Abstract:
To sutdy the royal rite of paying homage to the teachers of Khon and Lakon. It focusses on the dance of the master of ceremony during the rite which comprises of seven dance set peices : Brahm Khao, Samue Then, Samue Sam La, Choed (Tawai Krueng), Proei Khao Tok, and Krao Ram. The study devided the rite into three periods according to the supreme master of ceremony when each of them was responsible for the rite. First period was under the royal patronage or the Royal Performing Arts Department period (1854-1935). Second period was under the Fine Arts Department or the Dramatic Arts School period (1945-1984), and the period since His Majesty the King bestowed the new master of ceremony in 1984 until today. The study finds that the rite has three important parts : Buddhistic rite, Paying homage rite, and the rite to authorise the ones to perform or to teach. The dances of the master of ceremony were mostly performed in the third part in the olden day; but some of them are performed in the second part today. This change may be based upon the fact that the master of ceremony is gaining a higher status. This was firstly laid out by luang Wilas Wong Ngam. The change may also come from the time constraint. Two objectives of the dance are found. First is the dance of the students who intend to present offerings to the teachers. The dances are Choed, Proei Kao Tok and Krao Ram. Second is the dance of Bharat Muni and other brahmins who suppose to preside over at the ceremony to authorise the ones to perform and to teach. The dances in this second part are Brahm Khao, Brahm Ok, Samue Then, Samue Sam La. Dance style in the rite is similar to the hero and the demon in Khon. Dance postures are found in the dance basic patterns. Dances mostly moves towords the stage right. Hands move from low to high positions which indicated that the dances are taken from Khon performance. Only one who performs hero role in Khon or Lakon can be the master of ceremony. The one who is demon can also be the master of ceremony but that has not happened in the history. The rite and the dances of the master of ceremony indicate the cultural tradition of worshipping the Hindu gods who are related to the dance. The rite significantly shows the continuity of dance knowledge derived from Nataraj (Shiva) which brought about the rite of paying homage to teachers of Khon and Lakon