Photos courtesy of onopko, Flickr, and the Thai Dance Company

If you’re not familiar with a certain cultural song, you’ll often times listen and find that you can’t interpret the words. If it’s a dance routine that has many unique movements and is perhaps quite intricate, you’re probably unable to comprehend what they’re trying to convey to the audience. Their costumes may be very beautiful but you might not know what the historical theme is or what the various parts of the costumes represent.

But you won’t have these issues to deal with when you watch the Thai Dance Company perform on August 27. They’re ripe and ready to guide you through some of Thailand’s history dancing and music through a narrator who will explain the classical tales while the show shines.

The Company offers a mixture of Thai dances and literature that depicts characters from selected Thai classical tales.

“The stories and dances are passed down through the ages,” says Megara Solloway, Artistic Director of the Richmond-based Thai Dance Company.

“Some of them are current as they were created by the talent of my creative dancers.”

Some of the oldest dances go back 2,500 years and the literature is approximately 200 years old. The Thai monarchy historically played a major role in the development of the dance to make it evolve into an art form.

Megara Solloway is trained in this traditional dance which she learned in her home country of Thailand, later traveling throughout Indonesia, Dubai, India and Jamaica. She finally settled in Vancouver in 1999 and founded the Thai Dance Company in 2008.

Solloway states that there are 108 basic movements which are different for women and men and that it takes approximately 3 years to perfect them. She laughed when asked if the dancers have them all down pat, and replied, “there are too many movements and therefore the shorter versions are often taught.”

When it comes to the intricacies of the dance, the hands and arms in relation to the up and down motion of the rest of the body makes you wonder how they could remember that many movements.

Solloway explains that the dancers hold their bodies upright from the neck to their hips and stretch to the rhythm of the music. All this while dancing in elaborate and traditional costumes while remembering the number and type of gestures for the particular music score.

The troupe consists of 3 women and 2 men whose homeland is Thailand and they are now living in Vancouver; some of them attending university.

Each show runs for approximately 1 hour and the troupe performs 1 to 2 times per year with Solloway periodically performing solo in Toronto.

As well as performing in Canada, the Dance Company has performed in India, the Caribbean and in Thailand.

As for the popularity of this dance back in Thailand, Solloway mentions that it varies within the different regions of the country.

In regards to tourists’ reactions and feedback, she acknowledges that the tourists often don’t understand the stories but only appreciate the look and beauty of the dance.

“That is why we have a narrator who can educate the audience,” says Salloway.

For tickets you can go to the Scotiabank Dance Centre at 677 Davie Street. Tickets are $15 at www.ticketstonight.ca or at
604-684-2787.

For more information on the Thai Dance Company, visit:
www.thaidancecompany.com