The Japan Foundation Asia Center Asia Fellowship Report Maria Christine Muyco

Song as Precedence to Dance: Understanding The Pedagogy of Learning Kinnari in Ventiane, By Maria Christine Muyco and Nouth Phouthavongsa (This research is funded by the Japan Foundation Asia Center)

INTRODUCTION

Noi or Nok is the Lao term for bird. In the Children Cultural Center of Sailom Village in Vientiane, Laos, you can hear children singing the repeated word “noi, noi, noi…”. The introduction of a song about “A lady who is a bird,” (referring to Kinnari), is one of the first things that is known in the Center. This is precedence to the actual dance of kinnari.

Kinnari, side by side its lover, the kinnara, are protector gods in Buddhist and Hindu mythology. They are said to look after human beings from their home, the Himalayas. As celestial musicians, they are represented in musical instruments such as the Indian veena (lute) made after Kinnari, known as Kinnari Veena. In Southeast Asia, particularly, she is portrayed having a human head, torso, and arms; and a swan’s tail, wings, and feet. Inhabiting the Himavanta forest, she sings magical melodies with heartfelt poetry and dances gracefully. With her deep love and loyalty for her mate, she is admired and looked up to as a feminine symbol.

This article focuses on what kinnari’ism means in Laos. In particular, it looks at the pedagogy used in the Center (which I refer to in short for Ventiane’s Children Cultural Center), the foundation venue for learning of the youth. The Center was established in 1994 with the initiative of the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism whose objective is to promote national culture through children. The Center also provides library and educational services, publication of materials, and organizing of activities for children’s development.

LANDLOCKED LAOS

In Vientiane, there is an interesting mixture of Thai culture, Chinese, Burmese, and Vietnam that circumvent the landlocked Laos from various sides of its northern geography. On southern Laos, there are Khmer culture and further down, Malaysian and Indonesian Islamic influences. However, as their history is traced to the old Indian empire, their use of Pali language is traced to India and its Hindu practices. This explains their use of Ramayana in their theatre embodying themes from its stories and particular characters that represent certain ideals and values, which are reflected in their music and dance.

Laos | history - g eog rap hy | Britannica.com 7/17/16 8:41 PM

sometimes hospitable— with the neighbouring See All Stories Khmer (Cambodian), Siamese (Thai), and Myanmar (Burmese) kingdoms between BRITANNICA QUIZZES the 5th and the mid-19th century indirectly imbued Laos with elements of Indian culture, including Buddhism , the religion now practiced by most of the population. W hat’s Bugging You? STORIES QUIZZESBoth Buddhist andGALLERIES Hindu lores have shapedLISTS the visual, Sperforming,earch Britan andnic literarya... arts of the country. Many of the indigenous and minority peoples of the remote TABLE OF CONTENTS Before They Were World highland slopes and mountainous regions, however, have maintained their own Leaders: Africa Edition Introduction idiosyncratic ritual and artistic traditions. Land W hich John Adams? Relief Colonization by the French from the late 19th to the mid-20th century infused Laos Drainage with a European cultural element, which intensified throughout the country’s Soils See More Quizzes embroilment in World War II and the Indochina wars, as well as a civil war of its Clim ate own in the second half of the 20th century. Guided by Marxist-Leninist ideology, Plant and anim al life Laos emerged from the turmoil in 1975 as a communist country. Economic reforms People Ethnic groups and of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, including the development of tourism, languages have strengthened Laos’s economy, gradually shrinking the country’s debt and Religion diminishing its dependence on international aid. Settlem ent patterns Dem ographic trends

Economy Agriculture, forestry, and fishing Land Resources and power Laos is bounded to the north by China, to the northeast and east by Vietnam , to the M anufacturing agoda.com/Hotel_Discounts Finance south by , to the west by , and to the northwest by Myanmar Trade (Burma). Services Labour and taxation Transportation Relief Government and society Dominating the landscape of Laos are its Constitutional fram ework inhospitable forest-covered mountains, which in the Local governm ent north rise to a maximum elevation of 9,245 feet Justice (2,818 metres) above sea level at Mount Bia and Political process everywhere constitute an impediment to travel. The Security principal range lies along a northwest-southeast axis Health and welfare and forms part of the Annamese Cordillera (Chaîne

Education Annamitique), but secondary ranges abound. On the Cultural life Figure 1: Map of Laos (https://www.britannica.com/place/Laos/images) Cultural m ilieu Xiangkhoang Plateau in north-central Laos, the Plain of Jars (Thông Haihin; the Past scholars have written about Laos’ music. Terry Miller (1980, 1985, 1991) archives a Daily life and sociabroadl spectrum of Laosname Music recorded derived on-site from, with particular large focus prehistoric on the , orstone jars discovered there) consists of custom s bamboo mouth organ; and the mawlum, a song genre. On the same year and thereafter, Therese Mahoney (1991extensive-1992), writes rollingabout Lao Classical grasslands Music. As to rather poetry found than in a true plain and provides a hub of The arts Lao songs, Carol Compton analyses text as related to the Lao life and culture. communications. The karst landscapes of the central provinces of Bolikhamxay and Cultural institutionLaoss music and dance bear a narrative that is shaped by myths and legends, folk stories, and literature combiningKhammouan natural environment contain with supernatural caverns and spiritual and elements. severely eroded limestone pinnacles. In the south Sports and recreati on the Bolovens Plateau, at an elevation of about 3,600 feet (1,100 metres), is covered M edia and broadcasting by open woodland and has generally fertile soil. The only extensive lowlands lie

History along the eastern bank of the Mekong River. Under foreign rule Laos after the Geneva Conference, 1954–75 Drainage

The ’s Figure 2: One of the roof designs in Sisaket Temple shows kinnari on the left side of the photo, with Dem ocratic Repubkinnara,lic or the male half-birdThe on its general right. Buddha is slope seen on top of of them. the land in Laos is downhill from east to west, and all the

major rivers— the Tha, Beng, Ou, Ngum, Kading, Bangfai, Banghiang, and Kong— are tributaries of the Mekong (Mènam Khong). The Mekong flows generally southeast and south along and through western Laos and forms its boundary with Myanmar and most of the border with Thailand. The course of the river itself is severely constricted by gorges in northern Laos, but, by the time it reaches Vientiane, its valley broadens and exposes wide areas to flooding when the river breaches its https://www.britannica.com /p lace/Laos# ref5 0 9 2 9 2 Pa g e 2 of 6 SONG TEXT and MOVEMENTS

Figure 3: Children learning from Nouth Phouthavongsa at The Children Culture Center of Ventiane, Laos.

In the song, the story tells about Kinnari flying and eventually finding a river for bathing. Upon her descent to the flowing waters, she began her bath. She brushes her right hand back and forth her left arms length, and vice-versa, she does it on the other arm. She does this while singing. Aside from the narration about her, she herself is believed to sing and hum (noi, noi, noi, etc.) while bathing:

Lyrics in Lao English translation Cha kao theung, eya sai samone. Once upon a time, there’s a lady. (hums)… Heu... Ki eya none noi, ki eya none noi She is a bird, she is a bird Theo bin loy. Eu eu eya… Long fa. Eu…Vey ha heun. Flying up. (hums flying sound)… In the sky (hums) Very far. Phothala eung eya binma…heu The bird is flying to find a river…(hums) Tha eya pheut pheun long sou neune. Eye ya tin tha Then it saw the river and came down with a happy ey… face. (Hums) Song walee…heu Then it took a bath. (Hums)… Leo wax waieu. Eya… Khongkha. Heu.. Swimming in the river. (Hums). This human bird. (Hums) Tha eya laxay, bantheungchai… Swimming. (Hums). And bathing. (Hums)… Khatsee. Ey…Sawee vanh… Brushing water from arms. (Hums)… Feeling fresh Noi, noi, noi… (Hums about the bird)…

Figure 4: Song lyrics of the Kinnari with translation provided by Nouth Phouthavongsa.

To see how these lyrics are used in the song, the next illustration will show the transcribed score from the recording made on the children who sung at the Children’s Cultural Center.

______

Figure 5: Melody of the Kinnari Song

What makes the Kinnari song singable is its comfortable and narrow range of pitches. It basically revolves around an octave, or sometimes an octave and a fifth in some few instances of the piece. Also, notes come smoothly in stepwise motion. The melody has an easy recall. It uses a pentatonic scale, in particular, the anhemitones ranging from D, E, F#, A, to B. The scale of course can occur in a transposed version, depending on singers’ capability or preference.

There is also an easy recall on lyrics as verses in the songs are interspersed with the repeated syllables of “ey” or “noi”. These repeated syllables serve as a melodic bridge to the next verse.

Although musical instruments basically accompany this song, the collaboration for this research primarily focused on the melody and lyrics. The procedural process is intrinsic to the education of learners in the Cultural Center whereby the pedagogy of teaching them is as important as the music/dance itself. In singing, they first listen to their teacher then write down the lyrics. Then, they repeat after the teacher word per word and line per line. After singing, the children were made to dance while singing. Thus, their actions coincided with the lyrics of the song in terms of signifying meanings through their body.

DO NOT DANCE YET

Teachers of music and dance in Laos have varied styles of teaching. However, Ms. Nouth Phouthavongsa, one of the teachers in the Center pointed out that her pedagogy goes beyond direct blackboard writing, copying, and acting on the lecture. She said she always starts her classes with warm-up exercises. Students do body stretching, knee bend, hand bend, and other physical challenges that will condition their body to the dance. Everyone is involved in the exercises including musicians or children who are learning instrument-playing and singing.

When students learn the Kinnari song, their teacher starts to train them in dancing. Nouth Phouthavongsa provides the dance steps below:

The birds dance movements !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!

!

!

! !

!

!

!!!! ! !walk walk jump to right !jump to left

about to!flight fly away 1 fly away 2 fly away 3

fly away 4 fly move one wing slowly out 1 fly move one wing slowly out 2 fly move one wing slowly out 3

Fly lift one leg bathe one wing 1 in b athe one wing 2 out one wing down to floor

Figure 6: Alternative steps are given in this illustration giving the learners options to render the jump, flight, and bathing.

The actual singing and dancing are not even the immediate mode of action upon the arrival at the Cultural Center. The children aligned themselves in a row and altogether recited their count while executing physical exercises. These exercises are rigid such as stretching their fingers as far back as they can; pushing the limits of their thighs and extending their legs; flexing their waists bending them front and back; and other extraneous actions.

Musical instruments were shown later and were performed as part of the ensemble for the song: the lanat ek (bamboo ), kim (dulcimer), so ee (small bowed strings), and so uu – (big bowed strings). Their double-headed drum is called kong ping. Two types of cymbals were shown, the bigger one called chap is paired with finger cymbals called . The Center also has a kong vong (round ) and (Lao harp). However, what they showed in the course of this research is the ensemble of lanat ek, uu and ee, kong ping, and ching that accompanied their singing. The correspondences of these instruments are shown below, based on a recording made with their ensemble with children singing while dancing:

Etc…

… Figure 7: An example of instrument “correspondences.” Lanat ek, the ee/uu, kong ping, and ching support the vocal part by its dual role, as melodic and percussive (keeping time) instruments.

The illustration shows the linear presence of heterephony as clearly seen in lanat ek and uu/ee instruments simultaneously playing the same melody with the voices. The timekeepers are the kong ping and ching. The kong ping plays its regular counts of 1, 2 (2x) and 1,2,3,4, pattern, which may be named as the 2+2+4 rhythmic structure. However, strong beats only occur in the first beats of 2+2; the +4 has with strong beats occurring . At the beginning, the finger cymbal, or ching comes in after the strong beat of the kong ping, but maintains its entry in every 4th pulse of the kong ping. Later however, in the change of time signature (2/4), it comes in right at the beginning of the measure and keeps its entry in every fourth pulse. I use the term “pulse” to distinguish this from “beat.” Beat has a “strong and weak” composition whereas “pulse” just means unit of time regardless of strong-weak contrast.

The Center introduced its potentially excellent students: Sounitha Sommalath, Nittaya “Ammy” Bannavong, Anikanda Sihaivan, and Kulap Hansana who apparently showed more promise in music and dance skills than among their peers. This made us authors asked ourselves “What sets them apart?” In a holistic view, we see their physical bodies more supple, and they have grace and posture that meet the standards of good Laotian classical dancers. They are comparable with adult Laos dancers who are given credence to have stage performance in public, mass media, and diplomatic/cultural exchanges. These young initiates are eventually given exposures to steeper training where the challenge to become better, if not best, becomes the goal. Excellence is also being able to internalize music and apply or externalize its elements (melody and time) through the body. Singing as part of the pedagogy in learning the dance brings the students to a level of capability where they can ”multi-task” as the dance is by itself composed of different levels of expressions. Aside from singing, the interpretation of the song text is also relevant and the understanding of the text meaning, which is actually narrative.

Interesting enough, the Kinnari in the Center was performed to us in sequence with other dances such as the “Siangkup noy” (sound of the frog) and Tonmay haysiwit (Save the Forest). These dances have common themes that open up the dancers’ consciousness about their natural environment, educating them as ambassadors of protected land. These themes and lessons are ingrained in them through aesthetic means, via the channels of music and dance.

SENSE OF PLACE THROUGH RESOURCES

Most materials employed by the Children’s Cultural Museum come from the biblioteca or Hasamut Heng Sat (National Library of Laos). It has archival materials of kinnari music-dance, and audio- videos recordings. There are various interpretations of the Kinnari from various theatres/performers through the years including performances in Luang Prabang and other regions of the country.

Another form of resource in terms of representing Lao music and dance particularly concerning birds is The National Puppet Theater of Laos. This is both a traditional and contemporary venue for artistic expression combining music, dance/movement choreography, acting, and visual arts through puppet and props design. Theater Manager Vanhsy Soukchaleune shared about their production involving old and new works with bird music-dances, including stories and themes related to it.

One featured program of this Theatre is a story lifted from Buddhist literature. There was a Brahmma who offered one of her daughters for marriage to Tamaba Guman, a handsome, brave, and noble young man. In order to earn her bride, he has to guess the answer for a riddle. If he is unsuccessful of answering the riddle, he would be killed; however, if he is successful, the Brahmma offered his head to be cut-off.

In this production, two big birds played by Sompong Inthavong (male bird) and Laling Phenphilavong (female bird) were shown conversing about the riddle. Soutsada Pathammavong, the hero who became the Brahmma’s son in-law, listened intently to the conversation of the birds and realized that they were giving the answer. He hurried back to the palace and revealed the answer to the riddle. The five ladies in waiting for this handsome young man were played by the following puppeteers: Soutphasone Oudomphone, Chansamone Yodkhankeo, Chansamone Phommachanh, Chansamone Sisamouth, and Lem Thyphy. With the answer revealed, Ourdone Saysana, who played the puppet role of the Brahmma, announced that his four heads (the Brahmma’s) would be beheaded.

On the other hand, the second production number of the Puppet theatre featured an environmental play about saving the birds and their forest habitat. Rather very modern in approach, Director Vanalet Vetdavong explained that he leaves the narrative to his audience’s imagination although his theme is clear about environmental protection. Puppets were played by Chansamone Phommachanh (Baby bird), Mother bird: Lem Thyphy, Vanalet Vetdavong, and Vienthong Chanthavong (all huddled in one big blanket). Small birds were played by Laling Phenphilavong, Lem Thyphy, Vanalet Vetdavong, and Viengthong Chanthavong . There is also a unique character, the mouse with eyes by Chansamone Phommachanh. The production was made possible with technical staff Oudom Phommachanh and sounds operator Viengthong Chanthavong.

Children now and then are exposed to the shows of the puppet theatre where they learn more things about Laotian culture. Watching this kind of show also enhances their understanding of land and environment as an extension to singing and dancing. As interrelated forms of expressions, theatre arts that feature birds and environmental issues provide for every performer an enrichment of the soul.

Conclusion

The article features the Center as the wellspring of “becomings” where children (or the figurative chicks) earn their wings to become full-pledge bird dancers and musicians. At an early age, they are exposed to various stimuli of music and dance such as musical instruments, audio-video/multi-media materials, and mentorship of seasoned dancers, who eventually prepare them to formal performances.

Kinarri-ism is developed in the process of one’s “becoming.” As shown in earlier examples of song and interrelated arts like the Puppet theatre, there is the embodiment of what it means to sing a narrative about a half-bird, half-human being. The Center basically showed the outcome of a holistic education, where children being trained are integrating their talents with literature (written and oral) as well as with other Laotian cultural expressions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Grant, Evans. “Ethnic change in the northern highlands of Laos”. In Laos: Culture and Society, ed. by Evans Grant, pp. 125-147. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2000.

Ghosh, Subodh Love stories from the Mahabharata, transl. Pradip Bhattacharya. New Delhi: Indialog, 2005.

Krishnamurthy, K. Mythical Animals in Indian Art. Abhinav Publications, 1985.

Miller, Terry, “Traditional Music of the Lao”. In Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, vol. 4: Southeast Asia, ed. by Terry Miller. Routledge, 1998.

Vyasa, Krishna-Dwaipayana. Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa, translated by Kisari Mohan Ganguli. Calcutta: Bharata Press, 1883-1896.

No author, “Laotian Art”. In http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Laotian_art. Retrieved, July 20, 2016.

RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS:

1. Children’s Cultural Center: Nouth Phouthavongsa and her students: Sounitha Sommalath, Nittaya “Ammy” Bannavong, Anikanda Sihaivan, and Kulap Hansana. 2. The National Puppet Theater of Laos: Director Vanalet Vetdavong, Puppet operators: Chansamone Phommachanh, Lem Thyphy, Vanalet Vetdavong, Vienthong Chanthavong, Laling Phenphilavong, Lem Thyphy, Vanalet Vetdavong, Viengthong Chanthavong, and Chansamone Phommachanh. Oudom Phommachanh and Viengthong Chanthavong also contributed their time through technical assistance.

About the collaborator: Ms. Nouth Phouthavongsa, is a faculty of the Laos’ National School of the Arts, and an officer of The Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, whose one of the tasks is to train young learners in the Children’s Cultural Center. She was endorsed by Thammavongsa Khampheng, Chairman, National School of Music and Dance. He set-up meetings with other Ministry’s officers to collaborate with me in my exploration of a Laos bird music-dance, particularly on the ideology or motivation behind this expressive art.