Carmina Burana

Thailand Cultural Center 
11th Bangkok International Dance and Music Festival

Venue: Thailand Cultural Centre, Bangkok
Date: 29 September

By : Nuttaputch Wongreanthong

Carmina Burana may be a familiar chant as may be heard in some movie soundtracks because of its magnificent lyrics and rhythm. When Spellbound Dance Company picked up the tune and transformed it into contemporary ballet, it became an impressive performance with creative and emotional movements.

The original Carmina Burana is a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic text from the 11th to 13th Century. However, it became well-known only when Carl Orff set 24 poems to a new music, with the same title. The verses praise wine, love, and nature; but at the same time, there are parts that attacked corruption and greed for money. It also implied spiritual anxiety and pessimism. Orff's composition has been performed by countless ensembles.

Muaro Astolfi, Director and Choreographer, thought that the music by Carl Orff is not the only way to express the spirit of the chants. He chose contemporary ballet as a form to express it, and to make it more tangible and spectacle.

Astolfi’s Carminau Burana doesn’t give us a simple storytelling nor describe the chant. His choreography led us beyond the rhythm of the music and into a participation of feeling and interesting interpretation. His contemporary ballet is something new and challenges the Thai audience expecting something more classical – it is not the ‘ballet’ as they knew it.  However, the linkage is evident as some of the classical techniques remained intact.

“Experimentation” and “revision” may be the suitable words to describe what Astolfi and Spellbound Dance Company attempted to do on stage. The experiment of movement, posture, gesture, and ensemble of performers may not lead the audiences to know the chant’s lyric or music, but it led them to feel and to perceive the mood and tone in each scene. From my understanding, that feeling is more important than understanding the text. Ultimately, his approach reverts back to the core of dance, and that is expression and feeling.

The most impressive part of the choreography was the solos.  The ensemble scenes were sometimes too chaotic with so many performers and so many activities happening at the same time.  The moving in disordered manner looked awkward and stressful.  However, the combinations and the coordination between the performers were good. One of most interesting experiments by Astolfi is the integration of dance with scenery and props, which he has accomplished successfully.

With the simple design set, the stage is a wide open space for performers to move freely and to create innovative movements. The lighting design by Marco Policastro was also instrumental for recreating spectacular scenes.

I walked out from the theater with mixed feelings. I may not totally understand the true meaning or spirit of Carmina Burana as Astolfi intended, but I appreciate the way that he chose to deal with the audience.  I used to relate these chants to movie soundtracks, but not anymore!  

In my opinion, it was an evening well spent watching Carmina Burana.