Topic 1 "Dancing Art definition"
Dancing art definition means the explanation, definition scope, role and appearance of dancing art which represent the various meaning of dancing art. It is an indicator of the importance of dancing art that related to human life since the history.
Definition
In this part, the definition of dancing art or dancing which the important philosophers and academics has attempt to define it in a different angle are as follow. Prince Damrong Rajanubhab explained the origin and evolution of dancing art that related to human being as follows.
“Dancing is a tradition of human being of every language regardless to where of the world they are in. Not only human, animals also has their dances such as when dogs, cats or crows are pleased they will dance and behave in a variety of manners. This is considered as dancing in animal’s nature. Philosophers of dance saw that dancing has the root in the emotional commiseration of animal’s disposition for both happiness and sadness. If the emotions are very strong the behaviors will be visible just like a baby. In the emotion of happiness, the compassion will be fun and throbbing. In the emotion of sadness, the compassion will show the emotion that reflects on sadness. The passion and despite are also a behavior that are considered to the beginning of a dance.
In the next step, people realize the meaning of the different conducts and use it as one of the language. When trying to express owns emotion with honesty or delusion, the conduct that represents each of the emotions are expressed. For example, showing affection through smiling, showing fun and happiness through dancing, threatening others through intimidating and scary facial expression. With that, the tradition that shows different expressions are formed which is the beginning of a dance and is considered as the second step of dance.
The tradition of dancing is not only used to train those who will pursue a profession in dancing such as Khon but it is a tradition for people of every social status even in operations manual and other different rituals. An example of a dancing ritual in Thailand is in the branch of study that deals with elephants which considered dancing as a high level of art for a campaign on war since the ancient time. Those who learn to ride an elephant for war must also learn the dance to create an awe inspiration. The King also must practice dancing as evidence up until Rama V. When King Chulalongkorn continued with the study of elephants, Prince Bumrad Porapak also practiced dancing. It was heard that he performed a dance on the neck of an elephant that served as an offering to Buddha once visit the footprint of a Buddha as a historic rituals during the year of the monkey in 2414 B.E. Dancing in other different form of art such as in swordplay also has to be practiced. Dancing in rituals also has an example from the head province of the northwest section (Payap). When there is a big religious ceremony, the head of the state also have to perform a dance to increase the joyous of faith in the merit. The female royalty also have to practice dancing and dance in a ritual up until present. From the previous example, it is seen that dancing is a part of education that should be practiced in every rank of people.
Choosing a specific person to practice dancing as for a dance or drama is for a desire to see the level of beauty of the dance process therefore, choosing a dancer must be considered with care and they must master the skill of dancing to show the limit of how beautiful the dance could be. Once mastered, the dance will appeal to the eyes of the audience which create a professional dancer. But in reality, the subject of dancing has the same pattern for both professionals and ordinary dancer”
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footprint of a Buddha
Royal Institute defined dancing art broadly and determined the pronunciation of the sounds according to the Glorified edition of Thai dictionary B.E. 2530 are as follow.
" Nard, Nard – [Nad, Nata – Nadta-] N. Actress, Dancer, Beautiful woman in Thai usage "
Such as Narngnard Nuchnard
Nadtagam [Nadtagam] N. Drama and Dancing
Naddontree [Nadtadontree] N. Thai folk drama
Nadtasilpa [Nadtasilp] N. Art of the drama or dancing
Nataka [Nataka] (main), Nadtaka (principle)] N. Dancer
Nadtaya [Nadtaya] V. Concerning dancing, concerning drama
Nadtayaveti N. Performing stage, background
Nadtayasala N. Dancing room, Theater
Nadtayasart N. Dancing subject, Drama subject
Thanit Yoopoh explained the meaning of dancing art from the evidence in the Indian scripture.
“The word “Nadtaya” according to the Aphita-nappateepika and suji scripture has analyzed the definition as “Nadtasasetinadtaya” which mean the art of dancer called Nadtaya and explain “nojja, vatid ,keet ,it ,turiyatik ,nadtayamenujatae” which mean dancing, playing (music) and singing. Those are the 3 categories of Turiya. These 3 forms are combined to be known as “Nadtaya”. As you can see, the word Nata or Nadtaya is inclusive of singing, dancing and playing music and not only limit to only dancing as most people understood. Even when the word category 3 of Turiya is used, it shows that “Turiya” means striking and blowing instruments or translated as “music”.
Dancing is not a complete form of art or impossible to perform without the music or song which help provide rhythm. Without the music and song, the dancing art in itself will not be complete. Phra Bharata Muni which is widely worshipped by Khon artist through worshipping the imitation of her head called “Srisaruesri”. According to the historical record, she is a master in the art of Khon since the ancient time. She composed the Indian drama treatise which contains many chapters that refer to the rules and principles of music and singing. Another master, Sarongkathep who wrote a bible on musical treasure also appeared to lay down a lot of rules and principles to explain the art of dancing. In conclusion, the 3 forms of art, 1 dancing, 1 music and 1 singing have to be combined. The word “Nadtaya” means the combination of the 3 forms of art into one word.3
India traditional dance