A double-bill of delights

EVERY MARCH for the past 12 years the Chiang Mai Ballet, one of Thailand’s largest private dance schools, has been staging its annual charity performance with hundreds of students, alumni and professionals. It’s become one of the most anticipated performing-arts events in the northern capital.
At the helm is artistic director ML Preeyapun Sridhavat, also a member of Senate, who has chosen “Cinderella” and “Prince of the Golden Conch Shell” (“Sang Thong” in Thai) for this year’s double-bill.
“Our young people these days don’t know much about Thai literary masterpieces,” says Preeyapun. “‘Sang Thong’ was a Jataka tale that King Rama II adapted as a dramatic script. Interestingly, it’s based on the fact that a conch shell can grow large enough to hold a baby. I picked the episode in which Rotchana, a prim and proper Thai woman, could see the essence behind Phra Sang’s black disguise and picked him as her husband, to her father’s dismay.
“As a counterpoint, in ‘Cinderella’, when the Prince found the woman he had danced with at the ball and who left a glass slipper behind, he didn’t mind her poor background.
“I notice that young people are increasingly concerned with skin-deep values,” Preeyapun says, “so I hope both the audience and the performers can learn some good lessons from these two fantasy stories.”
Preeyapun notes that pairing Thai and foreign stories has worked well in recent years. “If we present only Thai stories the event as a whole might receive less attention. So this time ‘Cinderella’ is the main act and ‘Sang Thong’ is the lead-in, introducing the audience to a Thai classic. There are always hundreds of foreign expatriates in the audience and they enjoy these Thai appetisers, followed by a Western main course.”
The music score for “Sang Thong” is Thai fusion, she says. “The music for Chao Ngo – Phra Sang’s disguise – is quite jazzy, actually.” The score for “Cinderella” is meanwhile a mix of genres. “I think Thais like a variety of flavours in one meal.
“The original music of ‘Cinderella’ is quite slow, so we needed to bring in other styles. For example, our junior dancers playing the mice that help Cinderella with her housework need up-tempo and joyful tunes. The dancers portraying Cinderella’s stepmother and stepsisters are all trained in Latin dance, so we adjusted the score for the ball accordingly.”
Looking back over more than a decade, she notes that attendance has steadily risen despite the fact that many of her young dancers have moved on to pursue their careers or studies elsewhere.
“Many of our regular patrons mark the last Sunday of March on their calendars because that’s our usual time slot,” says Preeyapun. “A lot of foreigners are surprised to find this isn’t a typical school production – not only do we feature professionals in our cast, we also maintain professional production standards.”
Viewers are encouraged to wear gold-hued attire because the performance is dedicated to His Majesty the King’s 86th birthday. The audience member deemed “best dressed” will win a roundtrip ticket with Thai Airways, one of the sponsors.
Proceeds from ticket sales go to the Thai Red Cross Society’s Friends in Need (of “Princess Pa”) Volunteers Foundation.
 FANTASY
NIGHT
 - The Chiang Mai Ballet performs “Cinderella” and “Prince of the Golden Conch Shell” at 1.30 and 7pm on March 30 at the Kad Theatre.
- Tickets cost Bt200 to Bt1,000 at the information counter of the Kad Suan Kaew mall. Call (081) 881 1114.