Photo Essay: Gwangju Thai Dancers
Gwangju has its very own traditional Thai dance troupe. All five of the specially trained traditional Thai dancers (below) live in Gwangju and began dancing together after meeting socially earlier [in 2011]. Four met in the Korean language class in the Gwangju Support Center for Immigrant Women/광주이주여성지원센터.
They are married to Koreans, and Natrada [second from right] is the spouse of an American English teacher. She joined the team through the facebook group “Thai in Korea.”
“We are proud to share Thai culture,” says Vannisa Lokanit [above, right]. “This dance is a part of our inspiration.”
The center invited the dance troupe to perform for a Buddha’s birthday festival in downtown Gwangju in May. Due to popular demand they repeated the show for the Gwangju World Music Festival in August, again in Gochang on September 24th, and most recently on October 2nd at Gwangju’s 70/80 Jungjangno Festival.
The ‘Umbrella Dance,’ or “Fon Rom,” is a traditional art from Thailand. The dancer shows graceful, delicate movements of form using toes, fingers, and an umbrella.
The word for umbrella (‘fon’) and the style of clothing is common to Chiang Mai and the surrounding areas of northern Thailand.
The umbrellas are handmade and hand painted in the same particular northern style, from the time when the area was known as Lanna.
The dancer and the photographer.
By Natrada Busch
Photos by Nathan Busch