VIPs come out to see the 'Butterfly'
HRH Princess Sirindhorn and PM Prayut are in the audience for the Festival of Dance and Music curtain-raiser
A VIP crowd was in attendance at the Thailand Cultural Centre last Friday for the spectacular opening salvo of Bangkok’s 17th International Festival of Dance and Music – an enchanting performance of the Chinese opera “The Butterfly Lovers” by the Zhejiang Xiaobaihua Yue Opera.
The event marked both the 40th anniversary of Sino-Thai diplomatic relations and the fifth-cycle birthday of Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn.
The Princess was there, being greeted by Mao Weitao, star of the show and a three-time recipient of the prestigious Plum Award.
Also on hand were Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and his wife, Associate Professor Naraporn; Dr Chirayu Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, director-general of the Crown Property Bureau; Professor Tongthong Chandransu, former secretary-general of the Education Council at the Ministry of Education; Venus Asavasitthithavorn, corporate communications director of SCG; JS Uberoi, chairman of International Cultural Promotion; Thanpuyings Varaporn Pramot Na Ayutthaya and Muanchit Bhirombhakdi; Vapee Bhirombhakdi; Miss Thailand World 2015 Thanchanok Moonninta; and Maythinee and Mark Kingpayome.
All three performances of “The Butterfly Lovers” sold out quickly, not least because the story is one of China’s Four Great Folktales. The award-winning opera is based on the tragic love story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai in fourth-century Zhejiang.
Independently minded Yingtai is unhappy being confined to the inner chambers of her wealthy family’s home and, keen to go out in the world, disguises herself as a man to enrol in an all-male school. There she befriends the low-born scholar Shanbo. Unable to unmask her gender, Yingtai must settle for being his “sworn brother”, but over the course of three years falls in love with him.
After graduation, Shanbo eventually realises that Yingtai is a woman, but by this time she is betrothed to another man. The two meet in a final bittersweet encounter that leaves Shanbo pining for his lost love. He dies from depression, only for Yingtai to soon after notice his grave during her wedding procession. As she stands there weeping, the grave is struck and split open by lightning – and she falls in, joining him for eternity.
The festival offers ballet, contemporary dance, flamenco, tango, rock ’n’ roll and more opera through October 18. Coming to the Cultural Centre Friday through Sunday is “Sleeping Beauty on Ice”, the classic fairytale interpreted through skating, gymnastics and pyrotechnic effects by the Imperial Ice Stars from Britain.
On Monday the acclaimed Ballet Flamenco de Andalucia from Spain will perform “Images: 20 Years”, commemorating the company’s 20th anniversary with five of its most celebrated choreographies. On Tuesday it’s “The Approved Tribute to the Blues Brothers”, a raucous show of blues and R&B music presented in the inimitable style of the characters created for TV’s “Saturday Night Live” by comedians John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd.
And Russia’s Novosibirsk Ballet Theatre offers Tchaikovsky’s best-known romantic fable, “Swan Lake”, on September 24 and 25, a “Gala Classical Concert” on the 26th and “La Bayadere” on the 28th.
LOTS TO SEE
- For more information, visit www.BangkokFestivals.com
