Burmese Dance - Asian Traditional Theatre and Dance http://www.xip.fi/atd/myanmar/burmese-dance.

html

INTRODUCTION INDIA SRI LANKA BURMA THAILAND LAOS CAMBODIA VIETNAM

MALAYSIA INDONESIA CHINA KOREA JAPAN SYNOPSES LITERATURE GALLERY

Burmese Dance
There is only fragmentary knowledge of the early history of Facts about Myanmar (formerly Burma)
Myanmar classical dance. It seems clear, however, that the Early Tradi ons
present style and technique evolved over some 1 500 years,
Nat Pwe, Spirit Rituals
incorporating elements of the earlier Mon and Puy
traditions predating the arrival of the Burmese. As may be Nibhatkin and the Ordina on of the Monks
expected, Indian influences are clearly present, but it is not Burmese Dance
exactly known how the Indian influence was received. It is probable that the source in India
Yokhte Pwe, Burmese Marione e Theatre
was the Pala dynasty off Eastern India, which was partly contemporaneous with the classical
Pagan period in Myanmar from the 11th to 13th centuries. Pala culture deeply influenced the Zat Pwe, The Burmese Dance-Drama
arts and architecture of Pagan. Thus it is possible that the influence was also felt in the field The Twen eth Century
of in dance.

As already discussed earlier, important sources for the history of Burmese

dance are the small reliefs from the Pyu period and the several murals and
reliefs from the Pagan period. They are characterised by Indian-influenced
foot positions, strongly bent bodies, and angular arm positions, all of them
features still recognisable in the present-day classical dance technique of
Myanmar.

Later, Burmese dance was also influenced by the classical dance of

Thailand or, to be more specific, Thai-Khmer dance; the Thais conquered
Angkor in Cambodia in the 15th century and, it is believed, abducted court
dancers and other artists. The Thais probably modified the style to their
own tastes, and this, in turn, was partly adopted in Burma, when the
Burmese imprisoned the Thai court with its dancers after the sack of the Thai capital,
Ayutthaya, in 1767.

Thai theatre and dance gave a new impetus to the performing arts of
Burma. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the so-called golden
age of Burmese theatre, new drama forms evolved, including marionette
theatre, which had a major effect on the aesthetics and repertoire of the
dance in Myanmar. The Thai khon, a form of mask dance-theatre enacting
the story of the Ramayana, has its equivalent in Burmese dance-theatre,
and some dances are labelled yodayar, referring to Ayutthaya, the former capital of
Thailand.

The Puppet Style

It is generally believed that the Burmese marionette
theatre was developed in order to enact the Buddhist
Jataka stories with their moral teachings. Live dancer-
actors were regarded as too impure to impersonate the
principal characters that present the former incarnations
of the Buddha. The art of the puppeteers soon achieved
virtuoso levels of performance, and during the century-long heyday of this art form the
movements of the marionettes came to dictate the technique and aesthetic standards of live
dancers.

Puppet-style dances are still popular. Many dance

numbers are based on the repertory of the
marionette theatre, such as the dances of the
Magician, the Prince (mintha) and the Princess
(minthamee). This partly explains the jerky
movements of the dancers, who often perform
sitting or crouching on the floor. The marionettes also influenced the way in which the
dancers fall down, like a marionette whose strings are cut. The performer, however, always
falls to the ground in a very graceful position with legs bent back and arms bent angularly.
The facial expression is often a frozen, puppet-like smile, which appears to derive from the
marionettes. Over the years, various puppet-style dances evolved, emphasising the precise
imitation of the marionettes.

The Present Technique

The present technique and style of dance in Myanmar, as long as the
history of the art form may be, is, in fact, a result of the canonising of the
Burmese dance technique in the 1950s. The first governmental institutes
in control of dance education in Burma were the State Schools of Music in
Mandalay and Yangon, founded in 1953. In Burma, where the court
tradition had had an abrupt end, it was felt that the classical dance
technique should be recreated and standardised for the use of the curriculum of the newly
founded State School. This task fell to the renowned performer Oba Thaung, who created the
basic movement series, comprising 22 basic movement units (gabyar-lut), still used in
dance training in modern Myanmar.

In the first basic position, the knees are bent into an

almost crouching position, and the body is forward with

1 of 2 12/3/2016 7:28 PM
Burmese Dance - Asian Traditional Theatre and Dance http://www.xip.fi/atd/myanmar/burmese-dance.html

the arms supporting the small of the back. From this

spring-like tensed position, the dancer rises from time to
time, preserving, however, the s-shaped bending of the
body. Footwork closely resembles the flat-foot steps
typical of many Indian dance styles, but in Myanmar the feet only touch the ground lightly,
sometimes kicking the long train of the costume backwards.

The hands repeat gestures of Indian origin, which, unlike the Indian mudras, no longer have
any precise symbolic meanings. They are merely dance gestures forming an integral
element of the dance as a whole. Sharp neck movements accentuate the head movements
that follow the rhythm of the music, and the eyes are trained, as in India, to follow the
movement.

Many dances, or at least parts of them, are performed in a crouching position; sometimes the
dancer is nearly lying on the floor. There are similar dances in other parts of Southeast Asia,
and they may have been dictated by the requirements of the strict court etiquette where
underlings had to kneel before rulers. In fact, many Southeast Asian dances express respect
for a ruler, spirits, Hindu deities or the Buddha.

Forms of Dance
The most archaic of the dances of Myanmar are probably the dance sequences belonging to
nat pwe rituals, already discussed earlier. As was mentioned, they have also been adapted to
the more refined, classical repertory. The actual court tradition of Burma was abruptly ended
by the Anglo-Burmese wars and the complete destruction of the countrys court culture.
However, some of the courtly dance forms spread among the ordinary people when former
court artists were forced to find their livelihood outside the restricted circles of the court.

The actual court dancers were not allowed to perform for outsiders, but
they could teach their art to ordinary dancers. Thus the female tradition of
court dance spread to the cities of Mandalay and Rangoon at the end of
the 19th century. The relatively small court orchestra was expanded, and
the performances gained increasingly theatrical features. By the early 20th
century the female group dances became very popular and overshadowed
many other forms of dance. These kinds of dances are usually performed by large groups of
female dancers who execute the dance in unison. They form often part of communal
festivities, temple fairs etc. on a grand scale.

Many dance forms have also flourished naturally among ordinary people, both ethnic
Burmese and other ethnic groups. Drum dances have had a long history, as is seen in the
temple murals of the Pagan period. However, in the 17th century, it is believed, a long-drum
dance became increasingly popular. The dancers played long drums while dancing. Later the
drums grew in size even more and they were supported by stands. Simultaneously, the dance
became more theatrical in character. Their popularity ceased at the beginning of the 20th
century when the female group dances became popular.

There are naturally dozens of different dances in the region of present-day

Myanmar. As has already been discussed, the puppet style dances, derived
from the repertory and character gallery of the marionette theatre, are still
very popular. One theme, known in many Southeast Asian cultures, is the
dance of the kinnari, a half-bird half-human creature described in
Buddhist mythology. It belongs both to the actual Burmese repertory as
well as to the Shan tradition of Northeast Myanmar. It is characterised by
standard poses indicating flying. The Burmese version is performed in
traditional dance costume imitating the court costume of the court of
Upper Burma, while in the Shan version the dancer wears a fantastic
costume with large, colourful wings supported by bamboo sticks.

HOME | CREDITS | ISBN 978-952-9765-56-0 | All rights reserved 2010

2 of 2 12/3/2016 7:28 PM