Abstract:
This thesis aims at studying the history of the Nora dance and its performance elements as well as to analyze the format and dance process as taught in educational institutes in Songkhla Province-Songkhla Rajabhat University, Chaengwittaya School and Chulasamai School during 2003 and 2004. The research is based on the study of related documents, observations and practices of the dance by the researcher as well as interviews of knowledgable people and specialists. The analysis of the collected information has shown the following result. The Nora dance in the educational institutes is performed by students taught by Nora masters with support of the institutes. This is caused by the change in the dance form due to the taste of the audience who prefer a new style of performance. The institutes thus have revived the traditional Nora dance so as to preserve and publicize the Southern folk dance. Songkhla Rajabhat University is the first educational institute that started teaching the Nora dance in a systematic way in 1964. It invited Khun Uppatham Narakorn to teach Nora lessons. The principle dance postures and interpretations are mainly dependent on the lyrics for female dancers in the Kho, Naad, Khru Son, Bot Prathom and Kru songs. That is the interpretations of dance postures which are arranged in the Bot Prathom, Known as the Principle Nora Dance Series. Chaengwittaya School is a secondary school that started to offer the Nora lessons in 1995. Master Klin Penchamras, an expert in the Nora dance, has taught fundamental dance postures and the intricate body movement of female dancers in the Kho and Naad songs. Major characteristics are dance postures that emphasize the intricate movements of the torso and the legs that indicate dancers' special skills. This is known as the intricate body's movement Nora. Chulasamai School, an elementary school, started teaching the Nora dance in 1992 by Aksaraporn Mingsook. Later in 1996, the hunting dance postures in the traditional Nora dance was combined wth newly created dance postures in the Na Tub Pran and Na Tub Pran and Na Tub Nak Pran rhythms. Its major characteristics are the dance that emphasizes humor through the protrusion of the belly, the jerking movement of the bottom and the use of loin cloth. This is known as the Nora hunter's dance. The Nora performance in the three educational institutes shares common characteristics in the following: 1. Adjustment of the fundamental dance postures and creation of new postures by following the conventions of the Nora performance. 2. Specifying dance postures in a systematic manner for the purpose of dissemination. 3. Group performance portraying the same dance postures in unison. Now it is found that many educational institutes have included the Nora dance in their educational system and many students are interested in taking dance classes. It is thus expected the Nora dance taught in educational institutes will remain a part of the nations cultural heritage