THE DEVELOPMENT OF THAI ANCIENT DANCE OF AMPEUR KHULNG CHANTABURI PROVINCE

Abstract

          The purposes of the study were: 1) to study the history of Ramwong Boran and to gather the knowledge and the local wisdom of the art of Ramwong Boran in Khlung District, Chanthaburi province; and 2) to analyze and to find the way to develop the gestures of Ramwong Boran. The study employed a qualitative research methodology. The data were collected from documents, an in-depth interview of a group of 10 people who were Thai folk music collectors, local dancers and Ramwong Boran experienced local villagers, fieldwork observation and Ramwong Boran gestures analysis. The results of the study demonstrated that Ramwong Boran was the local dance performance in Khlung District, Chanthaburi Province. The lyrics and the gestures of Ramwong Boran have been collected since 1982. Ramwong Boran has been performed by Mr. Kan Korani, the President of the Thai cultural committee in Khlung District, Chanthaburi Province, and the performers who danced from 1944-1954, and the local villagers in Khlung District, Chanthaburi Province. Ramwong Boran gestures were classified into 2 forms: the meaningful movements and the meaningless movements. The meaningful movements consisted of the communicative gestures, the body language gestures and the emotional gestures. These meaningful movements of Ramwong Boran were developed from the preliminary Thai dance movements and the principles of body language and dances. The meaningless movements had no identifiable pattern. In conclusion, this study contributed an in-depth analysis of the history and gestures of Ramwong Boran dance in Chantaburi province.