Thai dance ‘Ram Wong’ dazzles crowd
SIBU: ‘Ram Wong’ or circle dance from central Thailand dazzled participants of Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF) 2018 workshop here yesterday.
The dance, moving in a circular motion, has two basic hand gestures, namely ‘cheap’ and ‘wong’.
Paphutsorn Koong Wong Ratanapitak, who conducted the workshop for the Thai dance, said the dance originated in central Thailand during Second World War, by the villagers as a form of entertainment.
‘Ram Wong’ has 10 movements, and is a very popular dance in Thailand. It is also part of dance curriculum in schools.
“It was originally a social dance. In the olden days when there was no electricity and no television dance was the only form of entertainment.
“People fled to the villages to escape the war and there they created the dance as they had nothing to do,” she said when met at the workshop yesterday.
Paphutsorn, who taught dance and music in Chulalongkorn University, added that it would take about five years for one to really master all the 10 movements.
She said the dance was standardised with fixed songs and movements after WWII. The costume, she added, also originated from central Thailand.
“Thailand is a very diverse country with many different types of dances and musical instruments.”
Having been involved in the dance for the past 33 years, she has travelled extensively to places such as England, Indonesia, China and many European countries to conduct dance workshops.
Paphutsorn shared that she has been to Borneo on many occasions but this was her first trip to Sibu in conjunction with BCF.
“I love the local handicraft and ‘batik’ here. I bought lots of ‘batik’ being a ‘batik’ lover,” she said.
It was originally a social dance. In the olden days when there was no electricity and no television dance was the only form of entertainment.
— Paphutsorn Koong Wong Ratanapitak