No.60: Reimagining of Thai Classical Dance

“What if tradition isn’t a cage, but a key?”

With No.60, Pichet Klunchun dares to ask this question—not just as an artist, but as a cultural thinker confronting centuries of inherited forms. In this radical choreographic treatise, he unpacks the classical Thai dance system to propose something startlingly new: a living, thinking, moving methodology.

what is No.60?

No.60 is not a choreography, a dance routine, or a new style. It is a conceptual system derived from Thai classical dance that redefines how movement is understood, taught, and performed. No.60 is a treatise on Pichet Klunchun’s research over two decades on the language of Thai traditional dance.

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.

The name “No.60” does not refer to an added physical posture, but to a philosophical shift—the idea that movement can be understood logically, embodied freely, and adapted across contexts while still rooted in Thai heritage.

No.60 could be used as:

  • A training framework for dancers
  • A creative methodology for choreographers
  • A platform for cultural innovation and global dialogue

“The 60th pose doesn’t exist; It’s the space for thinking. For imagining.”


The Six Elements of No.60 adapted from Cyber Subin.

The Development: A Journey Beyond Rote Memory

Pichet began his artistic life rooted in Khon, the masked dance of the Thai court. For years, he trained to perfect the 59 canonical poses of Theppanom. But instead of being awed by tradition, he became curious about its boundaries. Why 59? What’s underneath it all?

Through over 20 years of research, performance, and teaching—culminating in a studio and rehearsal process revealed in the video—Pichet dismantled the old system. The result? A new framework, a 60th idea—not another pose, but a system of understanding movement itself.


Objectives: To Liberate, Not Imitate

The purpose of No.60 is not to rebel against tradition—but to render it usable. Pichet’s goal is to move Thai dance from a space of reverence to relevance.

“No.60 is not the next pose; it’s the beginning of thinking. It gives the dancer a way to understand movement, not just copy it.”

The system opens up Thai Traditional dance from a fixed vocabulary into a language—one that dancers can speak, interpret, and create with.


The Six Elements: Anatomy of a Living System

At the core of No.60 are six elements distilled from Thai Traditional Dance’s deep logic. Each is not just a physical quality, but a philosophical doorway into understanding dance as life.

1. Energy

Movement begins with energy—not only as physical force but as the intention that shapes motion. In No.60, energy originates from three core zones of the body: forehead, chest, and lower abdomen. These centers act as internal powerhouses, directing flow and vitality outward.

Energy can be external (from physical force), internal (from breath, mindfulness, and emotional states), or transformed—where technique refines and fuses both. This layered energy enriches the dance with emotional depth and clarity of meaning.

2. Circle and Curves

Movement in Thai classical dance rarely follows straight lines. No.60 emphasizes arcs, spirals, and curved trajectories to create fluid, multidirectional flow. These curves balance precision with softness, allowing dancers to move through space responsively. Three qualities arise:

  • Absolute: clear, directional gestures with defined endpoints
  • Unstable: flexible, open-ended movements inviting unpredictability
  • Impermanent: gestures that dissolve as they emerge—ephemeral yet powerful

This cyclical logic reflects impermanence and the organic rhythm of life.

3. Axis Point

No.60 explores “exist points”—internal and external axes that anchor movement.

  • Internal axes are joints (elbows, knees, shoulders) that initiate motion.
  • External axes are imagined or spatial points that guide direction and shape.

Connecting these points through the body generates invisible lines—structural paths that support form, alignment, and flow. These inner/outer coordinates help dancers express balance, clarity, and intention.

4. synchronIC limbs

The body moves like an orchestra. Synchronic Limbs trains dancers to coordinate head, chest, pelvis, limbs, and extremities in dialogue—not as separate gestures, but as one responsive whole. Qualities include:

  • Softness: gentle, intentional movement
  • Relativity: interconnected motion across body parts
  • Beauty: emerging from harmony, not symmetry

It explores four timing patterns:

  • Start and end together
  • Start together, end apart
  • Start apart, end together
  • Start and end separately

Each variation creates nuance, complexity, and emotional tone in the dance.

5. external body space

Movement lives in the space around the body. No.60 treats this external space not as emptiness, but as an active field. Air, energy, and form flow beyond the skin, extending lines, expanding shapes, and linking gestures.

Dancers learn to “sculpt the air”—using movement to fill, stretch, and navigate this space with precision and presence. Time and rhythm are key to sustaining its continuity and avoiding energetic gaps.

6. Shifting relation

Dance is not static—it evolves. Shifting Relation focuses on how dancers connect, detach, and redirect their intent in relation to others, space, and time. It involves:

  • Creating connection: through shared direction, rhythm, or physical contact
  • Altering connection: by shifting focus, breaking patterns, or transforming proximity
  • Exploring spatial and temporal directionality: in horizontal, vertical, or diagonal planes, and across time scales

It reflects adaptability, responsiveness, and the art of meaningful transition—turning each shift into new possibilities for perception and interpretation.

Demonstration of 3 elements


Potential and Future: A New Dance Philosophy

No.60 isn’t a piece. It’s a practice. A thinking system. A way forward.

  • In education, it offers Thai dancers a rational framework for movement—freeing them from superstition or blind repetition.
  • In performance, it enables deeply expressive, contemporary choreography rooted in cultural DNA.
  • Internationally, it becomes a bridge: a Thai system that speaks to global dance logic, without needing to Westernize.

And perhaps most importantly—it gives future generations the tools to engage with their heritage not as a fossil, but as a foundation.


Final Thoughts: Tradition, Transformed

Pichet’s No.60 doesn’t reject Thai Traditional dance. It listens to it differently. The work is not about modernizing for the sake of trendiness. It’s about asking: What does it mean to inherit a body of knowledge? And then: How do we make it ours?

“The real tradition; is in the way we keep asking questions.”


Learn more about No.60