“MONG” in Thai means to look, to stare at someone, at something. This performance, mixing the codes of contemporary dance and Khon (Thai classical masked dance), explores the dimension of perception and questions the encounter between the audience and the performer. From the beginning, even before starting to move, the simple fact of being on stage, by his clothes, physical appearance, race, sex or gender, the performer is scrutinised. It then triggers in the audience, by looking at his body, preconceived ideas about the performance or about what is going to happen. The exchange between their gazes, by observing each other, is the beginning of an ephemeral relationship. At the same time, the fact for the performer to see the gaze of the audience fix on him is a unique experience each time because the context, understanding, energy or emotion differ at each performance. An intimate connection slowly opens a space for exchange. How I see myself and how others perceive me. Who am I in the eyes of my observers and how does my perception of the moment depend on my environment? In a more diverse and multicultural society, even local traditional art forms are evolving, the dancer being the only foreigner who is a Khon professional dancer of the monkey role, so it is relevant to play, deconstruct and question these perceptions.

The solo MONG is part of a larger project, “Danse Sans Frontière” (Dance without Border), initiated by the artist Jill Crovisier who has kept an artistic approach similar to another existing piece called TOAA, performed by a dancer from Burkina Faso, but, this time, which continues the dialogue on the gaze and perception in a different context, in Thailand. Performed on an original composition by Crovisier, created during a sound research, the music of MONG and TOAA was the starting point of this creation still in progress.