Abstract:
The aim of this thesis is to study the form of a contemporary Thai dance entitled, Contemporary Visuality of Thai Philosophy of Life, which reflects the Thai social context. This study of the concept in the creation of an example of contemporary Thai dance that reflects the Thai social context was conducted by collating information from interviews with experts and people involved in dance performances, documents, textbooks, brochures etc. The collected information was summarized in order to discover the concepts. The analysis of this contemporary Thai dance, Contemporary Visuality of Thai Philosophy of Life, intends to study and analyze it in order to discover the depth of the performance designs and style. The analysis of the work has found that the dance postures emerge via the stories, philosophy, the way of life, society, religion, culture, tradition and custom that reflect Thai characteristics, particularly its Buddhist concepts. This dance performance uses lotus flowers to communicate abstract characteristics in many ways, for example, representing religion, Buddhism, peace of mind, human desire and competitive behaviour. The flowers also symbolize both humans and emotions in various situations. The performing art is also used to give an overall quality to the performance, for example, in the use of style, how to place or design the performers movements, stage scenery, lighting, costumes and music to accompany the performance. The international performing art that is contemporaneous to the Thai dance style is harmoniously blended into the performance. The movements are of both slow and quick composition, seen, for example in the dancers light and buoyant leaps and their fluidity, making the performance livelier. It has been found that the dance also suggests concepts in the Teachings of Buddhism, Thai culture, tradition and customs, as well as a Thai society in which, in one aspect, people are good hearted, care about and are ready to help each other and, at the same time, in another aspect, there are people who take advantage of others and compete with each other. The latter reflects a chaotic life which, eventually, causes people to look back to the good old days. This performing art is thus valuable for Thai society and it demonstrates the uniqueness of Thai society to a foreign audience. The research has also found that the creation of this performing art is endowed with an aesthetic philosophy in its aesthetic form arising from academic principles, suggesting that it is a newly created and newly developed art which is based on Thai tradition. It will contribute to further studies of Thai art and culture as well as contemporary Thai performance art.