 2008'

‘Peut-etre’ made use of pole dancing and roller skating to explore the concept of space.

 From critically acclaimed films to photography, music, performing arts and gastronomy, Thais were offered the chance to experience "French-ness", which translates as contemporariness in many aspects.

And in this eclectic collection of events, two that well characterised French contemporary arts were interdisciplinary performances - the cirque nouveau (contemporary circus), "Peut-etre" by Cie Ultimo Momento, and the modern ballet, "Rameau's Bossa Fataka" by Cie Montalvo-Hervieu.

In "Peut-etre" at Aksra Theatre, Chinese pole acrobat Joao Paulo P Dos Santos and acid-jazz musician Guillaume Dutrieux played with space, mixing music of different styles and challenging the conventional concept of stage performance.

With only a pole in the dark stage and a lamp attached to it, Santos began his acrobatic act, climbing up the pole, whirling around and sliding up and down effortlessly as if gravity had no effect on him. His risky and dangerous-looking moves were accompanied by intriguing sounds produced by Dutrieux on his trumpet and glossy red-wheeled cello behind a synthesiser.

While Santos concentrated mainly on vertical actions, Dutrieux surprised the audience by emerging from the block of his music equipments in roller skates and moving about horizontally, transforming into a dancer and making contact with Santos who, later, played the saxophone. The performance space was explored even further when a video camera and a projection screen came into play, allowing the performers to "multiply" on-stage and blend real movements with virtual images.

At Thailand Cultural Centre, the curtain was stylishly brought down on the festival with "Rameau's Bossa Fataka". But a smaller venue, such as the Aksra Theatre, would have been a better choice for the show, which required more intimacy between the performers and the spectators.

Starting off by filling the auditorium with sounds and sights of different animals, the performers progressed to illustrate the fantastical encounter between "Bossa Fataka", a poem by Hugo Ball, and the score by Jean-Philippe Rameau. Hip hop, ballet, contemporary and African dancers, as well as a stage actress, all weaved together their movements and speech - in French, English and Thai - and interacted seamlessly with, among others, parades of apes, elephants and tigers on the screen.

Nothing included in this 50-minute innovative act failed to groove, be it a female statue that came to life to shake her backside, or the bouncing ladies in pompous dresses on the screen.

To dance is to express oneself and it need not be done professionally. If you can move, you can dance, and it does not matter how silly your steps may look. If you agree with these French performers that dancing makes you happy, there is no reason to hesitate.