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Crowns Masks Dance
Costumes
Jewelry
Baskets
Reamaker
Sarongs
 Cambodian Classical Dance is rich in history and cultural
significance, below are various pictures depicting Cambodian dance
with links to some fantastic articles/website of various aspects of
Cambodia dance, such as the famous Apsara dancers, khmer music and
various dance related articles:
Also known as
Khmer royal ballet or Khmer court dance, is a form of dance in Cambodia
originally performed only for royalty. In Khmer, it is formally known as robam
preah reachea trop which means 'dances of royal wealth' or robam kbach
boran khmer, literally 'Khmer dance of the ancient style'. The origin of
classical dance varies among different sources. It does not resemble the dances
of the Angkor period. It has many elements in common with Thai classical dance.
This is most likely a result of the
royal Khmer court exchanging culture with the royal Thai court
throughout the post
post-Angkor era. Khmer and Thai classical dance costumes once
looked very similar to each other, but Khmer dance and costume have
gone under slight changes and reforms brought on by former Queen of
Cambodia, Kossamak Nearireath. During the mid-20th century, it was
introduce to the public where it now remains an celebrated icon of
Khmer culture often being performed during public events, holidays
and for tourists in Cambodia.
Khmer
classical dancers use stylized movements and
gestures to tell a story much like a mime, but in a more vague
way as most audiences will probably never understand more than a
couple of gestures. Dancers do not speak or sing; they dance with a
slight smile and are never suppose to open their mouths. Khmer
classical dance can be compared to French ballet as it requires
years of practice and stretching at a young age so the limbs become
very flexible. Dancers flex their fingers backwards, as well
as toes when dancing.
 Gestures
in Khmer classical dance are called kbach (style).
These kbach are broken down into several categories depending
on which body parts are involved. Hand gestures that involve fingers
are called cheep which means to pinch. These hand
gestures can represent various things from nature such as fruit,
flowers, and leaves. When put together in combinations they can have
different meanings. Most gestures, such as laughing are slightly
different between the 4 main types of characters (listed in the next
segment).
-http://en.wikipedia.org/
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Apsara Dance
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 At the heart of classical form
is the Apsara, the joyful, almost wanton dancer whose images
are everywhere. Princess Buppha Devi, who currently serves
as the Minister of Culture, is a master of Apsara dancing,
which dates to the 1st century. The graceful movements of
the Apsara dancers, adorned with gold headdresses and silken
tunics and skirts, are carved on the walls of many of the
temples at Angkor. Estimates are that there were 3,000
Apsara dancers in the 12th century court of King Jayavarman
VII.
Over the centuries Khmer dancing lent its influence to the
classical ballet of neighboring countries, and some of its
postures and movements are similar to other Southeast Asian
dance forms.
But
according to Princess Buppha Devi, "The Khmer kingdom
started its traditions in the 8th century, 500 years before
Thailand." In 1400, with the sacking of the Angkor Empire,
the Apsara dancers were seized and taken to Thailand. Apsara
dancing is one of two elements of classical ballet, the
other being "today" dancing, the depiction of early myths.
Many of the dances involve performing a fragment of the
Ramayana, the ancient Indian epic that is one and a half
times as long as the Odyssey. Others are based on the
legendary battles and mythical sagas carved in bas relief on
the walls of the temples of Angkor-including the Churning of
the Sea of Milk, the great battle between gods and demons
for the holy liquid that gives immortality. There are 100
dances and dramas.
-Cambodian
Tourism
Khmer Music
There are two kinds of
traditional music: one is the Pin Peath with stringed and
percussion instruments and the other the Mohory with only
stringed instruments. The different instruments are: Pin
Peath is a group of instruments which have Roneath
(xylophone in metal or bamboo), Kong (percussion instrument
surrounding the player), a pear of Skor Thom (a very big
drum, which has two faces, for making the rhythm), Sampho (a
big drum, which has two faces, for making the rhythm), Sro
Lai (a big recorder), Chhoeng (percussion instrument hitting
each other for making rhythm).
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 This
kind of music is used to accompany dances, praying to God or
spirit and other ceremonies. Mohory is a group of
instruments, which have Khoem (with 35 horizontal strings
instrument), Ta Khe (with 3 horizontal strings instrument),
Tro(with vertical strings instrument), Skor Dai (a small
drum for making rhythm), Khloy (recorder) and Chhoeng. This
kind of music is used to accompany dance, theatre, wedding
and other ceremonies. There are 4 to 6 % of children attend
these courses and they start learning all the traditional
Khmer instruments, and choose one they prefer to form the
group.
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Characters and Costume
There are 4 main types of characters in
Khmer dance which are:
Neay - males
Neang - females
Yeak -
ogres
Sva -
monkeys
In
the
Reamker dance drama, a lkhaon, these 4 types of
characters are plentiful. Other types of characters include
apsaras,
mermaids, hermits, deer, garudas, and kinnaris. Many people will
refer to Khmer classical dancers as
Apsara
dancers, however this is incorrect as not all Khmer classical
dancers perform as apsaras characters. Monkey characters are almost
exclusively performed by men or sometimes, young boys, because this
role require acrobatic stunts such as somersaults and cartwheels.
Hanuman Classical dance costumes are highly ornate. Many pieces
of silk are embroidered and decorated with sequins. Sometimes pieces
of the costume have to be sewn onto the dancers for a tight fit.
Dancers wear either one of several different types of crowns which
denote the type of character they are performing. Divinities and
royal characters wear a tall spired crown. Human characters of
lesser importance will either wear a circlet, diadem or tiara.
Characters such as ogres and monkeys will wear masks and their rank
can be determined by the crowns attached to their masks.
Female characters wear iridescent silk
sarongs, an armlet on the
right upper arm and, traditionally, a rose on the right ear with a
phuong on the left side of the crown. A phuong is
Khmer term for flowers stringed together into a tassel-like form
(sometimes referred to as a flower garland), it is usually made up
of Jasmine, Calotropis, and
Michelia blossoms. Dancers also wear flower garlands around
the wrist which made of usually jasmine buds. Apsara dancers, which
are female divinities, will usually wear
plumeria flowers instead of the rose, the flower tassel is also
made of plumerias, and an armlet on both arms. Male characters also
wear the same type of silk sarong as female characters except that
it is folded and wrapped to look like the Indian dhoti which are
similar to baggy breeches. Male characters can be spotted with a
rose on the left ear and a flower garland hung on the right side of
the crown. Male characters also wear an x-like strap around the body
called a sangvar with an extra set of bracelets in addition
to the one worn by both gender of characters.
Repertoire
There are several dozen dances in the
Khmer repertoire. The Apsara dance of today was 'recreated' by
former queen Kossamak Nearireath,
Norodom Sihanouk's mother. It's costume is based on the
bas-relief of apsaras on temple ruins but much of it, including it's
music and gesture is not unique from other classical Khmer dances
which do not date back to the
Angkor
period. Most commonly performed is the Robam Jun Por where
dancers scatter flower petals as a gesture of offering best wishes,
it is often performed in public events. Others include:
-Robam Tep Apsara - dance of the
Apsara devas
-Robam Tep Monorom - dance of the
delight of devas
-Robam Phuong Neari - dance of the
flower tassel of girls
-Robam Phlett - dance of fans
-Robam Makar - dance of the
makara creature
-Robam Moni Mekhala - dance of the
goddess Mekhala
[1]
[2]
-Robam Preahm - dance of a Brahman
-Robam Sovann Maccha - dance of the
golden fish (or mermaid)
[3]
Some dances, such as Robam Moni
Mekhala and Robam Sovann Maccha are excerpts from dance
dramas called lkhaon (pronounced la-khown). Lkhaon are
different from robam in that it is longer, sometimes lasting
several hours, while robam are dances lasting about a dozen
minutes or so.
During the
Khmer Rouge regime, many dancers were killed; as a result, some
dances have been lost. With the help of surviving dances and film
footage and such, some these dances were recreated at Royal
University of Fine-Arts in Cambodia. New dance dramas have also been
created under the guidance of Sophiline Cheam Shapiro who recently
created the lkhaon called Samritechak, an adaptation
of the story of Othello.
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