Dance in Cambodia

by Toni Shapiro-Phim
Possessing the power to capture imaginations and emotions, and thus to
“transport” people to other times and places, dance is sensually and
socially impassioned. It is an integral component of spiritual life and
rites of passage, and a popular form of entertainment for people the
world over. In Cambodia, this is true as well. At New Year time in
mid-April, for example, dancers of the court tradition enact sacred
legends meant as offerings. If the deities are pleased with the
presentation, it is believed, they will bestow blessings on Cambodia
and her people. Villagers perform rites which include dance in
propitiation of ancestral spirits at select times throughout the year.
As part of a wedding party, guests of all ages dance in
circular-patterned social dances. And on a theatrical stage, a range of
dance forms may be featured.
Cambodian classical dancers trace their art to carvings of celestial
dancers on temples dating back 1,000 years to a time when what is now
Cambodia was the center of the vast Angkorian Empire, and to stone
inscriptions which pre-date those carvings. The dancers fashioned in
stone were depicted in the heavens, dancing for the gods. Their earthly
counterparts - dancers of the Kingdom of Cambodia - have for centuries
been linked both to religious beliefs and the monarchy.
Cambodian dances of this tradition are populated with princes and
princesses, male and female deities, giants (often evil) and monkeys
(often good-hearted). (Girls dance the roles of princesses, princes,
gods and goddesees, and giants; boys dance that of the monkey.) While
some works are complex dance-dramas of love and war and magic, others
are considered “pure” dance pieces, meant to evoke a sense of reverence
without telling an explicit story.
When audiences take in scenes in which monkeys fly, giants transform
themselves into animals, goddesses swim the seas, or princes fight
choreographed duels, they understand what is before them in various
ways. Beyond the story-line, metaphors for proper social behavior are
enacted through the different characters and their relations with one
another. Mythico-historical tales evoke a sense of the Khmer past, and
help maintain a link to a collective history. In general, for both
dance-dramas and “pure” dance pieces, the costuming reminds the
on-looker of ubiquitous images of tevoda (celestial beings), thus
conjuring an atmosphere of the sublime, even when the gods are not
specifically referenced.
Those who come to take on the mantle of classical or court dancer do so
after an arduous training period. At the Royal University of Fine Arts,
children enter the dance department at age seven or eight. They
practice their technique three to four hours each morning, and study
regular academics in the afternoon. For the first year of training,
students learn the set of thousands of basic positions and movements by
repeating it over and over again while singing the rhythm of the drum,
and while having their bodies and limbs manipulated into place by their
teachers. (The children wait a year or so before being permitted to
dance to live music.) Over the course of the next nine years students
progress to take supporting roles in dances and then, for the most
talented, to learn starring roles in specific dramas. Throughout their
years of training the dancers engage in strenuous stretching exercises
meant to foster the suppleness and strength required by a dance
aesthetic that values the constant flow of energy to the extremities:
fingers bent back to form a crescent, toes flexed, lower backs arched.
The Royal University of Fine Arts also trains folk dancers - those who
will perform pieces choreographed by colleagues and teachers that
depict aspects of life in Cambodia’s countryside. Folk dancers study
with classical dancers for their initial training. After a few years
they are selected to specialize in folk dance, which while boasting its
own set of basic postures and movements, nonetheless incorporates much
of the classical aesthetic into its choreography.
Far from the official academy, village dancers are most often farmers
by day, and performers on special ritual occasions. Knowledge of both
the ceremonial components of a specific rite and of the performance
technique are passed down from generation to generation at the local
level. While some regions of the country have unique performance
traditions, in others one can see the same stories enacted, though in
different guise.
Whether in a village clearing, in a court pavilion, or on a proscenium
stage, Cambodia’s dancers communicate aspects of what it means to be
Khmer. Dance, with all its complexity and diversity, is a potent symbol
of identity for Cambodians.