Dance and more

The 10th edition of the international dance festival returns next month and while it's not as large as last year's, it offers more variety. In addition, those acts who'll be performing indoors, as ticketed events, have been more carefully selected.

With the support of many local and international agencies, Vararom Pachimsawat, doyenne of Thailand's contemporary dance and the director of Friends of the Arts Foundation, has helped her

March fest grow from a small event in front of the Emporium to a two-week, two-city, multiple-venue festival. Today, IDF comprises various styles and traditions of dance performances from many countries, performed by professionals, amateurs and students, both free and ticketed, indoors and outdoors, plus workshops and masterclasses for beginners and professionals. In short, it's become one of the best-rounded performing arts festivals in this country.

"I've received many suggestions and proposals for international performances from embassies," says Vararom. "I looked at their profiles and DVDs of their works and made my selection. Some groups who were here in the previous years, like Sri Lanka's nATANDA, are back and we can see their development. New to the festival are groups like Singapore's Frontier Danceland who'll perform 'Crying Earth' not on the stage but in the gardens."

"We also sent out invitations to local groups and schools, and this year, we have groups I've never heard of before. Some people may complain that their performances are not high quality, but I think we should give them a chance to perform. I've put them in the 'Young Talent Showcase' category."

While the free outdoor performances drew a large crowd last year, the ticketed counterparts at Centerpoint Playhouse and Aksra Theatre were less than 30 per cent full.

"It's the usual problem for dance performance in this country. This year, we're working harder on advertising and SF Cinema City is showing previews of the festival before the movies. I think if people see exciting visuals of our programmes, more will show up."

And not all the performances are strictly dance. Some, like "Dharma-Da" is a collaboration between Israeli choreographer Amir Kolben, of Kolben Dance Company, and British choreographer Daniel Hayward, and is a project based on Buddhist teachings about the causes of sufferings.

"The performance we're presenting at IDF will be a work-in-progress," says Vararom. "We'll all regroup in July and develop it into a full-length work to be staged at the Thailand Cultural Centre on August 9, as part of HM Queen Sirikit's birthday celebration. After that, we may take it on tour to Italy, the UK, Singapore and Hong Kong."

After free outdoors performances at Jungceylon in Phuket and Benjasiri Park in Bangkok, IDF moves on indoors on March 8 to the Thailand Cultural Centre for a special charity concert by world-renowned soprano Filippa Giordano, co-presented by the Italian Embassy of Italy. This will be accompanied by contemporary dance performances by artists from Vararom's Company of Performing Artists.

The following evening, the venue shifts to SF World's largest cinema, the WorldMax Screen which, says Vararom, will be temporarily transformed into a theatre by adding a stage, lighting and sound equipment and blocking off the upper section, to make sure that the 500strong audience has a good view of the performance.

There, in a co-presentation with the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, Gamblerz, the winner of the "B-Boy Battle of the Year" in 2004 and 2009, will stun the young crowd on March 9 and10.

On March 11 and 12, it's time for our personal pick for IDF 2010. Visual theatre group "Mummenschanz" has been performing all over the world, entertaining kids and adults with their unique visions and creations, yet

 has never been to Thailand. Thanks to the Swiss Embassy, we're finally getting to see the highlights in the repertory of these highly talented artists.

Capping off IDF 2010 on March 13 and 14 is another visual wizard. With support from the Embassy of

 Czech Republic, Jiri Srnec's Black Light Theatre of Prague, who has been to almost 100 festivals around the world throughout their 50-year his

 tory, will return to Thailand for the first time in 15 years.

Seeing is believing

Tickets for the Filippa Giordano concert cost from Bt 1,000 to Bt 3,000 at Thaiticketmajor. Other shows are priced from Bt500 to Bt 2,000 with tickets available at all branches of SF Cinema City, or by calling (02) 268 8888.

The International Dance Festival 2010 is in Phuket from March 2 to 4, wit masterclasses at Rajabhat Phuket University from late morning to early afternoon, and free performances at Jungceylon from late afternoon into the evening.

From March 5 to 7, Benjasiri Park (BTS: Prompong) hosts free workshops and performances from 4 to 10pm. Finally, from March 8 to 14, there are masterclasses during the day at Dance Centre, CentralWorld, and ticketed performances at Thailand Cultural Centre (March 8 only) and SF World's WorldMax Screen.

Check out www.Friends-of-the-Arts.info or call (02) 258 9227.

Win your tickets here!

Courtesy of Friends of the Arts Foundation, you can win a pair of tickets to watch "Filippa Giordano concert" on March 8, "Gamblerz" on March 9, "Mummenschanz" on March 11, or "Black Light Theatre" on March 13.

Simply pick the one of these four shows that you'd most like to watch the most, and tell us why, in 50 words or less, in an e-mail to ntlife@nationgroup.com by 6pm on Wednesday (February 24). Winners will be announced here next Friday (February 26).