Bangkok’s biggest and best-known international cultural festival opens in the city, this weekend
By Lekha Shankar
Bangkok’s biggest cultural extravaganza, the yearly International Festival of Dance & Music, opens this weekend, and for the next two months, the city will see a grand range of musical and dance shows from around the world
There are many ‘Remarkable Firsts’ this year, according to the Managing Director of the Festival, Rasina Uberoi, daughter of noted Thai-Indian publisher and cultural coordinator Kukoo Uberoi.
After all, this is the year celebrating the Thai King’s auspicious 72nd birthday.
The Festival is also an important part of the Thai Govt’s ‘Soft Power’ initiatives in the country.
While there are smaller cultural festivals around the country, this is the only example of a mega ‘international’ music and dance festival in Thailand.
The international countries partaking in the Festival, this year, are France, Russia, Israel, Japan, Uzbekistan, the UK and USA.
One certainly misses the presence of India, who have fielded many brilliant artists at this festival.
But this is a good opportunity for Indian tourists flocking into the country, to catch some of the international cultural shows, for the next two months.
The Festival opens the coming weekend, with a rarely seen ballet on Marie Antoinette performed by the Malandain Ballet Biarritz from France, with music by the splendid
Opera Royal Chateau de Versailles Orchestra. The contemporary ballet, with grand sets, music, dances, marvellously resurrects the tumultuous life of one of the most famous queens in French history.
Among the many exciting ballets at this year’s Festival, Swan Lake is top of the list.Tchaikovsky’s much-loved ballet is hugely popular in Thailand, and has been performed almost every year at the two-decade festival.
This year, the legendary ballet is being performed by the original Bolshoi Ballet Co themselves, which is a huge ‘first’ for the Festival.
There’s a second version of Swan Lake, this time on ice, by the renowned Imperial Ice Stars from UK, who have popularized these classical ballets on ice, at more than 31 countries around the world.
The Imperial Ice Stars also perform Peter Pan on Ice, the famous story of the boy who never grew up. This will definitely attract family audiences, who are a new target market of the Festival.
The great Novosibirsk Ballet troupe is the second important Russian group performing at this year’s Festival, and they have two spectacular ballets lined up, Spartacus and Don Quixote, with a grand cast of nearly 120 artists.
A ballet troupe, making their debut at the Festival, is Japan’s premier ballet-company, the Tokyo City Ballet, who are performing the ever-popular Nutcracker Ballet, which should also attract family audiences.
One of the special features of Bangkok’s International Festival of Dance and Music is their own Student out-reach programs, with Master Classes and Workshops for various schools, and also special performances for underprivileged kids. This is a very laudable addition to this hi-profile Festival.
Among the modern dance-troupes at this year’s Festival, is the Paul Taylor Dance Co from the US, who have performed in more than 600 cities of the world.
The Vertigo Dance Company from Israel, is a cutting-edge dance-company noted for its innovative choreography and multimedia forms.
There is only one Music group this year, from a country making its debut at Bangkok’s best-known cultural Festival.
This is the State Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan, who will be playing out Mahler’s monumental Symphony No. 5, and also a violin masterpiece from Faust.
Last but not the least, comes a unique collaboration between Italy and China, to celebrate 100 years of the great Italian composer Giacomo Puccini.
The renowned China National Opera House, with nearly 200 Chinese musicians and dancers, will enact Puccini’s marvelous operas La Boheme and Turandot, and they will be accompanied by Soprano and Tenor singers from Italy.
This rare East-West collaboration is easily the artistic ‘scoop’ of Bangkok’s best-known cultural festival, this year.
To quote Rasina Uberoi, the Managing Director of the Festival “ This year’s Festival exemplifies how the arts transcend borders and unites people.”
For more details of the Festival, check
For Ticket Bookings,
(@kumarr_raj) 
