The Creation of Dance in the “108 Pan Kaow” Exhibition to Celebrate the 108th Anniversary of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, The Thai Red Cross Society

Abstract

This article aimed to present the creation of dance in "108 years, our intention has never changed", which is a part of the exhibition "108 Years of the journey and still counting" to celebrate the 108th anniversary of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Thai Red Cross Society. The performance was created on the concept of presenting the story in the past of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, founded with a strong intention to provide medical assistance and treatments to all classes of people. The show used contemporary Thai dance accompanied by a video presentation on an LED display. The significant elements of the show are: 1) music using electronic equipment and improvised lyrics corresponding to music, 2) costumes applied and inspired by the fashion during the period of King Rama VI, 3) the videos supplementing the performances gathered from photos taken in the ancient times were arranged to present the concept, 4) gestures and movements of actors designed based on natural gestures and manner of human beings in conjunction with Thai classical dance figures, such as "chip จีบ" (closing the thumb and index finger, other fingers stretch back and turn the wrist up), and "tang wong ตั้งวง" (stretching out the hand tightly in all five fingers, but the thumb bends a little back to the palm). The important concern for creating this performance is the arrangement of the historical content to be presented on the stage and comprehended by the audience within five minutes in total. Also, the show needed to be in harmony with the exhibition since the location of the stage is set at the entrance position for visiting the exhibition zone 1, "The Great First Step", showing the background of the establishment of King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Dance creators hired to create commercial dances need to clearly define and outline their employer's requirements before starting the creative process of dance for effective work to meet the needs of employers.