Three men wearing white shirts and red jongkraben (traditional Thai trousers) are practising their khon dance performance in a classroom. From afar they look like your typical Thai masked dance experts, as their posture and movements are smooth and delicate. On closer inspection, however, you may notice something, or someone, out of place, at least according to popular perception. One of the dancers is 30-year-old Canadian Benjamin Tardif.
Tardif is studying at Bunditpatanasilpa Institute for a master's degree in the teaching of Thai performing arts. His passion for traditional Thai dance began when, as part of a cultural exchange programme in 2002, he studied at Sukhothai Witthayakhom school in Sukhothai.
"When I watched khon for the first time, I was bedazzled because I had never seen such a performance before, but I didn't know and understand what it was," he recalled.
As part of his studies, Tardif was sent to Sukhothai Performing Art College to learn different Thai arts, ranging from playing the wooden xylophone to Thai boxing, but it was the beauty of khon that struck a chord with him. He decided to pursue khon seriously and asked for permission from Somchai Yimyaem, an instructor at that college.
Khon is often based on tales from the epic Ramakien. In it, there are phra (male protagonists), nang (female protagonists), yak (giants or evil antagonists) and ling (monkey soldier assistants to phra) characters. Tardiff was given the role of a monkey due to his small frame and cheeky personality.
Benjamin Tardif studies at the Bunditpatanasilpa Institute.
"I think many people don't know how to really understand khon when watching it. They think it's slow," said Tardif, adding that as there were fewer viewers nowadays, he was concerned whether khon would survive in the future.
"I am worried and wonder who will conserve this major form of art. Any form of art and culture is important because it is a human idea and must be conserved because losing any of them means losing a human idea."
According to Tardif, Thailand's unique perspective, as never having been a Western colony, is reflected in the originality of its art and culture.
"Many Asian countries, including Myanmar, India, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia, have performances based on Ramakien, but the costumes and dancing postures vary. Watching Ramakien in Cambodia, for example, you will see monkey characters look so natural, while Thailand's performances focus on beauty and fine, yet monkey-like, dancing postures," Tardif noted.
When he was in Sukhothai, although Tardif was in grade 12, he studied khon with grade 7 students and practised more than 100 major dancing postures over a six-month period.
After returning to Canada, Tardif later studied to be a social science and history teacher. Ten years later, in 2012, he returned to Thailand on vacation and visited some of his old classmates in Sukhothai. Upon seeing that two of his friends were still practising khon, he decided to further his studies in Thailand.
Before he was allowed to enter the master's degree programme at Bunditpatanasilpa Institute, however, Tardif had to pass a written test on the history and traditions of Thai performing arts, as well as audition. After a couple of months coaching from his khon instructor Somchai, he was ready for the audition. Tardif decided to perform the Chuichai Hanuman Songkhruang dance and the Na Part Tra Nimitr dance. The judges said that although his dances were not perfect, his strong will and passion were evident and so gave him the green light.
So far, Tardif has been studying at the institute for one-and-a-half years. He spends most of his leisure time taking khon classes with the institute's undergraduate students on weekdays, free classes at Thammasat University's Khon Club on Monday and Wednesday evenings, and another class at Kukrit Institute on Sundays.
"I sought permission from the lecturers for me to practise khon with undergraduate students so that I can better understand what and how they teach khon and how the monkey characters dance," the Canadian said.
At the Bunditpatanasilpa Institute, Tardif gets the opportunity to study khon with leading instructor Viroj Yoosawat and is coached by khon expert and National Artist Prasith Pinkaew at the Kukrit Institute.
Viroj is so far impressed with his student. "Benjamin had studied khon for about a year but not continuously, but he is determined to do it. He has some basic knowledge and a good body shape, so he can catch up with other students and start to improve his performance. He is smart, diligent and practises khon every day," he said.
Benjamin Tardif in full khon costume.
According to the lecturer, although Tardif did not study the basics of khon in his childhood, such as mae tha [major dancing postures], he can still dance along with the music. Tardif chooses not to practise some plerng na part [highly respected and sacred songs] as Viroj believes they may be too difficult for him.
Sometimes Tardif also struggles with certain words and has to ask the lecturers about the meanings. This eagerness to ask questions, however, enables him to fully understand the feelings and postures of each character.
"It can be said that he is gifted. He loves to study and is capable of studying khon with gurus like Acharn Prasith Pinkaew. He is clever and able to catch up with more experienced students. At first, he was regarded as a black sheep. Now, he is not," Viroj said.
Tardif's determination and diligence also impresses many students at the institute, including Piya Saengthub, "From what I see, I think he is more focused on the lessons than some Thai students. He is probably not as good, but he is strongly determined and loves what he does. I used to wonder what he would do after studying, but I now understand that he loves khon. In the future, I think he may become a teacher or a khon troupe dancer or an event organiser."
When Tardif is not studying, he often performs khon at Chalerm Krung Theatre and is usually given the roles of Nilanon and Ongkhot, who are among Phra Ram's monkey soldiers.
"To be a khon dancer, I need to understand Ramakien and the characters I play. I still don't know all of the 18 sibpaet mongkut [key monkey warriors], I just remember the main phraya characters like Hanuman, Sukreep, Nilanon, Chompoophan and Ongkhot," said Tardif.
Each character has different movements and dancing postures with very specific meanings, some of which Tardif finds harder than others.
"I find khon difficult to perform because we must express our feelings while wearing masks, so we must show gestures clearly," Tardif said, "It is a complicated form of art which requires us to continuously learn and improve our skills."
As a foreigner, Tardif says that he is very mindful not to attempt to modify or misinterpret khon, "I believe khon is a sophisticated and respectable form of art and would never think about making it a contemporary dance."
His lecturer Viroj said that he is curious about what Tardif may do in the future, but is confident that he will do well. "I don't know or quite understand what Tardif will do to apply this knowledge in his future career. I once asked him what he would do after returning to Canada. I told him that khon is very different from something like ballet and he replied he would do something with it creativity.
"I reminded him that something like plerng na part is highly respected by Thai artists and must not be modified. He understands this well, so I think some day he may be able to apply this knowledge to a teaching career of his own or start his own show."
According to the lecturer, Tardif is not the first foreigner to study khon. He remembers a group of students from the US and Swedish singer Jonas Anderson, who sings luk thung, studying khon before Tardif. What sets Tardif apart however, is that they didn't take their studies to the highest level.
After graduation, Tardif plans to remain in Thailand and hopes to become a teaching assistant of khon to foreigners, this is, of course, if he gets the opportunity to do so.
If the number of foreigners who come to ask him questions every time he performs at Chalerm Krung Theatre is any indication, Tardif is sure to have a bright future teaching khon to foreigners in the future.
Common questions include: "How can you do this?", "How many years have you been studying?", "Were you born in Thailand?".
"It is a great honour," said Tardif, "It is unbelievable. I never imagined my life would come to the point where people accept me like they accept fellow Thais — without thinking that a farang cannot do it."
Benjamin being dressed as Hanuman, a monkey warrior in the Ramakien.
Khon instructor Viroj Yoosawat instructs Benjamin at the Bunditpatanasilpa Institute.
