May 6, 2002
Hot Deal
Classic Khmer dance
By Steve Friess.
CULTURAL RENAISSANCE
Classic Khmer dance, as ancient as the stone temples that draw
most visitors to the country, is tiptoeing back from the brink
of extinction, proof of Cambodia's cultural resurgence. Regular
shows are staged in Phnom Penh at the Sovanna Phum cultural arts
center, where viewers can enjoy the stylized sweeping hand and
finger gestures of dancers outfitted in shiny silk sarongs that
really fit: dancers are sewn into them before each performance.
The Khmer Rouge did their best to snuff out
the 1,000-year-old dance form, murdering an estimated 80% of
its masters during their 1975-79 pogrom against artists and
intellectuals. Those who survived spent the 1980s and 1990s
teaching the art to a younger generation and recording it for
posterity on video and paper. You can observe dance classes
at the Royal University of Fine Arts' North Campus Monday through
Saturday from 7:30 to 10:30 in the morning. Or, to see the finished
product for $5, get dates and showtimes from Sovanna Phum by
e-mailing sovannaphum@netrec.net.
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