Basic HTML Version
Intellectual Cultural Heritage
41
2.
Nora
performers must show off his or her singing
talent in various ways. They must sing the verses in a clear
voice, correct tempo, with emotion, and must be able to
improvise the verses quickly, with good content and good
rhyme. They must be able to improvise and sing witty verses
in response.
3.
Nora
per formers must show thei r ski l l s in
interpreting the sung passages into dance steps or postures.
The sung part and the dance movement must match well,
and must use a wide range of dance vocabulary to capture
every nuance of the sung verses. The singing and the
dancing must correspond to the musical tempo and style
perfectly. Interpreting the sung passage into a dance
movement, which is called
Tham Bot
, therefore represents
the epitome of
Nora
art.
4.
Nora
performers must also be ski l led in the
“speci f ic dances” which may be performed in some
occasions such as in the rite to pay homage to the past
masters or in
Taeng Phok Phuk Pha Yai
rite. Some specific
dances are performed only in a competition; some in Long
Khru or Rong Khru ceremony, some in votive offering.
Examples of the specific dances are:
Ram Bot Khru Son,
Ram Phleng Thap Phleng Thon, Ram Phleng Pi, Ram Kho
Soet, and Ram Khlong Hong
.
5. Normally
Nora
performances do not focus on
telling a story. However, with enough time to perform,
a story might be told to entertain the audiences. Episodes
from well-known stories might be depicted, but the costume
does not correspond to the story. More focus will be paid
to the comic interludes and
Nora
-style verse singing to tell
the story.
In the performance of
Nora
for entertainment, each
Nora
troupe has its own customary sequences of the pieces
to be performed for each occasion, starting from:
●
Tang Khrueang
(playing an invocation music;
after setting up the orchestra in place, music will be played
to invoke the deities and spirits in that place in order to ask
for permission to perform
Nora
at that place);
●
Hom Rong
(overture);
●
Kat Khru
or
Coen Khru
(a song to pay homage
to the teachers, past masters and benefactors and to tell the
history of
Nora
development);
●
Entrance of the female dancers (there might be
2 to 5 dancers), which has the following sequence:
-
Kiao Man
or
Khap Na Man
, in which the
performers sing the verses from behind the curtain, without
being seen by the audience;
-
Ok Rai Ram
(“Entrance of the Dancers;
Beginning to Dance”), in which the performers come out to
show off their skill and special talents;
-
Nang Phanak
(“Sitting on the bench”);
-
Wa Bot Rai Trae
;
-
Tham Bot
(interpreting the sung passage into
a dance movement);
-
Wa Klon
(showing skill in improvising verses,
dance skill is not emphasized), which will be called
Wa Kham
Phrat
if the verses were prepared and are recited from
memory, and
Wa Mutto
if they are improvised;
-
Ram Uat Mue
(“Showing dance talent”) and
exit;
●
Ok Phran
(“Entrance of the Hunter [Comedian]”)
is the entrance of the comedian, an important character that
adds humorous moments to the show;
●
Ok Tua Nai Rong
(“Entrance of the Principal
Performer/Character”)
Nai Rong
or
Nora Yai
is the troupe
owner/manager and principal performer. He will show off his
expertises and talents in dance, singing, and in improvising
verses as befits his position as the principal performer. In
case of a competition, the Nai Rong will perform the rites of
Khian Phrai
(“Flogging the Sprites”) and
Yiap Luk Nao
(“Stepping on Lime Fruits”) as a hex or spell on the rivals
and to boost the troupe’s morale;
●
Ok Phran–this is performed again to tell the
audience what story will be depicted;
●
Len Pen Rueang
(“Depicting a story”);
Today, both types of
Nora
are still performed.
Nora
’s
costume and dance steps and postures have unique
identities. Besides its entertainment and the ritualistic values,
Nora
also serves as the media to disseminate news,
messages and information to the people, because it can
easily access and communicate with the people. Nora
therefore remains the preferred type of performing arts for
the southerners and continues to be popular even in the
fast-changing world of today.
Examples of prominent
Nora
troupes are: Khruen
Noi Dao Rung of Trang Province,
Nora
Nom Boran Sin of
Phatthalung Province, Lamai Si Raksa of Songkhla Province.