by Ma Thanegi

Gitameit is a combination of two words: ‘gita’, meaning music, and ‘meit’, meaning friendship. Artists came together in friendship at the centre last week from across the globe; from the United States, Thailand, Hong Kong, Germany, and Myanmar; for a week-long workshop culminating in two truly unique performances the likes of which had never been witnessed by Myanmar audiences before.

The repertoire of each evening was based on the theme of ‘night, moon, and dance, also the title of a poem by workshop participant and Myanmar poet, Nyein Way. In Myanmar, the words are simply formed with one letter of the alphabet each: Nya, La and Ka. Artist San Oo, usually known as MSO, performed the poem, which was the inspiration for the evening’s performance.

After twenty minutes of this poetic ‘overture’, the music, dance and choir performances commenced, each in their own way responding to the poem’s theme. Two music pieces entitled Forever Moon were composed by pianist and artistic director of Gitameit, Kit Young. The third piece was composed by Parami Shoon also a pianist and the grandson of famous Myanmar composer Myoma Nyein of Mandalay. Hong Kong artist John Chen composed the choir piece Ka which was conducted by U Moe Naing, as well as a second piece performed by Myanmar drum circle player U Kyauk Sein (also known as Mr. Jade).

U Kyauk Sein at times produced sounds as sweet as raindrops falling on a pond, while at other times his drums rolled with the force of thunderbolts hurtling across the skies. The clarinet of Bohdan Hilash of the US wove between the rolls of U Kyauk Sein’s drums, while U Tin Yi’s violin swept over it all. A lively wake-up call came from the pounding fingertips of the six-drums player U Soe Thein, which made you feel like leaping to your feet and dancing. The plaintive cries of U Ba Thay’s oboe hit the roof and pierced through the audience member’s hearts.

A piece of digital sound art created by John Chen, incorporating the theme poem, was played in the intervals between live performances, creating a mysterious, expectant wave that ebbed and flowed throughout the evening. Solo baritone Thomas Buckner was accompanied by his wife Kamala Cesar in a performance utilizing classical Indian dance movements to tell the story of the moon. Her hands curved and turned like hummingbirds sweeping between flowers. The Gitameit choir also performed with aplomb.

The music was exhilarating, but the real surprise and the masterpiece of the evening was the dance performance. The dancers included Chan Tha, the son of legendary Myanmar classical dancer Shwe Mann Tin Maung, as well as Thai dancer Pradit Prasartthong. In the first dance, Chan Tha’s well-built and supple figure, visible only in silhouette, appeared to be celebrating alone in the moonlight. The movements of the modern dance were strongly alpha-male yet there was a fascinating sense of classical Myanmar dance in the graceful way his hands flicked and turned. Later he danced in the classical style, dressed in all the finery of a traditional Myanmar performer, together with Pradit Prasartthong.

The audience, already whipped into a frenzy by the night’s earlier performances, almost yelled the roof down in delight, as the two showed the similarities and differences between Thai and Myanmar dance. Pradit Prasartthong was first simply dressed in black, but Chan Tha quickly turned him into a Bagan-era prince by adding a crown, belt, anklets and armbands. The two danced their hearts out but met with serious competition from the third dancer, the gorgeously costumed two-foot tall prince, a ‘Mintha’ puppet handled most dextrously by a young woman, Aye Aye Thwe, who is not only an award winning puppeteer but also an award winning traditional dancer.

It would be an understatement to say that the audience came away overwhelmed, excited and exhilarated. Culture bridges chasms created by war and politics. The celestial patron of the arts, Lawkanat, the god of peace who sings and dances to end wars, is surely smiling down on the artists involved in this performance as well as on all those who supported it.