The national music of Laos is the lam, where a singer (songs by expert singers are mor lam) uses improvised poetry set to quicktempo music around themes of love, difficulty, and poverty using turns of phrases and subtle humor. Lam is highly regional, and many listeners can determine the setting and themes in the first few lines.
A popular form of lam is basically a battle-of-the-sexes between an expert male and expert female singer to entertain the audience and trip the opposing singer up using humor, innuendo or stylistic flair. Lam can also be used in story telling as a sung form of folk poetry, and forms the oral tradition predating the national epics in literature. Lam used in animist traditions creates a type of chant which is used during ceremonies like the baci.
The most integral instrument for Lao music is the khaen a free-reed mouth organ made of bamboo. Variations on the khaen are found among most ethnic groups in Laos. Laos also uses a number of classical court instruments which show strong influence fromChina, Cambodia and Thailand. The ensembles include flutes, zithers, gongs, drums, fiddles, lutes, cymbals and xylophones. Modernmor lam also includes electric guitars, synthesizers and electric keyboards.
Theater
All traditional theater in Laos is essentially musical in nature. Court music and performances known as khon and lakhon feature the most elaborate costuming and dance. Khon and lakhon originated from the Khmer court and spread throughout the region, beginning in Laos during the Lan Xang era. Typical performances included jataka tales, with the performances of the Pra Lak Pra Lam duringLao New Year in Luang Prabang being the most recognizable today. During the nineteenth century influence from Thailand andVietnam spurred the creation of lam luang or Lao opera. Lam luang is a more theatrical version of lam music complete with sets, costumes and orchestral accompaniment. In 1972 the Pathet Lao formed the Central Lao Opera, the first professional lam luangtroupe in Laos. The performances center on social issues, traditional themes, and national propaganda.
Dance
The national folk dance in Laos is the lam vong. The lam vong begins with an individual using head and hand movements based onBuddhist mudras, who is then joined by a partner, and then by other couples until a crowd forms with three interconnected and slowly turning circles.
Performance based dances from the royal courts are rare, with highly symbolic movements and steps by female dancers. In the 1980s many of the royal court dancers from Luang Prabang fled the Pathet Lao government to relocate in Nashville, Tennessee. Other traditional performance dances include the "fon dhab" or “sword dance” which is a dance display of men’s martial arts. There are a number of folk dances which are popular with Lao Theung and Lao Sung groups. The Hmong perform the "fon bun kin chieng" or Hmong “New Year dance;” the Khmu have a courtship dance known as the "fon pao bang"; the Red and Black Tai have a bamboo cane dance, and the Yao are known for bell and drum dances. There are numerous regional and ethnic variations on all traditional dances in Laos.
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