Nora, a traditional folk dance-drama from southern Thailand, was awarded intangible cultural heritage status by Unesco last week. The distinctive dance form joins khon and Thai traditional massage on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Performances of nora have been held for centuries in local communities in the Deep South; the form is said to have arrived in Thailand from India more than 500 years ago. The name is a shortened form of Manora, a half-bird, half-human princess who is rescued by a local prince. The telling of the Manora tale is punctuated with dramatic dance moves and singing, driven on by a high tempo rhythm.
The Unesco committee also awarded intangible cultural heritage status to Indonesia’s gamelan music and Congolese rumba (rumba Congolaise). The former is a traditional percussion ensemble of…
