Man on Fire is a solo dance piece by Anand Wongpaisan and was performed at PoA Glass Box, Yellow Lane on 28 August 2022. In this performance, his character gradually explored and discovered different ways of interacting with the world through movement. The goal is to reach the audience on an undiscovered plain, encouraging them to question uncharted territories within.
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ABOUT THE ARTIST
Anand (Boon) Wongpaisan received training at Falmouth University and graduated with a first class honours in Dance and Choreography in 2019. After returning to Bangkok, he trained further with Jitti Chompee, director and founder of leading Thai dance company 18 Monkeys Dance Theatre. After performing with Menghan Lou in Pose and Candor, Boon joined the company as a performer and made appearances in video projects Thread and Untold Stories, and a full company production called Melancholy of Demon.
Boon has been involved in a residency with Daniel Longhurst at Level Art Centre in the UK. Since returning home to Thailand, Boon has also performed at Yellow Lane in Performance Sharing: Instinct of Play, a multidisciplinary collaborative project combining dance, painting, photography, and videography.
ARTIST INTERVIEW
“Metaphorically, the name ‘Man on Fire’ is like if you imagine the first human finding fire, but instead of using that tool, they are accidentally burned by it,” said Boon. “Very similar to Kafka’s work, it is about the idea of seeing the system of how we live from the outside, like being an audience to your own body.”
Boon’s goal with this performance was to invent movements that can relay the message, and at the same time allow the audience to question themselves. “Man on Fire is about understanding that perhaps certain things may not all be answered, that there may be a reason why things are that way, and that allows us the time and space to educate ourselves, or go out of our way to try and find something that further explains the abstraction of movement that’s being seen.”
The message Boon wants to present with every piece of work he creates (including Man on Fire and Performance Sharing: Instinct of Play), is that tidy conclusions and defined outcomes are not always attainable, instead the process of learning and growing is what’s important.
“I realise that after the Yellow Lane performance I also understand a bit more about what I like, and what I want to dive into more by using Open Stage as an opportunity to showcase my own ideas, not only to the audience but also to myself,” Boon said.