MEKONG: Where cultures’ paths CONVERGE
Posted by dance_and_theatre , The Nation
The Mekong Arts and Media Festival weaves disparate visions into a brighter future.
The Mekong Arts and Media Festival is a well-organised, multifaceted festival that proves how dance and theatre serve not only cultural purposes, but social, educational and economic ones.
Attended by a few hundred artists, students, drama teachers, public officials and cultural and development workers from 11 countries, as well as a few thousand Cambodian spectators, the five-day festival in Phnom Penh in November was set up by the Philippine Educational Theatre Association's (PETA) Mekong Partnership Programme. in collaboration with Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS), Save the Children UK’s Cross Border Program, and the Center for Community Health Research and Development. The main support came from Rockefeller Foundation, and additionally from European Union, Japan Foundation, Heinrich Boell Foundation-Southeast Asia, Terres des Hommes and Ambassade au France de Cambodge.
Unlike many Asian dance and theatre conferences held by European and American scholars, this was by Asian artists and cultural workers, and aimed for their peers—no academic jargons were used and ample time was allowed for informal discussion after each morning’s presentation. Among the topics were, for example, roles of arts and culture in social development, new media and forms of artistic expressions, fusion of traditional and contemporary forms, as well as partnership and support for creative communities.
I've been to many performing-arts festivals in the region, but the Mekong Festival stood out despite its meagre budget by offering traditional, classical and contemporary work that communicated coherently from a stage without hierarchy.
The works were created with true passion, and without concern for being "world class"--the classic term for begging invitations to Europe and America.
Performances by senior members of Burma's Mandalay Marionette and young members of the host country's Apsara Arts Association and Cambodian Living Arts were proof that classical pieces will survive into the future, with substantial support from both government and private and both local and foreign agencies.
Cambodia's Performing Arts Department’s senior artist Em Theay, her daughter Thong Kim Ann and granddaughter Nam Narim presented one of the festival’s most memorable works Mother's Hope.
Through classical and contemporary dance movements and a monologue, the performance straightforwardly and effectively demonstrated the necessity of preserving classical dance in the face of political interference and foreign influences.
Dance theatre productions, filled with jaw-dropping circus acts, by Cambodia's PPS and the frequently hilarious object theatre of Laos' Kabong Lao, on the other hand, showed how European forms can be successfully adapted to local stories.
Interestingly enough, there’s no encouragement for any intercultural collaboration between artists of different cultures and countries, a major trend in performing arts world now. Obviously, artists from different countries have specific artistic styles, based on their backgrounds as well as issues in their respective societies, and both artists and audiences can learn from observing their similarities and differences, and discussing, without any need to merge.
Three Thai companies staged works that were diverse in style and content, all developed with the support of the Mekong Partnership Programme.
Crescent Moon Theatre presented Purgatory, a social drama-comedy commenting on the changing roles of women today.
Khandha Arts 'n Theatre offered For a Little Less Noise: Mae Nam, a dance theatre inspired by butoh and advocating a better understanding of HIV/AIDS.
And Wandering Moon and Endless Journey staged The Reborn of the Butterfly, a shadow-puppet show exploring relationships between men and women in different times and cultures.
"Unlike other performances at the festival, ours had some movements and a lot of dialogue in Thai," noted Crescent Moon artistic director Sineenadh Keitprapai, "but thanks in part perhaps to the English and Khmer translations on the screen, we heard a lot of laughter, even from the younger viewers.”
"Evidently it's not the form—some people might not be familiar with it—but the content that's more important."
“Given the shorter time than the performing arts laboratories in the previous years, the overall festival had less time for us to exchange, but of course showcased a wider variety of works. I’m particularly impressed to see how many young members of PPS, whom I saw in the labs, have developed, as well as the quality of their works which are no longer purely circus acts but have some dramatic stories.”
Sineenadh praised a workshop by Indonesian dancer Martinus Miroto and at another seminar traded tips with artists from other countries on using symbols.
“It’s the same kind of media that are part of our audience’s life and it’s interesting to hear many different possibilities in how to use them.”
Khandha's Nammon Joiraksa, whose trip was partly subsidised by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, was moved by the performances of PPS.
"I can see how they grew out of sheer necessity. Their village evolved from a refugee camp and many of the performers are orphans. Without their school and their company, which has just been to Europe, there's nothing else for them to hold on to.”
"From their formal presentation in the conference and my informal conversations with them through the whole festival, I learn how we can continue to develop our group in the future through management and grants. Each and every one of us now wants to improve our skills and thinking process so that we develop along with the group."
“The festival has had a strong effect on Khandha. Each and every one of us now wants to improve our skills and thinking process so that each of us develops along with the group. Before this trip, we already had plans for our next year’s workshops and performances, and after the Mekong Festival, we’ve been more active fighting for these plans to realize.”
"The whole experience reconfirms the significance of networking," Monthatip Suksopha, head of the all-women Chiang-Mai based Wandering Moon who also gave two shadow puppet workshops, one for adults and the other for children and youths, said of the festival.
"Or, to put it in simpler terms, helping each other. The festival encountered many financial problems, but in the end we found that money wasn't the most important factor—willpower and management were the keys. Many who’re behind the success of this festival, especially the young people from the Cambodian co-host PPS, worked voluntarily yet whole-heartedly and they could make it happen."
Monthatip noted that local young people took a keen interest.
"One of my Cambodian friends said she'd never seen such a large gathering of youths in Phnom Penh before. They're from Battambang, not the capital, and they have a clear and strong vision.”
"I wish these kinds of extraordinary dynamics could happen in Thailand, but frankly I don't know how yet. In Chiang Mai there are many troupes with diverse identities, and it seems we can't find a way to join hands."
Give youth a chance
PETA’s Mekong Partnership Program is heading into a slightly different direction from that of the past five years, to now focus more on children and youths, with a new major partner Save the Children (UK).
Concurrent with the conference and workshops for adult participants was the Youth and Children Bloc, three-day integrated arts course and daily workshops.
Yiumrung "Mint" Thanpermpoon of Khandha, a business-administration major at Bangkok University, got to attend her first international workshops.
"Although many of us don't speak English very well, we did our best, had a lot of fun and became friends," she said.
Mint told us that in fact most workshops were not language based, but rather introduced how to use physical movements and other media to tell stories.
"I was particularly impressed with the PPS’s circus workshop. Having worked with Khandha for about five years, my body had been trained for a certain extent. PPS members taught me how to use the trampoline and, when I found I could do it, it was just amazing and encouraging."
“On the last day, we all got to perform, and on stage I had a dialogue with a Korean artist—we both spoke our mother tongues. I said that I would always respect adults and listen to their suggestions but at the same time I would also like to share my opinions. It’s like we’re tuning into each other.”
Mint summed up her whole Mekong Festival experience, “I was known as a very talkative and rather restless girl, but after returning from Phnom Penh, I’ve become more focused and calm—my friends thought I was possessed by some spirits.”
The writer's trip to Phnom Penh was fully supported by PETA and Save the Children (UK).
written by Pawit Mahasarinand
ขอขอบคุณข้อมูลจาก
published in THE NATION on Monday, December 21, 2009
see more:
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/danceandtheatre/2010/01/26/entry-1
Posted by dance_and_theatre , The Nation
The Mekong Arts and Media Festival weaves disparate visions into a brighter future.
The Mekong Arts and Media Festival is a well-organised, multifaceted festival that proves how dance and theatre serve not only cultural purposes, but social, educational and economic ones.
Attended by a few hundred artists, students, drama teachers, public officials and cultural and development workers from 11 countries, as well as a few thousand Cambodian spectators, the five-day festival in Phnom Penh in November was set up by the Philippine Educational Theatre Association's (PETA) Mekong Partnership Programme. in collaboration with Phare Ponleu Selpak (PPS), Save the Children UK’s Cross Border Program, and the Center for Community Health Research and Development. The main support came from Rockefeller Foundation, and additionally from European Union, Japan Foundation, Heinrich Boell Foundation-Southeast Asia, Terres des Hommes and Ambassade au France de Cambodge.
Unlike many Asian dance and theatre conferences held by European and American scholars, this was by Asian artists and cultural workers, and aimed for their peers—no academic jargons were used and ample time was allowed for informal discussion after each morning’s presentation. Among the topics were, for example, roles of arts and culture in social development, new media and forms of artistic expressions, fusion of traditional and contemporary forms, as well as partnership and support for creative communities.
I've been to many performing-arts festivals in the region, but the Mekong Festival stood out despite its meagre budget by offering traditional, classical and contemporary work that communicated coherently from a stage without hierarchy.
The works were created with true passion, and without concern for being "world class"--the classic term for begging invitations to Europe and America.
Performances by senior members of Burma's Mandalay Marionette and young members of the host country's Apsara Arts Association and Cambodian Living Arts were proof that classical pieces will survive into the future, with substantial support from both government and private and both local and foreign agencies.
Cambodia's Performing Arts Department’s senior artist Em Theay, her daughter Thong Kim Ann and granddaughter Nam Narim presented one of the festival’s most memorable works Mother's Hope.
Through classical and contemporary dance movements and a monologue, the performance straightforwardly and effectively demonstrated the necessity of preserving classical dance in the face of political interference and foreign influences.
Dance theatre productions, filled with jaw-dropping circus acts, by Cambodia's PPS and the frequently hilarious object theatre of Laos' Kabong Lao, on the other hand, showed how European forms can be successfully adapted to local stories.
Interestingly enough, there’s no encouragement for any intercultural collaboration between artists of different cultures and countries, a major trend in performing arts world now. Obviously, artists from different countries have specific artistic styles, based on their backgrounds as well as issues in their respective societies, and both artists and audiences can learn from observing their similarities and differences, and discussing, without any need to merge.
Three Thai companies staged works that were diverse in style and content, all developed with the support of the Mekong Partnership Programme.
Crescent Moon Theatre presented Purgatory, a social drama-comedy commenting on the changing roles of women today.
Khandha Arts 'n Theatre offered For a Little Less Noise: Mae Nam, a dance theatre inspired by butoh and advocating a better understanding of HIV/AIDS.
And Wandering Moon and Endless Journey staged The Reborn of the Butterfly, a shadow-puppet show exploring relationships between men and women in different times and cultures.
"Unlike other performances at the festival, ours had some movements and a lot of dialogue in Thai," noted Crescent Moon artistic director Sineenadh Keitprapai, "but thanks in part perhaps to the English and Khmer translations on the screen, we heard a lot of laughter, even from the younger viewers.”
"Evidently it's not the form—some people might not be familiar with it—but the content that's more important."
“Given the shorter time than the performing arts laboratories in the previous years, the overall festival had less time for us to exchange, but of course showcased a wider variety of works. I’m particularly impressed to see how many young members of PPS, whom I saw in the labs, have developed, as well as the quality of their works which are no longer purely circus acts but have some dramatic stories.”
Sineenadh praised a workshop by Indonesian dancer Martinus Miroto and at another seminar traded tips with artists from other countries on using symbols.
“It’s the same kind of media that are part of our audience’s life and it’s interesting to hear many different possibilities in how to use them.”
Khandha's Nammon Joiraksa, whose trip was partly subsidised by the Office of Contemporary Art and Culture, was moved by the performances of PPS.
"I can see how they grew out of sheer necessity. Their village evolved from a refugee camp and many of the performers are orphans. Without their school and their company, which has just been to Europe, there's nothing else for them to hold on to.”
"From their formal presentation in the conference and my informal conversations with them through the whole festival, I learn how we can continue to develop our group in the future through management and grants. Each and every one of us now wants to improve our skills and thinking process so that we develop along with the group."
“The festival has had a strong effect on Khandha. Each and every one of us now wants to improve our skills and thinking process so that each of us develops along with the group. Before this trip, we already had plans for our next year’s workshops and performances, and after the Mekong Festival, we’ve been more active fighting for these plans to realize.”
"The whole experience reconfirms the significance of networking," Monthatip Suksopha, head of the all-women Chiang-Mai based Wandering Moon who also gave two shadow puppet workshops, one for adults and the other for children and youths, said of the festival.
"Or, to put it in simpler terms, helping each other. The festival encountered many financial problems, but in the end we found that money wasn't the most important factor—willpower and management were the keys. Many who’re behind the success of this festival, especially the young people from the Cambodian co-host PPS, worked voluntarily yet whole-heartedly and they could make it happen."
Monthatip noted that local young people took a keen interest.
"One of my Cambodian friends said she'd never seen such a large gathering of youths in Phnom Penh before. They're from Battambang, not the capital, and they have a clear and strong vision.”
"I wish these kinds of extraordinary dynamics could happen in Thailand, but frankly I don't know how yet. In Chiang Mai there are many troupes with diverse identities, and it seems we can't find a way to join hands."
Give youth a chance
PETA’s Mekong Partnership Program is heading into a slightly different direction from that of the past five years, to now focus more on children and youths, with a new major partner Save the Children (UK).
Concurrent with the conference and workshops for adult participants was the Youth and Children Bloc, three-day integrated arts course and daily workshops.
Yiumrung "Mint" Thanpermpoon of Khandha, a business-administration major at Bangkok University, got to attend her first international workshops.
"Although many of us don't speak English very well, we did our best, had a lot of fun and became friends," she said.
Mint told us that in fact most workshops were not language based, but rather introduced how to use physical movements and other media to tell stories.
"I was particularly impressed with the PPS’s circus workshop. Having worked with Khandha for about five years, my body had been trained for a certain extent. PPS members taught me how to use the trampoline and, when I found I could do it, it was just amazing and encouraging."
“On the last day, we all got to perform, and on stage I had a dialogue with a Korean artist—we both spoke our mother tongues. I said that I would always respect adults and listen to their suggestions but at the same time I would also like to share my opinions. It’s like we’re tuning into each other.”
Mint summed up her whole Mekong Festival experience, “I was known as a very talkative and rather restless girl, but after returning from Phnom Penh, I’ve become more focused and calm—my friends thought I was possessed by some spirits.”
The writer's trip to Phnom Penh was fully supported by PETA and Save the Children (UK).
written by Pawit Mahasarinand
ขอขอบคุณข้อมูลจาก
published in THE NATION on Monday, December 21, 2009
see more:
http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/danceandtheatre/2010/01/26/entry-1
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