Khon Performance

Of course we wouldn't have a full third week of school either. Like I said, this is the fun semester. On Tuesday, afternoon classes were cancelled (giving me a day off from teaching), and instead we went on a school-wide field trip to watch the Thai Khon Performance at the Thailand Cultural Center.

The Khon Performance (sometimes referred to as "Thai opera" or "mask dance" is an event our students attend every year. I thought I had written this last year, but I couldn't find any references looking back at my old posts.

my colleagues and me with one of the performers

The dance, a famous Thai performing art, was originally only performed in the royal courts. As such, it uses a royal Thai dialect, and is seen as an upper-class entertainment. It's also really long. The show took around three hours to tell a very short story, and is full of elaborately and gracefully choreographed dancing. After the show, many of the teachers asked us if we had been able to stay awake! Several of them confessed that they themselves had dozed off.

It's fun to see the students outside of an academic setting, even if its still part of a school event. They seem much more relaxed and open with us outside of school. After the show, my colleagues and I walked to the nearest MRT station, and some of the older students (who could leave on their own and didn't have to take the bus back to school) walked with us and explained the story.