Oba Thaung

Oba Thaung
ဩဘာသောင်း
Born	Thaung Tin (1898-04-11)11 April 1898 Pazundaung Township, Rangoon, British Burma
Died	13 January 1971(1971-01-13) (aged 72) Mandalay, Burma
Occupation(s)	Burmese dancer and instructor
Known for	Kabya Lut Aka
Awards	Wunna Kyawhtin

Oba Thaung (Burmese: Burmese pronunciation: [θáʊɰ̃ tɪ̀ɰ̃], 11 April 1898 – 13 January 1971) was an eminent Burmese anyeint dancer and singer, who is credited for codifying the previously undocumented Burmese dance repertory.^[1]

She started her dancing career since she was fourteen and had had twenty four years of experiences. In 1953, the State School of Fine Arts was open in Mandalay and Oba Thaung served as first dance instructor for female students. There, she codified 125 steps of the traditional Burmese choreography, literally named Kabya Lut Aka (ကဗျာလွတ်အက; Dance without Verse), which consists of five dance courses intended as a five-year term of study. Each of the five courses is broken into 25 dance sequences comprising a total of 125 stages, with each stage of precisely ten minutes.^[2]

She was awarded the title Wunna Kyawhtin, the highest honor given to an artist by the Burmese government.

See also

• Burmese dance
• Anyeint
• Sin Kho Ma Lay
• Yindaw Ma Lay
• Ma Htwe Lay
• Aung Bala
• Liberty Ma Mya Yin
• Mya Chay Gyin Ma Ngwe Myaing

Further reading

• Oba Thaung: Who Systematized Myanma Dance, Zaw Pale and Khin Win New, (translated to English by Than Tun, 1995)

References