No.60 (2020)
About No.60
No.60 is a treatise on Pichet Klunchun’s research over two decades on the language of Thai traditional Khon dance. Stripping the classical form of its face-mask and sequined costume, Pichet scrutinizes the 59 poses and movements in the Theppanom canon which all Thai classical dancers acquire by rote-learning. He then generates six new principles that undergird the 700-year-old system and presents a manual of hand-drawn diagrams and notes that allows the young generation to think and learn rationally, free of mysticism and ideological imposition of history.
No. 60 composes two choreographic studies that enact Pichet’s philosophy of relativity and fluidity. The first one applies the formal logic of abstraction, cool and contemporary compared to the second one which is more mimetic, affective and closer to the expressive nature of Khon dance. Each study also reflexively breaks down the lexicon that constitutes its choreography, and lets us observe the rigour of an academic approach and the potential of structured improvisation for the contemporary trajectory of Khon dance.
As No.60 unfixes the rigidity of classicism, it also embraces the sense and soul of Thai legacy. It unfolds a complex dialogue between tradition and innovation as they inhabit and circulate within the same continuum, not as binary opposites, to instigate individual thought and motility in the times of autocracy.
Tour:
- 2020:
- world premiere at TPAM 2020, KATT Theater, Yokohama, Japan, February 15-16
- presented at Taipei Arts Festival, Taipei City Shuiyuan (Wellspring) Theater, Taipei, Taiwan, August 8-9
- 2022: presented at
- North Hall, ROHM Theatre Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan, March 26-27
- HAU Hebbel am Ufer as a part of the festival Tanz im August , Berlin, Germany, August 19-21
- DANSENS HUS, Oslo, Norway, September 2-4
- Norrlandsoperan Umea, Umea, Sweden, September 8-9
- da:ns festival 2022, Esplanade Theatre Studio, Singapore, October 21-23
- Indonesian Dance Festival 2022, Jakarta, Indonesia, October 28
- 2023: presented at Festspielhaus Hellerau, Dresden Germany, May 12-13
- 2024: presented at 2024 Hong Kong Arts Festival, Hong Kong, February 23-25
- 2025: presented at 2025 The Asia Pacific Artistic Research Network (APARN), Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, July 1-2
Credit:
- Commissioned and co-produced by Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay, Singapore.
- Co-produced by TPAM – Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama and Taipei Performing Arts Center.
- Artistic director, choreographer & dancer: Pichet Klunchun
- Dancer: Kornkarn Rungsawang, Tas Chongchadklang
- CG artist: Jaturakorn Pinpech
- Music / Sound designer: Zai Tang
- Set concept / Lighting design: Ray Tseng
- Dramaturge: Tang Fu Kuen
- Producer / company manager: Sojirat Singholka
- Production manager: Cindy Yeong
- International Distribution: Stéphane Noël / Materialise
