Friday, October 29, 2010

Huean Luang Prabang


Once the Meetings were done, there was one last Closing Dinner held at the Huean Luang Prabang. The grounds are expansive and the architecture is rather grand. Dining outdoors in the cool evening was such a refreshing change to all the indoor restaurants. The lower temperatures meant that there were almost no mozzies to hassle us.

I was deathly afraid that we would be made to go up and sing, like the last time in Vientiane. At least this time in Luang Prabang, they had a guitar and a keyboard. I could play something, like "My Way" or "Honesty", or that "half and half" 881 song. Heheheh. Luckily they ran out of time and had to scrap that idea. But they didn't let go of the dancing. There was PLENTY of dancing and they made all of us do it.

There were 3 kinds of traditional Lao dances! Of course I haven't done them before. Rather different from the ones I learnt in Vientiane. A variation and new ones. So I had to follow the young dancers whose steps weren't very precise or clear. That is the one annoying thing imbued in my dance education. I've always been told to execute precision, not blurred forms. But I picked out the clearest lines from a slightly older dancer and followed her. Tis was easy! I quite enjoyed it.

Since my colleague gleefully squirmed out of the dancing and cleverly took my camera to snap away, I got these fun shots. She also took a video of me doing this! Arrrrgh! Okay, I don't look too clumsy in these shots. Heh. You will excuse my dowdy clothes- I am on a work trip!

7 comments:

sinlady said...

wah - you in step leh. heheh.

ps just kidding. so nice you can comfortably follow, notwithstanding blurred steps and all :)folk dance is tricky because it always look simple and repetitious.

Jo said...

You look so cute!! :D

Well, at least you had fun. :)

tuti said...

nice memories to add to the memory bank before you leave. you do singapore/the company proud presenting yourself so well. :)

lilsnooze said...

You are so sporting la! ;)

And I like that vibrant hue of the top.

imp said...

sinlady: of course i in step lah! we were taught to watch a sequence once and get it perfect on the 2nd try!

jomel: very embarrassing. i decided to look at the floor instead of looking up.

tuti: totally. memories. you're right!

lilsnooze: must mah! otherwise they'll say we're stuck up. heh. you'll only catch me in these sort of colors outside sgp. heheheh.

Unknown said...

Hmmm.... the dance does look a little like line dancing, at least from the photos you've taken. I wished I have the chance to visit Laos, since its probably considered the final frontier of holiday destinations for Singaporeans in the region. :)

imp said...

coolinsider: they are folk dances in the asia tradition, which are kinda like the western line dancing. visit luang prabang then! a long weekend will be beautiful. it's like bali 35 years ago.