Beyond the Apsara: Celebrating Dance in Cambodia PDF
Preview Beyond the Apsara: Celebrating Dance in Cambodia
Beyond the Apsara Celebrating Dance in Asia and the Pacific Series Editor: StephanieB urridge Celebrating Dance in Asia and the Pacific is a series that presents the views of eminent scholars, journalists and commentators alongside the voices of a new generation of choreographers working from tradition to create new forms of expression in contemporary dance. It documents and celebrates these artistic journeys that work within the framework of rich and complex cultural heritages. Future titles in this Series include India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific. The Series is published by Routledge and supported by the World Dance Alliance Asia Pacific. Beyond the Apsara Celebrating Dance in Cambodia Editors Stephanie Burridge Fred Frumberg First published 2010 by Routledge 912–915 Tolstoy House, 15–17 Tolstoy Marg, New Delhi 110 001 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 4RN First issued in paperback 2015 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2010 Stephanie Burridge and Fred Frumberg Typeset by Star Compugraphics Private Limited D–156, Second Floor Sector 7, Noida 201 301 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library ISBN 13: 978-1-138-66262-9 (pbk) ISBN 13: 978-0-415-56445-8 (hbk) Contents Foreword by Peter Sellars ix Prefacexiii Acknowledgements xvii Introduction Stephanie Buiridgexix 1. Royal Dances of Cambodia—Revival and Preservation Her Royal Highness Princess Norodom Buppha Dev1i 2. 'I am a Cambodian Classical Dancer': A Personal Story Hun Pen14 3. Dance Education in Cambodia Chey Chankethya26 4. Don't Even Think About Having Me Toni Shapiro-Phim40 5. Rodin and the Apsara Thierry Bayle52 6. Cambodians Dancing Beyond Borders: Three Contemporary Examples Pornrat Damrhun6g1 7. Transmission of the Invisible: Form and Essence Peter Chin86 Dancing Off Centre Sophiline Cheam Shapiro109 9. Platforms for Change: Cambodia and Contemporary Dance from the Asia-Pacific Region Stephanie Burridge121 10. Beyond Revival and Preservation: Contemporary Dance in Cambodia Fred Frumber1g40 Artist Interviews and Biographies 155 Chhim Naìine Chumvan Sodhachivy (Belle) , Hang Borin , , Hem Linda Khieu Sovannarith Koy Sina Menh Kossony , , , , Mok Sokhom Pen Sok Huon Penh Chumnit Phon Sopheap , , , , Proeung Chhieng Pumtheara Chenda Sam Sathya Sam Savin , , , , Sang Phorsda Sao Rithy Sek Sophea Seng Kalivann , , , , Sin Sakada Soeur Thavarak Soth Somaly Vuth Chanmoly , , , , Yim Savann Yon Davy aVCnuhdtah n moly , , Glossary 211 Bibliography 213 Inde2x17 Against the backdrop of the chilling statistics that 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the artists in Cambodia perished during the Khmer Rouge reign of terror, we feared that the Khmer classical dance that has long been synonymous with Cambodian culture might be lost … — HRH Princess Norodom Buppha Devi I have been devoted to the art and have exercised my talents to present what I, as a Cambodian, have to offer the world. Dance is part of my identity … — Hun Pen, Khmer classical dancer Dance changed my life … there is a door, a magic door — it is the place for blessings. It is the back door of a large rehearsal hall at the Royal University of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh … — Koy Sina, classical dancer and teacher Just as a character sings in the Broadway musical, A Chorus Line, about young girls’ fantasies upon seeing classical ballet in the United States, ‘Everything was beautiful at the ballet …’ a sense of awe can overwhelm children who witness the grace and mythic wonder of Khmer classical dance too … — Toni Shapiro-Phim, dance ethnologist and anthropologist The arts are a vital branch of culture and a country’s culture can be featured through the arts. The arts are the ‘soul engineer’ and the ‘heart doctor’. — Sang Phorsda, classical dancer My heartfelt thoughts always go out to all the young Khmer dance artists whose spirits have moved me so much by their dedication to their traditional art while setting out on very personal journeys of expansive discovery … — Peter Chin, artistic director of the interdisciplinary performing arts company Tribal Crackling Wind in Toronto Foreword The task, the opportunity and the invitation for this generation to build a new Cambodia, a Cambodia of dreams and aspirations that is rooted in a past of grandeur and devastation — the task is superhuman. And, hour by hour, day by day, child by child, completely, utterly human. The gift of Cambodian classical dance to the world is to bring us into the abiding presence of the superhuman — humans who across years of devotion, care, practice, and love have achieved a self-mastery, a poise and a grace that seems impossibly beautiful, a gesture of forgiveness and release that is sustained by resilience and deep strength, and a profound sense of flow that exemplifies the ability to move and be in complete harmony with the surrounding environment. eThe danmce has for cenbturies hovlerede as an indmestructible of ‘Cambodian-ness’, passed from generation to generation. The smiling, breathing stone apsaras clustered at the feet of the columns in Angkor Wat are there to remind us of the revivifying pfowerrs ofe pleasuree and the dspiritual obliss of dmiscipline and. The breezes wafting through their garments suggest the invisible energies of their gentle movements which continue to subtly shift across the centuries as the sun moves across the sky and dynasties rise and crumble. These benign spirits, avatars of joy and perpetually ripening beauty, are our guides on the new paths opening in our generation, paths that lead forward from genocide, from deep trauma, from cruelty, from collapse, in a world still longing for basic justice. The dance is here to exemplify growth and transformation, steady, gradual achievement, living daily with difficulty, challenging every aspect of who we are and what we hope to become. It is the reminder of the divine which breathes through and is embodied in the human, and the animal reflexes which can be cultivated and elevated to a state of fearless grace.
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