The Creation of Contemporary Dance on the Theme of “Women Who Were Mentally Affected by the Insurgency in the South of Thailand”

Abstract

The objective of this paper was to study and create contemporary dance
performancethat reflect the state of mind of the women who live through the violent
situation in the south of Thailand.The research methodology employed a combination of
quantitative and creative research. Data collection was based on a multi-disciplinary approach
with datacollected from interviewswith 30 women who have been affected by conflict in the
three Southernmost provinces of Thailand, related documents, texts, the popular media,
collateral interviews, an evaluation of the componentsof traditional Thai dance, and
completed questionnaires.The gleaned data had been analyzed, synthesized, and utilized to
inform and conceive a creative project intendedto be performed in public.
The results of this research revealed that the components of the creation of the new
piece of contemporary Thai dance could be classified into eight parts, as described below: 1)
performance script-the script is based on the true storyline of a woman losing her beloved
husband; 2) performers-they came from different backgrounds, but the majority of the
performers were natives of the south of Thailand; 3) choreography-contemporary dance, Thai
dance, southern folk dance in Thailand, drama, and Nang Yai shadow puppet performance were
all integrated; 4) sound design and music-live musical performance; 5) stage properties-largescale
Nang Yai shadow puppets were employed, symbolizing the themes of conflict and
violence; 6) costumes-wardrobes were decorated with common motifs from the southern part
of Thailand; 7) performing space and setting- the visual design follows the manner of simplicity
by using of the benches; 8) lighting-the lighting design’s colors and angles were designed to be
congruent with the presented topics.The project was conceived based on interviews and utilizes
content from these interviews to guide the storyline and the performance style. It was
presented in the form of contemporary dance, and was based on the perspective of the
researcher, who was an outsider, for audiences comprised of outsiders to the topic.