Burma defines itself as a Buddhist nation, a Theravada one at that, as it has been for roughly the past millennia. But within the folds of the country's often-intermeshed history and myth, there is a silent but quite ubiquitous realm – a spirit realm dominated by the cult of the nat. A nat is essentially the spirit of a dead person, a ghost with personality and distinctive animistic qualities. That it is separate from the institutional religion is without doubt, but its relationship to mainstream religion and society is very ambiguous.
Kyal Thee (pronounced chey tea) is a Burmese musician who performs in variety shows, featuring song, theatre, dance and comedy, in exile in Thailand. He says that every show since the time of the famous musician U Po Sein (1877-1952) has had to start with a reverential dance to the nats. He performs as part of a troupe called Thee Lay Thee ('Four Fruits', in Burmese) but all such troupes do the ritual dancing that is required at the beginning of ceremonies and performances.
Typically, these performances take the form of morality tales. The nat spirits are believed to have knowledge from the supernatural realm they inhabit, and thus the nat dancers, such as Kyal Thee, function as intermediaries – personifying the otherwise formless spirit, with access to a supernatural information network. Kyal Thee performs as Ko Gyi Kyaw, the 'super nat'. Before each performance, he dresses in a particular costume but also gathers the certain foods and beverage that the spirit is believed to enjoy, typically chicken and liquor. Ko Gyi Kyaw is known as a big drinker – 'He's drunk all the time,' Kyal Thee explains with a glint in his eye. Such preparations are vital, Kyal Thee says, for one's mental state changes when performing as a nat. Sitting in the sanitised, spiritless confines of a Thai shopping mall, he says he cannot control his body once it has been inhabited by the nat spirit. His body becomes a vessel through which his audiences can receive messages from the spiritual realm.
Thee Lay Thee is a troupe in exile. Having formed in 1998 in Burma, its members performed without a problem for nearly a decade until the country was wracked by protest in late 2007, during what became known as the 'Saffron revolution'. At that point, the troupe's messages started to become increasingly critical of the government, albeit using a humorous approach. As Buddhist monks marched in Rangoon, the protests were met with bullets, and the entire troupe finally fled to Thailand. Today they continue to perform to small but grateful groups of exiles similar to themselves.