This was the opinion of one member of the audience following the final routine at Alcazar Theater recently by the International Folk Dance Ensemble from the United States. Others who attended said it was the best show they had ever seen.
The performers are all students at Brigham Young University in the United States. Traveling to Pattaya from Bangkok, and returning to the capital less than twelve hours later, the troupe is currently touring several South East Asian countries. Their one and only Pattaya performance was also their only performance where all the proceeds would be donated to a charity, in this case the Education Fund at the Father Ray Foundation.
The ninety minute show, Journeys, took the audience to countries most will never visit: traditional hopak from the Ukraine, flamenco from Spain and an African influenced routine from Haiti.
There was Irish hard show dancing, which, according to one audience member, herself from the Emerald Isle, ‘was like being back home, made me feel a bit homesick it was that good’.
Other dance performances came from countries as far afield as Haiti, Hungary, Mexico and Spain, as well as several from the United States.
But the one performance which received the loudest reaction from the audience was a routine from Indonesia, which saw the performers on their knees, never once standing up and yet they managed to perform a dance that most people won’t forget for a long time.
This was the second visit to Pattaya by the Utah based university; a few years ago they performed a ninety minute show full of Broadway show tunes and dance routines, which at the time many thought could never be bettered, until they made their second visit.
The director of the show announced the students will be back in Thailand in a few years’ time, and also coming back to perform in Pattaya.
Remember the name, Brigham Young University, and the next time they are coming to Pattaya don’t forget to buy a ticket, you definitely won’t regret it.
