Dance in Cambodia

In February I was in Cambodia on a trip that combined school visits with book research. I had met with members of the Angkor Dance Troupe of Lowell, Massachusetts (see my August 2010 post), interviewed dancers, and for the past year I have been learning about Cambodian dance and the efforts to revive Cambodian dance, both classical and folk, both within Cambodia and in the U.S. It is estimated that about ninety percent of Cambodia's classically trained dancers were killed during the Khmer Rouge years (1975-1979). Those that survived have been faced with a task of enormous magnitude and import--to remember and preserve choreography of the dances, to train new generations of dancers, and to educate Cambodians and people around the world about this extraordinary art form--under extremely difficult circumstances, whether as refugees coping with inner city life in the U.S. or in Cambodia where day to day survival is often a challenge. I am in awe of the determination of the master dancers, troupe directors and the dancers in training, and I am continually humbled by what they have accomplished.

In Phnom Penh, I was fortunate to visit the Secondary School of Fine Arts at Russei Keo, the new, rather inconveniently located campus for the Royal University of Fine Arts dance school. A thirty-minute ride from the center of the city, I arrived by tuk-tuk as some of the dancers were still arriving by motor scooter.

Most classical dance roles are danced by women, so first I watched the girls. In an open-air pavilion, about 100 girls were preparing their sampot chang kben, the sarong-like cloth used to make trousers.

preparing the sampot chang kben

adding a belt

Then in groups they practiced their demanding poses--symbolic hand gestures and extensions, knee flexing, back arching, and stepping with toes lifted, much while chanting.

starting the exercises

moving through the exercises

Dancer ages ranged from young girls just beginning to those who'd been dancing for nine years. This video shows some of the exercises.

An accompanist played a rompeat xylophone.

rompeat accompanist

I also peeked in on the boys who were rehearsing monkey dance, an acrobatic male role from the Reamker, the Cambodian version of the Ramayana.

monkey dancers in rehearsal

Throughout my time in Cambodia, I saw as much dance as I could. The highlight was a performance of classical and folk dance that I helped arrange for Yokohama International School students who were visiting Cambodia on a school building mission. The performance took place at the Secondary School of Fine Arts on my last evening in Phnom Penh. The money we raised will pay for new dance costumes and other much needed materials. 

performing the welcome or blessing dance

the coconut dance, a folk dance

Hanuman's army of monkeys

after the performance with one of the School of Fine Arts dancers

Cambodian classical and folk dance has survived despite the grim Pol Pot years. My hope is that Cambodian dance will continue to be nurtured and developed and that better funding for dance schools and performers will make dance a viable life choice for more Cambodians.