History

Thai dance has a long history and dates back to the time where Buddhism came to Thailand, about 1000 years ago. Since then Thai Dance has been developed in Thai royal circles. It was used to honour or entertain the King, where dancing was part of stage perfomances. Most of the time, the famous epic "Ramakien" was told. This is the most well known mythological story from Thailand. Quite a long story, since a complete Ramakien performance could last 5 days.

 

Main figures are the famous bad guy "Yak", a kind of monster, which can be seen in many Thai temples and the brave and good hearted monkey "Hanuman", who helped the Royal Family. It is a story about love and the battle between good and evil. Ramakien performances are still popular in Thailand.

Especially the extravagant hand made costumes are impressing. Traditional Thai dance is known to be difficult to perform, mainly because the costumes are quite heavy.

Besides this traditional Thai dance, there is a rich tradition of folk dance. Many of the movements and techniques from folk dance are borrowed from the tradional dance. Different regions have their own folk dances, based on Thai everyday life, like planting rice, harvesting or Buddhist rituals. In the North (Chiang Mai) the dances are very gracious and stylish, in the South and East (Issan) the dances are faster and more frivole, but always elegant and subtle.