Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book focuses on lives in motion and embodying community through corporeal movement is one aspect of critical Thai studies and critical dance studies. It provides an array of definitions that can be compared with one another, thereby allowing readers to identify a range of possibilities that suit diverse directions made by different analyses. The book examines several examples of vernacular dance cultures in Central Thailand and explores how they were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and how they have reemerged in the post-pandemic era. It also examines how dance tied to Morlam traditions of performance and healing in Isan have been reimagined as part of new modern dance assemblages for the public called Rum Buang Suang, whether to worship Naga serpent spirits or to celebrate urban cultural heritage with tens of thousands of Isan dancers.