Jérôme Bel & Pichet Kunchun
Pichet Klunchun and Myself
Dance / Performance - Paris / Bangkok
Festival Complicitats 2007
︎Auditorio del Institut Français de Barcelona
27/01 | 21:00
Spanish Premiere
Pichet Klunchun and Myself is a duet by French choreographer Jérôme Bel and Thai dancer and choreographer Pichet Klunchun. It brings two artists to face to face who come from very different cultures. They don't know anything about each other, who have very different aesthetical practices and try to learn more about the other, and above all about their respective artistic practices, despite the abyssal cultural gap dividing them. Pichet Klunchun and Myself embrace the contrasting personal biographies of these two artists and address the problematic and delicate notions of euro-centrism, inter-culturalism, and cultural globalisation.
Concept Jérôme Bel
By and with Jérôme Bel & Pichet Klunchun
Commissioned by Tang Fu Kuen for the Bangkok Fringe Festival
Co-produced by Bangkok Fringe Festival, SACD Le Vif du Sujet, Festival Montpellier Danse 2005, R.B. Jérôme Bel
Supported by Cultures France, French Alliance of Bangkok, Cultural Service of the French Embassy in Bangkok and The Flying Circus Project - Singapore
Thanks to Frie Leysen and Mark Deputter
Funded by Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Ile-de-France, Cultures France Production manager Sandro Grando
Jérôme Bel was born in 1964; he lives in Paris. He works worldwide. An experimental choreographer, his works provoke audiences with witty, cerebral presentations that often break down the traditional barrier between performer and audience and pose questions about virtuosity and dance as an art form. He studied at the Centre National de Danse Contemporaine of Angers (France) in 1984-1985. From 1985 to 1991, he danced for many choreographers in France and Italy. In 1992, he was assistant to the director and choreographer Philippe Découflé for the ceremonies of the XVIth Winter Olympic Games of Albertville and Savoie (France).
Pichet Klunchun is a Thai classical dance artist who attempts to adapt the traditional works of Thai classical dance to a more contemporary style while still keeping the tradition's heart. The Thai classical arts society claims he is a most innovative artist who dares to adjust the dance culture in Thailand from the old traditional style to a newer and more modernized one. He trained for the Thai Classical Mask Dance, "Khon," from the age of 16 with Chaiyot Khummanee, one of the best khon Masters in Thailand. He recently established his own company called LifeWork Company to train talented young dancers with strong Thai classical dance backgrounds. Pichet is the only artist in the country to develop his work from the traditional "Khon" dance and who is also able to collaborate with other artists on an international level.
By and with Jérôme Bel & Pichet Klunchun
Commissioned by Tang Fu Kuen for the Bangkok Fringe Festival
Co-produced by Bangkok Fringe Festival, SACD Le Vif du Sujet, Festival Montpellier Danse 2005, R.B. Jérôme Bel
Supported by Cultures France, French Alliance of Bangkok, Cultural Service of the French Embassy in Bangkok and The Flying Circus Project - Singapore
Thanks to Frie Leysen and Mark Deputter
Funded by Direction régionale des affaires culturelles d’Ile-de-France, Cultures France Production manager Sandro Grando
Jérôme Bel was born in 1964; he lives in Paris. He works worldwide. An experimental choreographer, his works provoke audiences with witty, cerebral presentations that often break down the traditional barrier between performer and audience and pose questions about virtuosity and dance as an art form. He studied at the Centre National de Danse Contemporaine of Angers (France) in 1984-1985. From 1985 to 1991, he danced for many choreographers in France and Italy. In 1992, he was assistant to the director and choreographer Philippe Découflé for the ceremonies of the XVIth Winter Olympic Games of Albertville and Savoie (France).
Pichet Klunchun is a Thai classical dance artist who attempts to adapt the traditional works of Thai classical dance to a more contemporary style while still keeping the tradition's heart. The Thai classical arts society claims he is a most innovative artist who dares to adjust the dance culture in Thailand from the old traditional style to a newer and more modernized one. He trained for the Thai Classical Mask Dance, "Khon," from the age of 16 with Chaiyot Khummanee, one of the best khon Masters in Thailand. He recently established his own company called LifeWork Company to train talented young dancers with strong Thai classical dance backgrounds. Pichet is the only artist in the country to develop his work from the traditional "Khon" dance and who is also able to collaborate with other artists on an international level.