Pleng Chaa: the Importance of Practice to Perform Thai Classical Dance (Khon Phra)

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to: 1) study the importance and the dance structure of the Pleng Chaa choreography; 2) to analyze the Pleng Chaa choreography by defining the scope of the study solely to the Pleng Chaa choreography (of the male character in Thai classical masked dance (khon) as it is taught following the curriculum at the College of Dramatic Arts in order to give a Thai classical dance performance. The researcher followed a qualitative research methodology by studying books, letters, articles and research related to the topic, by going on field studies for interviews and by practicing the dance movements. The data were compiled, analyzed and summarized.The research found that: Pleng Chaa is a song used to practice the basic choreography for people who train in the male character in khon. The melody of Pleng Chaa from the category of Pleng Chaa Soy Son is used twice with the Pleng Phuang Roy, which is also used twice,are both played continuously to accompany dance training to the melody. The choreography of the Pleng Chaa for the male character in khon differs from the one for the male character in Lakhon. The technique of the male character in khon is based on the dance techniques that produce the specific style of the male character in khon; The choreography of Pleng Chaa for the male character in khon; The use of the body to dance is the use of various body parts to practice different skills and various gestures in dance. Thus, in the art of Thai classical dance, it is called Nathayasap, which is divided to identify different positions of the head, the hands and the arms, adding those for the trunk, the legs and the feet. These positions are combined to create the choreography; The choreography has various forms and geometric shapes, including triangles, squares, pentagons, circles and ellipses. As for lines, there are straight horizontal lines, straight vertical lines, curves, wavy lines and 90 degrees lines.