Two difinitions of 'speechless'

“Speechless”, says Jitti, pays tribute to the memory of Meuanjai Ampunsang, the late sister of his long-time friend and dancer colleague Meuanphun, who runs Point Studio.

“I knew Mueanjai very well. Meuanphun was speechless when her sister succumbed to leukaemia and so was I. Meuanphun wanted her students to work with a choreographer who has a different style to broaden their perspectives and that’s why she’s not working on this herself.

“Because I work in contemporary dance, my style is very physical. That’s very demanding for young students who’ve been trained in classical ballet or jazz dance. It’s a new work experience for me too. I usually choose dancers I want to work with but this time Meuanphun picked them for me. There were a lot of them when we started rehearsals but many quit due to the physical demands and I am now left with four dance students plus one professional dancer from my company.

“Content-wise, I developed this full-length piece from the short tribute to [late pioneer of dance theatre] Pina Bausch, which we performed at Bed Supperclub. I think it’s a good learning experience for these young dancers. As ‘Speechless’ is being staged in the studio, we’re making use of the ordinary objects we find there. I think this production will also help promote contemporary dance among young dance students.”

“Muet”, which is being staged in both Bangkok and Chiang Mai, is a reworking of Jitti’s adaptation of the Ramakien episode “18 Monkeys”, which premiered a few years ago at Patravadi Theatre, and later became his company’s name. It also marked the first time Jitti had experimented with the classical form of Thai dance theatre known as khon.

“It was the first time I’d worked with khon dancer Anucha Sumaman [currently performing a lead role in ‘Khon: Chong Thanon Episode’ at the Thailand Cultural Centre] and we didn’t completely click. That’s changed now that we’ve worked together in a few other productions over the years.

“I’ve also cut the number of dancers down to three, and all will be onstage throughout the performance. This gives each of them more opportunity to develop and I’m sure they’ll be able to create their own work soon. It’s more like an ensemble work, unlike the original version, which looked like it was patched together from scenes of different dancers. I was partly inspired by performances I watched in Avignon. The focus is more on the dancers, not on the set, music or media.

“We’re also making use of ordinary objects instead of theatrical props. For example, when a dancer puts a piece of bamboo in his mouth, the corners of his lips look like that of a demon’s. This is instead of the khon mask we used back then.”

Another new element is the music, created exclusively for the production by German composer Dirk P Haubrich, who has worked with such world-renowned choreographers asWilliam Forsythe and Jiri Kylian.

“I was given a grant by the Goethe Institut to attend a dance festival in Germany early this year and Haubrich invited me to drop by his studio in Berlin. We started discussing the concept of this work. Over the past few months, we’ve been sending video clips of the rehearsal and music files back and forth. He’ll be here next week to make some final adjustments.” 

As for the title, Jitti says, “In this performance the monkey soldier Kesonthamala becomes speechless when Phra Ram commands him fight with Mangkonkan, his best friend in Thotsakan’s demon army. I was thinking of the word ‘Mute’ but the French word ‘Muet’ works better for me.”

   

DUET

<< “Speechless” is tonight until Sunday at Point Studio’s |In-House Theatre, next to Bang Chak petrol station in Soi Lat Phrao 111. Show time is 7pm, with a 2pm matinee on Sunday. Tickets cost Bt500. Call (02) 734 3232. Visit www.PointStudio.net.

<< As part of the International Dance Festival 2012, “Muet” is on December 1, 2 and 7 to 10 at 8pm, at P Tendercool Gallery in Soi Charoen Krung 30, and then at 137 Pillars House in Chiang Mai on December 10 and 11, 7pm. Tickets are Bt800, at 081 814 3304. Check out www.18MonkeysDanceTheatre.com.