Thai traditional dance Songkran Hyde Park Perth Australia

Thai traditional dance Songkran Hyde Park Perth Australia 2018

Beautiful dance choreography of Thai traditional dance is a combination of graceful body movements in addition to elaborate costumes and music there are a total of six different forms of Thai dance: the khon, li-khe, ram wong, shadow puppetry, lakhon lek, and lakhon. One of the most distinctive aspects of this Thai art form is the costumes worn by the performers. Though the quality of the designs has gradually declined since its beginnings some centuries ago, the outfits still remain stunning and elaborate. Gold and silver sequins are used, and even unusual adornments such as beetle wings have been used in their creation.

Thai Food and Family Fun to Celebrate Thai New Year
Enjoy this free event at Hyde Park on Sunday, April 8th for Songkran, the Thai New Year festival. The festival will celebrate Thai food and culture and the wonderful relationship between the Thai and Australian communities.
The Thai New Year celebrations involve a mix of food, dance and song. At Hyde Park, the stage will come alive with the beautiful and entrancing Thai cultural music and choreography from the four regions of Thailand.

Hyde Park is an iconic Perth landmark situated between Vincent and William Streets, easy to access by public transport or by car with parking around the venue. Tourists to Perth would enjoy the relaxing gardens and the delicious array of authentic, fresh and very inexpensive meals, all with the backdrop of traditional entertainment

Songkran means the shift of the sun from one side of the zodiac to the other. The holiday is celebrated when the sun moves from Pisces to Aries, beginning a new astrological year. The origins of Thai New Year combine Buddhist beliefs, ancient astrology, and the solar calendar. Songkran is also known as the Water Festival. New Year in Thailand is greeted with a splash of scented water to wish someone a happy new year. It is believed that water help to cleanse and to wash away unhappiness from the previous year.

Thai traditional dance Songkran Hyde Park Perth Australia. – Event date: 8th of April 2018

Traditional Thai dance

Ram wong, meaning to dance in a circle, is one of the most popular forms of Thai dance. It is a Thai folk dance, and as the name suggests, men and women come together in pairs and dance in a circle. Movements are slow and graceful, and this is one of the most social forms of dance out of the six.
Unlike the Kohn style of Thai dance, Lakhon performers are mostly women. Instead of having individual roles in a performance, the women work together and perform as a group. Many stories are told through these performances through acting, song, and of course, dance. The costumes and stage settings are usually much more lavish in lakhon than in some of the other forms of Thai dance. The lower half of the body does not move as much as the top, with graceful and lively hand movements throughout a performance.

The Songkran Festival

Songkran is a period when the Thai people cleanse and pour water mixed with Thai fragrance on Buddha images. The festival also showcases a bathing ritual where the people pour water on the senior Buddhist monks. This process is believed to bring good luck to them. After that, the chief monk will give a sermon and bless those who attend this bathing ritual.

The Songkran Festival is a period when Thai people splash water on themselves, which they believe will cause plenty of rainfall in the coming year. Water is used to cleanse themselves of those bad things and also a symbol of fertility.
In some areas in Thailand, Buddha images are paraded from one street to the other, allowing Thai people to shower them with water. The young people pay gratitude and also show a sign of respect to elders in a sacred ritual, which involves pouring down scented water on their hands and also giving them new clothes. This water festival in Thailand involves merrymaking, presenting offerings to monks, releasing birds and fishes into the river, paying respect to elders, building sand pagodas, listening to sermons and, more importantly, splashing of water. This is believed to bring longevity, good health and prosperity.