Thai dancers coming to Crowder College

Neosho will get a chance to tour Thailand in sound and sight during a program on Thai music and dance this week at Crowder College.

The exchange comes to Crowder from Phranakhon Rajabhat University as part of their partnership with University of Missouri-St. Louis. Terry Williams, coordinator at the UMSL Center for International Studies said the students will take a weeklong trip around Missouri. Performances will also be held at Ozark Technical College in Springfield, Mineral Area Community College in Park Hills, Mo., Jefferson Community College in Hillsboro and University of Missouri-St. Louis.

“This is a chance for intercultural exchange,” Williams said. “Most people in the United States don’t know that much about Thailand or that region of the globe.”

The southeast Asian country borders Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Malaysia and has a population of 62 million. Thailand was once called “Siam,” but that name came from the English.

Most Americans, Williams added, are familiar with the classic movie “The King and I” and the dance numbers in it, some of which are classical Thai.

“We have kind of a popular image of it through the ‘King and I,’” Williams said. “There is some familiarity there, but there’s a lot of differences too. It’s going to be something that people are comfortable with as far as having seen it before and experienced it and maybe even appreciated it, but there is going to be some other things that they’ve never seen before and it’s really kind of exciting to discover.”

The program will begin with a video overview of Thai culture and the origins of Thai classical music. During the program, a narrator will provide context for the dance and musical numbers.
Students will play traditional Thai instruments, many of them percussion, and dance Chatri dances which were once reserved for the ruling class of Thailand.

“There’s several different periods that their dance comes from and they’re going to do several different pieces that go through all those periods,” Williams said.

There are very few programs on Thai culture in the United States during a year, and Williams feels fortunate that he is part of this one.

“This is really quite a unique opportunity and it’s happening in Missouri,” he said.

Phranakhon has had a partnership with UMSL for more than 10 years. Typically they exchange students, but the performance is a special treat.

 “They’re just here to share their culture with people who don’t normally come in contact with the Thai classical culture,” he said.

The Thai Music and Dance Ensemble’s performance at Crowder College will be at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Elsie Plaster Community Center

Tickets are $7 for general admission and $5 for students and Crowder employees. To purchase tickets call 455-5540 or e-mail cbrown@crowder.edu.

TALE OF THE DANCE

Phranakhon Rajabhat University was established Oct. 12, 1892, when King Chulalongkorn, King Rama the Fifth of the present Chakri Dynasty, founded it as the first Teachers’ Training School in Thailand.

It gained university status on June 10, 2004, by King Bhumibhol Adulyadej, King Rama the Ninth.

In the ancient time, the Thais called their homeland “ Muang Thai.” An Englishman, Sir James Lancaster, who voyaged to the Far East in 1593, first applied the name of “Siam” to Thailand.

Thailand is located in southeast Asia bordering borders Laos, Cambodia, Burma and Malaysia.

According to the Thais, the shape of Thailand on the map has been compared to the ancient axe, although some Thai people think of it as the head of a decorated elephant whose trunk extends down the Malay peninsula.