Dance and theater of Laos
Encyclopedia
The Dance and theatre of Laos (nattakam Lao, Lao: ນາດຕະກັມລາວ nâːt táʔ kam láːw) is the primary dramatic
art form of Laos
' majority ethnic group, the Lao people. It is shared with the ethnic Lao that inhabit the Isan
region of Thailand as well. There are mainly two types of dances (or dance-dramas), the classical dances performed in the royal courts and the folk dances now associated with morlam. Shadow puppetry, although not associated with dance, is an important part of Lao theatrical traditions. Various dance-drama troupes, mostly operating out of Louang Phrabang and Vientiane
, continue to teach the old classical court dances and more Khmer
-influenced dramas and folk dances, respectively.
classical dances. Lao legends of the first ruler of Lan Xang say that in addition to a large army of Khmer soldiers, he was also accompanied by many female dancers from the court of Angkor. Most dance dramas depict scenes from the Phra Lak Phra Ram
(ພຣະລັກພຣະຣາມ pʰāʔ lāk pʰāʔ láːm), or the Lao Ramayana
and the Sadok (ຊາດົກ [sáː dók]), or Jataka
. Other scenes come from legends, historical epics such as Sin Xay, stories from local or Hindu mythology, or adaptations of stories from surrounding nations. Lao classical dance has two main forms, khone and lakhone. Each is accompanied by Lao classical music.
Khon (ໂຂນ [kʰǒːn]) is the most stylised of the Lao
dance-dramas, with troupes of male and female dancers in elaborate costumes and masks performing very graceful movements demonstrating their great flexibility, and very common dance-drama form for the Phra Lak Phra Ram. Each dancer plays a character in the drama, although most of the narration comes from a singing chorus
to the side. Lakhone (ລະຄອນ [lāʔ kʰɔ́ːn]) dances are usually only performed by females, but male lakhone dancers are not unknown. Instead of each dancer portraying an individual character, such as the Khon dance-dramas, the dancers mimic the scene and events together. There is more variety of dance-dramas performed in the Lakhon tradition.
Although lacking in dance, nang taloung or shadow puppets (ໜັງຕະລຸງ [nǎŋ táʔ lúŋ]) are an important part of Lao theatrical traditions. An adaptation of the traditional Malay wayang
shadow puppets, but there are numerous puppeteers instead of one puppet master. Shadow puppet plays are based on similar themes and stories as the other classical dramas, but can be accompanied by either classical music or morlam instrumentation.
, classical stories, or improvised according to the complicated tonal
rhyming patterns of the verse and can range from topics as serious as religious sermons and Jataka tales to sometimes bawdy verses about love and sex. Although the performances themselves are not necessarily theatrical, the closest being the exchanges of witty repartées in alternating verses or songs between a male and a female morlam who pretend to fall in love before departing or friends who try to outwit each other. The songs are interspersed with dance numbers, comedic routines, ham acting, and teasing between the performers and the audience.
. And Other popular dances include the southern lam Tang Vai (ລຳຕັງຫວາຽ [lám taŋ wǎːj]) and Lam Saravane (ລຳສາຣະວັນ [lám sǎː lā ván]).
The most popular folk dance, however, is the lam vong (ລຳວົງ [lám wóŋ]). It is the national dance of Laos, and versions of it exist throughout the Lao-speaking region and even Cambodia, where it is known as ramvong
. A slow and graceful couples dance, the men form an inner circle and the women an outer circle, with couples dancing around each other while moving in their respective circles. It is a common feature of weddings, celebrations, and other social events.
tales to even development projects and community concerns. Music can be classical, morlam, or even modern, and costumes also run the gamut depending on the needs of the story.
Common to Lam Luang theatre performances are stock characters common to all stories. These include the hero (ພຣະເອກ [pʰāʔ ʔȅːk]), the heroine (ນາງເອກ [náːŋ ʔȅːk]), king father, queen mother, clown, villain (ຜູ້ຮ້າຽ [pʰȕː hâːj]), and supernatural forces such as gods, demons, spirits, or ogres.
Dramatic
Dramatic may refer to:* Drama, a literary form involving parts for actors* Dramatic, a voice type classification in European classical music, describing a specific vocal weight and range at the lower end of a given voice part...
art form of Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
' majority ethnic group, the Lao people. It is shared with the ethnic Lao that inhabit the Isan
Isan
Isan is the northeastern region of Thailand. It is located on the Khorat Plateau, bordered by the Mekong River to the north and east, by Cambodia to the southeast and the Prachinburi mountains south of Nakhon Ratchasima...
region of Thailand as well. There are mainly two types of dances (or dance-dramas), the classical dances performed in the royal courts and the folk dances now associated with morlam. Shadow puppetry, although not associated with dance, is an important part of Lao theatrical traditions. Various dance-drama troupes, mostly operating out of Louang Phrabang and Vientiane
Vientiane
-Geography:Vientiane is situated on a bend of the Mekong river, which forms the border with Thailand at this point.-Climate:Vientiane features a tropical wet and dry climate with a distinct monsoon season and a dry season. Vientiane’s dry season spans from November through March. April marks the...
, continue to teach the old classical court dances and more Khmer
Khmer people
Khmer people are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon–Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
-influenced dramas and folk dances, respectively.
Classical dance and theatre
The dance-dramas of Laos were originally only performed for the royal court. The dance-dramas and musical accompaniment are all very similar to those of Thai and CambodianKhmer classical dance
The Royal Ballet of Cambodia is a form of performing arts established in the royal courts of Cambodia for the purpose of entertainment as well as ceremonial propitiation...
classical dances. Lao legends of the first ruler of Lan Xang say that in addition to a large army of Khmer soldiers, he was also accompanied by many female dancers from the court of Angkor. Most dance dramas depict scenes from the Phra Lak Phra Ram
Phra Lak Phra Lam
Phra Lak Phra Lam is the national epic of the Lao people, and is adapted from Valmiki's Hindu epic, the Ramayana. Similar to some Malay versions of the Hikayat Seri Rama, the epic has lost the association with Hinduism and is instead considered a Jataka Story, a previous lifetime of the Buddha...
(ພຣະລັກພຣະຣາມ pʰāʔ lāk pʰāʔ láːm), or the Lao Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
and the Sadok (ຊາດົກ [sáː dók]), or Jataka
Jataka
The Jātakas refer to a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Buddha....
. Other scenes come from legends, historical epics such as Sin Xay, stories from local or Hindu mythology, or adaptations of stories from surrounding nations. Lao classical dance has two main forms, khone and lakhone. Each is accompanied by Lao classical music.
Khon (ໂຂນ [kʰǒːn]) is the most stylised of the Lao
Lao people
The Lao are an ethnic subgroup of Tai/Dai in Southeast Asia.-Names:The etymology of the word Lao is uncertain, although it may be related to tribes known as the Ai Lao who appear in Han Dynasty records in China and Vietnam as a people of what is now Yunan Province...
dance-dramas, with troupes of male and female dancers in elaborate costumes and masks performing very graceful movements demonstrating their great flexibility, and very common dance-drama form for the Phra Lak Phra Ram. Each dancer plays a character in the drama, although most of the narration comes from a singing chorus
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
to the side. Lakhone (ລະຄອນ [lāʔ kʰɔ́ːn]) dances are usually only performed by females, but male lakhone dancers are not unknown. Instead of each dancer portraying an individual character, such as the Khon dance-dramas, the dancers mimic the scene and events together. There is more variety of dance-dramas performed in the Lakhon tradition.
Although lacking in dance, nang taloung or shadow puppets (ໜັງຕະລຸງ [nǎŋ táʔ lúŋ]) are an important part of Lao theatrical traditions. An adaptation of the traditional Malay wayang
Wayang
Wayang is a Javanese word for theatre . When the term is used to refer to kinds of puppet theatre, sometimes the puppet itself is referred to as wayang...
shadow puppets, but there are numerous puppeteers instead of one puppet master. Shadow puppet plays are based on similar themes and stories as the other classical dramas, but can be accompanied by either classical music or morlam instrumentation.
Lam lao
Lam Lao (ລຳລາວ) or morlam (ໝໍລຳ [mɔ̌ː lám]) is the general descriptor for Lao folk music, which at its most basic level consists of the singer/story-teller and the khene (ແຄນ [kʰɛ́ːn]). In Isan, both terms are interchangeable, but in Laos, morlam only refers to the singer. Troupes travel around like minstrels performing at various locales. There are many regional styles, depending on the local tone contours and preferred instrumentation and melodies. The music that accompanies a lam lao performance may also include various types of percussion, fiddles, lutes, xylophones, or oboes as well as some that are more characteristic of classical ensembles. Lyrics are drawn from old poetryPoetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
, classical stories, or improvised according to the complicated tonal
Tonality
Tonality is a system of music in which specific hierarchical pitch relationships are based on a key "center", or tonic. The term tonalité originated with Alexandre-Étienne Choron and was borrowed by François-Joseph Fétis in 1840...
rhyming patterns of the verse and can range from topics as serious as religious sermons and Jataka tales to sometimes bawdy verses about love and sex. Although the performances themselves are not necessarily theatrical, the closest being the exchanges of witty repartées in alternating verses or songs between a male and a female morlam who pretend to fall in love before departing or friends who try to outwit each other. The songs are interspersed with dance numbers, comedic routines, ham acting, and teasing between the performers and the audience.
Folk dance
Lao folk dances (ຟ້ອນລຳພື້ນເມືອງ fɔ̂ːn lám pʰɯ̂ːn mɯ́əŋ) are numerous and varied, much like lam lao. In fact, most lam also have an associated folk danceFolk dance
The term folk dance describes dances that share some or all of the following attributes:*They are dances performed at social functions by people with little or no professional training, often to traditional music or music based on traditional music....
. And Other popular dances include the southern lam Tang Vai (ລຳຕັງຫວາຽ [lám taŋ wǎːj]) and Lam Saravane (ລຳສາຣະວັນ [lám sǎː lā ván]).
The most popular folk dance, however, is the lam vong (ລຳວົງ [lám wóŋ]). It is the national dance of Laos, and versions of it exist throughout the Lao-speaking region and even Cambodia, where it is known as ramvong
Ramvong
Romvong or Lamvong is a popular folk-dance in Cambodia and Laos, and more marginally in Thailand. It is a slow circle dance continuously moving in a circle, and incorporates graceful hand movements and simple footwork. Both men and women participate in the same circle...
. A slow and graceful couples dance, the men form an inner circle and the women an outer circle, with couples dancing around each other while moving in their respective circles. It is a common feature of weddings, celebrations, and other social events.
Lam luang (likay lao)
A truly theatrical derivative of morlam, it is believed to have developed when the morlam began to dress up and act out various characters from the sung repertoire of oral traditions, myths and legends.it is better known as Lam Luang (ລຳເຣື່ອງ [lám lɯ̄əŋ]) or sung story. Stories range from traditional to lewd, serious to bawdy, and are drawn from a diverse range of sources, such as the traditional stories and JatakaJataka
The Jātakas refer to a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Buddha....
tales to even development projects and community concerns. Music can be classical, morlam, or even modern, and costumes also run the gamut depending on the needs of the story.
Common to Lam Luang theatre performances are stock characters common to all stories. These include the hero (ພຣະເອກ [pʰāʔ ʔȅːk]), the heroine (ນາງເອກ [náːŋ ʔȅːk]), king father, queen mother, clown, villain (ຜູ້ຮ້າຽ [pʰȕː hâːj]), and supernatural forces such as gods, demons, spirits, or ogres.