CULTURE LOVERS: Bangkok’s International Dance and Music Festival is coming to town soon, and now is the time to get tickets for your shows. For nearly two months, from September 7 to October 20, 2024, the Thailand Cultural Centre will reverberate with the exciting sounds and dramatic tension of classical ballets, contemporary movement, reinterpreted opera, symphonic masterpieces and even ice dancing.

The Bangkok International Festival of Dance and Music is the region’s largest and most prestigious annual performing arts spectacle, and each show is a great reason to fly to the City of Angels to try all the great restaurants on your ever-growing list, meet some of the area’s most innovative bartenders, stay in a top-notch luxury hotel, and immerse yourself in culture.

The 2024 festival will feature 13 incredible shows featuring more than 1,000 performers, including the world’s oldest ballet company, the Bolshoi Ballet, in an iconic production of Swan Lake. Attending this show is like a mecca to the source of a cultural touchpoint, as Swan Lake itself was actually commissioned by the Bolshoi Theater and premiered there in 1877.

There are three fantastic shows in particular that families shouldn’t miss: the Christmas classic The Nutcracker is brought to life by the Tokyo City Ballet, and we look forward to this fairytale dreamscape of Clara’s love for her Nutcracker Prince. And children will also be thrilled by the award-winning Imperial Ice Stars skating to Swan Lake on Ice and Peter Pan on Ice, both choreographed by the award-winning Tony Mercer and Olympic figure skating champion Evgeny Platov.

Other ballet performances include the story of the mad but generous accidental hero “Don Quixote,” the tragic love story of the “Carmen Suite,” and for those who like to make their gladiators dance, the dramatic violence of “Spartacus.” Opening night is “Marie Antoinette” by the Malandain Ballet Biarritz and the Orchestra of the Château de Versailles. Anyone who has seen the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on the Seine will know that this fated queen is having a big moment.

The fast-paced world of contemporary dance will be represented at this year’s festival by the Paul Taylor Dance Company from New York City, which New York Times has called it “one of the most exciting, innovative and entertaining dance companies in the world,” and the celebrated innovators of Vertigo from Israel, who will present two inspiring modern performances.

Opera fans will be delighted by the Chinese National Opera House’s unexpected performances: “Turandot,” a thrilling story of twists and turns and unexpected redemption, starring Italian tenor Max Jota and soprano Maria Tomassi, and “La Bohème,” the world’s best-selling opera. Seriously, loyal fans are clamoring for tickets to “La Bohème” – and the show is finally coming to Bangkok, starring Italian soprano Francesca Micarelli and tenor Paolo Lardizzone.

This year, the Bangkok International Festival of Dance and Music will continue its support of underprivileged youth through the Student Outreach Program. The initiative brings young Bangkok students closer to artists from around the world, fostering creativity and confidence in underprivileged communities. Last year, the program hosted an exclusive youth orchestra master class in the Klongtoey slum and presented an immersive magic show for deaf and blind children.

As the festival seeks to foster a love of art among young people, this year a very special guest is the State Symphony Orchestra of Uzbekistan – which consists (if you will) of the country’s most talented young musicians, winners of international competitions and active participants of other symphony and chamber orchestras. They are ready to delight the audience with three pieces rarely heard in Bangkok, including Mahler’s monumental “Symphony No. 5”.

Visit the website to view the full program and purchase tickets.

Bangkok International Dance and Music Festival 2024
www.bangkokfestivals.com/program/

Lede and Hero image by Damir Yusupov/Courtesy of the Bolshoi Theatre

Note:
The information in this article is correct as of the date of publication.

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