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Mae Tha Yak
is the set of basic poses, steps
and movements for exercise and practice by the dancers
who perform the demon role. Mae Tha Yak comprises
the preliminary poses that begin from the Tha Nang
Wai to Tha Bak - this is called Hua Mae Tha or Krabuan
Mae Tha Ton Ton - before proceeding to the Basic Pose
Number 1 and so on to the Basic Pose Number 5.
Mae Tha Yak is the standard practice for Khon
dancers. Khon has been the Thai classical genre
of the performing art since the Ayutthaya era. The
present-day method of practice was handed down
from the masters of the royal Khon troupe in the
Department of Entertainments during King Rama
VI’s reign. It begins with the preliminary exercises:
Top Khao, Thong Sa-eo, Ten Sao, and Thip Liam. It then
proceeds to the Mae Tha, Tha Choet and Tha Pathom.
These are the rudimentary poses, steps and movements
used for exercise and practice and also used in
performances. The students must remember well and
correctly what the teacher taught and must practice
repeatedly for years. The dance master will adapt these
rudimentary poses, steps and movements to fit well with
each student’s physique and character and will oversee
that the students practice repeatedly until they acquire
the skill and are ready for public performance.
Mae Tha Yak is undeniably the intellectual heritage
from the Khon dance masters who specialized in the
demon role. The basic poses, steps and movements that
comprise the Mae Tha Yak are graceful and reflect the
superhuman power, strength and fierceness of the
demons, who symbolize the evil force. Mae Tha Yak is
therefore a truly important cultural legacy in the Khon
performance, which shows the identity of Thailand’s
art of dance.
Mae Tha Yak - Mae Tha Ling
Mae Tha Ling
is the set of exercise and practice for
the dancers who perform the monkey role. The monkeys
are among the characters in the Khon performance.
Mae Tha Ling comprises a set of poses, steps and
movements starting from the Basic Pose Number 1 to 7.
Mae Tha Ling’s importance lies in the fact that it
contains the rudimentary poses, steps and movements
that have been choreographed and definitively set by
the past dance masters for the monkey-role dancers.
The poses, steps and movements for the monkey role
are methodically organized in a sequence in Mae Tha
Ling. Mae Tha Ling is therefore used as the rudiments in
other dance movements, some of which has no name,
of the monkey character. Some of these poses and
movements are unnamed, but the dancers must
remember and be able to perform them; while some
movements are called Basic Pose Number 1, 2, 3, and
so on to 7.
It is prescribed that Mae Tha Ling is practiced in two
stages - the First Half and the Second Half. The First Half
comprises 90 poses, steps and movements, while the
Second Half focuses on the monkeys’ natural gestures
and movements such as “Catching a Fly”, “Catching
a Flea”, “Play with Insects”, “Playing with Fleas”, for
example.
Mae Tha Ling reflects the genius of the past masters
of Khon dance who choreographed the monkeys’
movements and gestures into these aesthetically beautiful
poses, steps and movements. It is a unique and
beautiful cultural legacy that deserved to be declared
Thailand’s cultural heritage.