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Lanna Sacred Spaces One DVD

Lanna Sacred Spaces One – 2007

This DVD holds twelve tracks of traditional Northern Thai (Lanna) dance, filmed in March and April 2007 close to my home in Chiang Mai. I wrote and performed every piece of music on the DVD and handled all of the post-production myself, finishing the work in May 2007. The score draws on traditional Lanna forms and sets them in a world music context. Half of the tracks feature the Renaat Ek, a type of xylophone that most likely dates back to the era of the Khmer empire, which stretched across Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. Thai tradition credits the Renaat Ek with magical qualities: the finest players are said to be able to send energy to their listeners and even, so it is told, to influence the weather. My aim was to capture the lively traditional life of the local people, a side of Chiang Mai that casual visitors rarely see. I was the only foreigner at the festivals where I filmed. The closing track records the ordination of a new monk at Wat Don Chan and the robing ritual, which only men may observe. The artwork shown below is the image I use for the DVD. It features the King's flower, which comes from a bright yellow flowering tree that blooms in late April and early May. I also photographed the five-petalled Lii Laa Waa Dee flowers that grow in my garden. Every Wat (temple) I have visited in Thailand has this tree. Its fragrance is very beautiful and carries a vibration similar to that of a rose. The graceful golden dancing figures on the left and right of the image were photographed by my daughter Tamsin at a Wat in Chiang Mai.

Thanks for your interest in the DVD. Below you can watch short, compressed excerpts from the film on YouTube. The same clips also appear on my YouTube Director's page, http://www.YouTube.com/YogaBeatGuy. To see the complete DVD, you can purchase it for $20 by credit card using the "Add to Cart" button at the bottom of the page. Shipping is free on orders over $70 total!