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• Khmer Classical Dance
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Origins

Khmer Classical Dance is very important to Khmer culture, and is one of the few links the present day Khmer have with the history of Ancient Angkor. However, the origins of Khmer classical dance are difficult to establish, and the classical dances we see today may differ significantly from those performed during the Angkorian period. Classical dance as an art form has suffered several significant blows to its continuity, and came close to extinction on at least two occasions.

A form of religious dance probably existed from the reign of Jayavarman II onwards. Jayavarman II’s accession to the throne is agreed to have taken place in 802 AD. The original classical dance forms probably came from India along with the other religious, cultural and philosophical aspects of Indian life which were adopted by the ancient Khmer. It is likely that these early incarnations of classical dance had a strong religious element to them and closely mirrored Indian temple dances. Dance seems to have been an important aspect of Khmer life throughout the Angkorian era, and by the time the great Khmer king Jayavarman VII took the throne in 1181 AD, there were an estimated 3000 dancers at the Royal Court.

At this time the Khmer Empire covered most of Southeast Asia, including southern Vietnam, most of Thailand and large areas of modern-day Laos and Myanmar. Khmer hegemony in the region provides some support for the Cambodian claim that Khmer classical dance was the most significant influence on the corresponding dance forms of its regional neighbors. Classical dance is still revered today and is regarded as something of a national treasure by most Cambodians.

Threats to Khmer Classical Dance

Like many other areas of Cambodian life and culture, classical dance was fortunate to survive Cambodia’s long and troubled history. The first major threat to Khmer classical dance came from Thailand. When the Thais sacked the Cambodian capital Lonvek in 1594 they abducted an entire generation of scholars, tradesmen and artists. Cambodia’s dancers were removed to the Thai court in Ayutthaya where extant Thai and Khmer classical forms of dance probably became blended. What influence Khmer classical dance had already brought to bear on the Thai form is impossible to say. By the 19th Century the Cambodian King Ang Duong was actually resident in the Thai Royal Palace where he drastically overhauled the dance forms and costumes of his own Royal Ballet, bringing them even closer to the Thai style, and the two styles became virtually identical. More significantly, the origins of specific forms and movements within the two traditions became ever more clouded. Both nations claim today that their respective dance forms are the oldest.

Thai influences controlled the forms, gestures and even the costumes used in Khmer classical dance until King Norodom Sihanouk’s mother Kossamak Nearireath took an interest in reviving classical dance. In the period after WWII she again remodeled the dance forms and costumes at the Cambodian court so that they followed a more ‘traditional’ Khmer style. All dialogue used in performances was translated back into Khmer from Thai. From the 1950s onwards Khmer classical dance flourished under royal patronage, and the National Ballet Company grew to become an important cultural symbol. Then, two decades later, another disaster befell classical dance.

Khmer Rouge

When Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia in April 1975, they began to systematically remove all forms of personal, religious and artistic expression from society. These essential elements of humanity and individuality were deemed to be the preserve of the middle and upper classes, and were therefore a threat to the revolution. Singers like the peerless and much-loved Sin Sisamuth and his female singing partners Ros Sereysothear and Pan Ron met their deaths during this time. Many of Cambodia’s classical dancers met the same fate. It is likely that many classical dances were lost forever because the dance forms themselves were not written down. Given the vehemence with which the Khmer Rouge regime pursued its perceived enemies, it is a minor miracle that any of Cambodia’s classical dancers survived at all.

Revival

One of the most famous members of the National Ballet Company somehow survived the horrors of the Pol Pot regime and was discovered in Phnom Penh in 1979 by the new Minister of Culture, Chhen Phon. Chhen Phon is now considered a hero of Cambodia’s cultural revival and was instrumental in assisting the restoration of the National Ballet Company. Incredibly, the Company began performing again in early 1980.

The revival was also assisted by a handful of dancers who escaped to refugee camps along the Thai border. Some later returned to Cambodia, while others took the tradition to America where it still flourishes among expatriate communities. In America the form drew interest from universities and centers for the performing arts. There are regular performances of Cambodian dance all across America and there have been occasional creative adaptations of the form. For example, one innovative choreographer used Khmer classical dance as a means of retelling the story of Othello.

Royal Patronage

In Cambodia the Royal Ballet was also revived, and is now stock entertainment for visiting dignitaries. King Norodom Sihanouk followed his mother’s patronage of classical dance, and his daughter, Princess Bopha Devi, became both a promoter and an accomplished exponent of the form.

Apsara (Heavenly Dance)

Tourists have come to regard a visit to an Apsara dance display as an important part of their experience of Khmer culture. Apsara is just one element or role in Khmer classical dance. Unfortunately, many tourists get the impression that all classical dance is Apsara dance, and that Apsara is the generic term for Khmer classical dance. Apsara dance is just one of many classical dances in a broad range of different styles. Tourism and classical dance have provided employment opportunities for poor children and orphans. Many of the nation’s orphanages now provide free lessons in Apsara dancing. Interest in this form in places like America, and the importance of indigenous culture to the Cambodian people will probably ensure the long-term survival of Khmer classical dance.

Roles

Classical dance traditionally contained four main roles: males, females, monkeys and ogres. The characters were drawn from various ancient myths and legends such as the Hindu epic “The Ramayana.” In Khmer it became The Reamkeh. The Reamkeh is the most significant story in Khmer legend, and its dance version contains the four main types of characters. It is also strewn with fabulous beasts and magical beings: Garudas, giants, hermits with strange powers, battling monkeys, and mermaids are all part of the ensemble. Hanuman, the King of the Monkeys, and a key ally of Preah Ream (Rama in the Hindu original), is a principal figure in The Reamker, and a much-loved and revered character in Cambodia. Monkey roles in Khmer classical dance are generally performed by male dancers because of the extreme athleticism required.

Costumes

There is often an intake of breath from an audience at the opening of an Apsara display. The vibrant silk sarongs and tunics, and the ornate tiaras and armlets have a supernatural color when spot lit. The combination of the bright color, movement and music is hypnotic. Yet this is only one aspect of classical dance. A full performance of a story like The Reamker will include dancers in painted monkey masks leaping and spinning as they fight with whirling swords, Princes in traditional Khmer dress battling armor-clad ogres, and monkeys wooing mermaids. Male characters also wear a sarong but it is tucked up in such a way as to appear like a pair of calf-length breeches. Males also wear thick, overlapping baldrics called sangvar on either shoulder that form a cross in the center of the chest and back. The rank of a character is often determined by the type of headdress they wear. Royal or divine characters are identified by the tall, spire-like headgear familiar in Thai traditional dance.

Music

The music that accompanies Khmer classical dance has bewitched writers as diverse as Zhou Daguan and Evelyn Waugh. Initially the overlaid rhythms and tones of gongs, drums, Khmer violins, bombards (oboe), hammer dulcimers, and pipes sound cacophonous, and there appears to be no repeated theme or pattern in the music. However, the music perfectly augments the movements of the dancers, and even an unfamiliar audience soon becomes aware that the music adds a significant element to the experience of seeing a classical dance performance. As an accompaniment to classical dance, traditional music does have certain conventions. For example, traditional rhythms and passages of music are rarely changed or improvised upon. Specific sections of a dance performance, or particular actions or characters are always introduced using the same music. There have been very few additions to the traditional music canon that survived the Khmer Rouge period, and no great desire has been shown to compose new pieces to accompany court dances.

Acknowledgment

The authors of the Ancient Angkor Guidebook would like to acknowledge the assistance of Mr. Tom Fawthrop, author of ‘Getting Away with Genocide’ and a former foreign correspondent who worked in Cambodia in the early 1980s. Mr. Fawthrop provided some useful information on the cultural revival that took place in Cambodia in the 1980s.