The Inheritance and Adaptation of Thai Royal Dance and Drama in Burma

Abstract

This article aims to present knowledge about the succession and unfolding of Thai court dance and drama in Burma. The study found that Thai court dance and drama began to spread to Burma since the first fall of Ayutthaya in 1569, but it was not widely known in Burma until after the second fall of Ayutthaya (1767). The Burmese have forcibly transported a large number of high-ranking royal family members, court officials, and Ayutthaya artisans who specialize in various arts as prisoners of war. As a result, Thai dance and drama in the Ayutthaya court began to be more well-known in Burma. Even though the script is in Thai language that most of the Burmese people do not understand, but the beautiful melody along with the dance moves and the splendid costumes impress the Burmese audience. Later, the play was translated into Burmese language and the dance and dramatic form was improved to suit the cultural and social context of Burma at that time. However, the modification still preserves the aura of the royal court of Ayutthaya. Later Burmese people called this changed dance and drama "Yodia Zat Kyi", which means the dance and drama of the Ayutthaya people.

There were 3 forms of the Ayutthaya dance and drama that Burmese were widely known in the past: 1) Inao drama, which resembled the Thai royal court drama; 2) Ramayana drama, which resembled Khon masked performances; and 3) Yodia Dance, which is a series of various performances with miscellaneous dance styles. These dance and dramatic forms persisted in Burmese society for a long time until Burma was colonized by the British in 1885. The colonization resulted in the end of Burmese royal power. The Inao drama lost its successor and was lost for a while before the remaking in 1998. Ramayana and Yodia dances have been inherited continuously to the present day. From the observation of the interest that Burmese took the dance and drama of the Thai royal court to mix with the art of their dances, while still preserving the Ayutthaya dance and drama style, it is considered an artistic and cultural phenomenon that reflects good relations between the two nations This is in contrast to the images of conflicts in the history of war that Thais today are familiar with.