I mentioned that when we were in Bangkok, we saw traditional Thai dancing. In fact there was a photo of the dancers in my last post. It was lovely. Not touristy, but very fine dancing. What it meant I did not know.
This morning I went to my Monday morning lecture put on by FOM (Friends of the Museum) and it was about Shadow Theater.
What is the connection? Well!! The Thai dancing was telling the same stories that Shadow Theater does! So this morning's lecture was absolutely fascinating to me. She was explaining what I had seen last weekend!
The speaker was excellent. I can not believe the calibre of these lectures. (sometimes too good and I get lost in the details, and the facts and figures) But today!
Waylang Theater (waylang means ghost) is common to many cultures in Asia. It dates back to 1200 AD! In Thailand, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the oldest from India. In different forms: puppets,and dancing, for example. And the stories are variations of each other.
The Shadow Puppets are beautifully constructed. Made out of buffalo or goat hide, beautifully intricate designs are tooled in the leather. They are held up to the stage with sticks of buffalo horn. The segmented limbs have sticks of buffalo horn.The face is always in silhouette. The profile tells whether the good guy (small nose), the bad guy (hooked nose), the hero, the clown (big round bulbous nose), body hair, colours (black=bad guy, red= passion, gold= beauty, royalty, white=noble, youth). In the Islam faith they could not resemble humans, so they are more symbolic.
Each puppet is unique, and the puppeteer might have hundreds to use in his performance. He lines them all up before the performance starts, so he has easy access to the characters. There might be many puppets of the same character, telling different things at different points in the story.
The puppeteer not only amasses all the puppets, sits cross-legged for the duration of the performance, (8 hours, YES 8 hours) he memorizes all the stories, has to be coordinated with the musicians. He is a sacred story teller, but as well, a philosopher, giving social and political critique, teaching about hygiene, even birth control, rituals and traditions. After all this was 1200 AD. He is the local newspaper, school, and entertainment.
He would prepare for this marathon performance, by meditating and chanting a mantra, because he would need incredible strength and control. The lecturer mentioned that one Indian story was as long as 4 times "The Iliad AND "The Oddesy" together!
I wish I had a photo of the shadow dancers. It is very iconic. And if you are curious I am sure you could google "shadow dancers". I think you can tell I loved the talk. I loved the syncronicity of having seen the Thai dancers just last weekend. It explained for me their very unusual dance style, very contrived articulation of their arms, wrists, hands, and fingers. Why just like puppets!
I realize how lucky I am to have these amazing opportunities. To go to Bangkok, see Thai dancers, then go to a lecture and see what it was all about.
Ciao for now
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