They say art transcends language and this
trip showed us exactly that. We were an odd group of young adults, each
talented in our respective fields, coming together to put on a show on the
world’s stage at the “Cultural Festival of the Southern Region”, in Songkhla
Province.
Apart from Singapore, artists from the
Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, South Korea and of course, Thailand were
present for the event.
One could see the brilliant mix of culture during the parade
and it was nothing short of a grand event with the representatives of each
country playing their instruments, dancing along the street, holding huge props
all while dressed in the splendour of their cultural identities. The cultural
procession took us to the festival venue, the General Prem Tinsulanonda
Historical Park where we were to perform for the next three nights. It was
fascinating watching the various countries performances which reflected a piece
of their history, tradition and culture.
On that same note, I am glad to say
that our troupe put on a good show and impressed the audience as well as the
dancers of the various countries.
Overall, our itinerary wasn’t as hectic as
we expected it to be and between our sound check rehearsals and travelling to
the different tourist destinations in Songkhla Province, we spent most of our
time bonding. Stories from ranging from normal to the most bizarre were
exchanged, art and famous artists were discussed and people were teased. It
astounds me how strangers could bond so strongly over a short period of 5 days.
We got from barely knowing each other to feeling like we’ve known each other
for years. During our exchanges, one thing that stuck with me was the richness
of the sharing between the different disciplines.
The dancers were enthusiastic about
learning a few steps of a different dance genre be it the Malay dancers’ Joget,
Kathak or Bharathanatyam.
The vocalist sang for the Bharathanatyam dancers as
they practiced, the miruthangist put complicated thaalams for the vocalist and
challenged the dancers to dance to the sollukattus he uttered. The Chinese Di Zi
player and our Indian flutist exchanged notes on their wind instruments and these
were but a few of the many cross discipline sharing that occurred.
Not only did we learn from each other but
also from the artists of the other countries. The very last night of our stay
in Thailand is probably one of the highlights of the trip. Our vocalist had
found an Indonesian dancer with good vocal range and started singing duets
together. Hearing that, our Chinese flutist came out of his room and started
playing his Di Zi. People slowly started to stream out of their rooms to join
in the fun and a crowd began to form. A few Philippine dancers started dancing
to the sound of the flute and soon the South Koreans joined us, amongst them a
famous wind instrument player who we were fortunate enough to hear play.
That
night, I thought to myself that that truly was the cultural exchange we had
come looking for, where a group of people from vastly different backgrounds
came together, revelled in and appreciated each other’s talent, culture and
art.
I and a few others who went on the trip
still reminisce about the moments we shared in Thailand and I am truly grateful
to SIFAS for having given me this opportunity. I also would like to thank Maha
akka on behalf of the team for having taken care of us while we were there.
To
those who get this opportunity to go in the future, I highly recommend grabbing
it for it was honestly a memorable and enriching experience.
Dhashayani Vallatharasu
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