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Last weekend was interesting. I attended a workshop on Khmer dance hosted by Tribal Crackling Wind at the National Ballet School in Toronto. I went into this workshop sight unseen, as I'm wholly unfamiliar with Cambodian dance. Khmer dance is considered a world treasure by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The world is lucky to still have such a thing, as it was almost wiped out during Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge reign. Along with the academics and intellectuals, dancers were being murdered in droves by the regime. Around 90% of the dancers were killed, often given away by their manicured hands, their distinctive posture, and their grace of movement.
Fortunately, there were a few survivors. Some even performed during the reign of terror. One instructor left Cambodia for Long Beach before Pol Pot began his pogroms, and has since returned to teach dance in her homeland. And even while many Cambodians were living in eastern Thailand refugee camps, the remaining dancers from the royal ballet formed colonies and taught the children music and dance.
The Cambodian dancers I met, Phon Sopheap and Yim Savann, are charismatic sweethearts. Phon Sopheap is an expert in monkey dance, and Yim Savann in giant/ogre dance. Most of the dance is performed by women or men (primarily women), but the monkey dance is considered a men's dance. Dances are done in very heavy costumes and large headpieces which make it difficult to see or breathe. This makes the monkey dance all the more impressive to me. There are two monkey styles: small monkey and big monkey. Both are acrobatic in nature. The small monkey dance demonstration I watched incorporated numerous flips and cartwheels. This is all the more impressive when you consider the dancer can't really see or breathe properly.
The ogre dance is much heavier in nature, with stamping of feet and low, martial-looking stances. I was impressed by the sharpness of motion, and the snappy transitions from soft one-legged stances to a sudden straight leg without the slightest waver in balance.
The postures are rather unnatural in appearance. Hyper-extension seems to be key, and I'm not sure what I think about this. Arms are held beyond straight, with elbows bending slightly at the wrong angle. The standing posture is also unnatural in appearance, with a straight, tall look, but a highly arched lower back. I can't help but wonder how dancers avoid chronic lower back pain, or if they can avoid this pain at all. The posture is the antithesis to everything I've been taught about posture in any other dance form (aside from pole dance, where sticking your arse out is considered sexy).
The dance clip I've included here shows a large monkey style (Hanuman) as well as a mermaid dance.
(Personally, I think Phon Sopheap is a better dancer than the monkey performer in this clip, but I can't find him online.)
Because the workshop was only three hours long, we couldn't be taught very much. We did get an introduction to the posture, a few hand movements, arm movements, and footwork. The end of the session gave participants a chance to combine the distinctive Cambodian movements with their own dance styles, and I was impressed by the combination of Khmer dance with contemporary, modern, and hip hop styles. I had a little more difficulty combining Khmer footwork with ATS dance, but I still think it can be done. I may figure it out, yet....
The world is lucky to still have such a thing, as it was almost wiped out during Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge reign. Along with the academics and intellectuals, dancers were being murdered in droves by the regime. Around 90% of the dancers were killed, often given away by their manicured hands, their distinctive posture, and their grace of movement.
Fortunately, there were a few survivors. Some even performed during the reign of terror. One instructor left Cambodia for Long Beach before Pol Pot began his pogroms, and has since returned to teach dance in her homeland. And even while many Cambodians were living in eastern Thailand refugee camps, the remaining dancers from the royal ballet formed colonies and taught the children music and dance.
The Cambodian dancers I met, Phon Sopheap and Yim Savann, are charismatic sweethearts. Phon Sopheap is an expert in monkey dance, and Yim Savann in giant/ogre dance. Most of the dance is performed by women or men (primarily women), but the monkey dance is considered a men's dance. Dances are done in very heavy costumes and large headpieces which make it difficult to see or breathe. This makes the monkey dance all the more impressive to me. There are two monkey styles: small monkey and big monkey. Both are acrobatic in nature. The small monkey dance demonstration I watched incorporated numerous flips and cartwheels. This is all the more impressive when you consider the dancer can't really see or breathe properly.
The ogre dance is much heavier in nature, with stamping of feet and low, martial-looking stances. I was impressed by the sharpness of motion, and the snappy transitions from soft one-legged stances to a sudden straight leg without the slightest waver in balance.
The postures are rather unnatural in appearance. Hyper-extension seems to be key, and I'm not sure what I think about this. Arms are held beyond straight, with elbows bending slightly at the wrong angle. The standing posture is also unnatural in appearance, with a straight, tall look, but a highly arched lower back. I can't help but wonder how dancers avoid chronic lower back pain, or if they can avoid this pain at all. The posture is the antithesis to everything I've been taught about posture in any other dance form (aside from pole dance, where sticking your arse out is considered sexy).
The dance clip I've included here shows a large monkey style (Hanuman) as well as a mermaid dance.
(Personally, I think Phon Sopheap is a better dancer than the monkey performer in this clip, but I can't find him online.)
Because the workshop was only three hours long, we couldn't be taught very much. We did get an introduction to the posture, a few hand movements, arm movements, and footwork. The end of the session gave participants a chance to combine the distinctive Cambodian movements with their own dance styles, and I was impressed by the combination of Khmer dance with contemporary, modern, and hip hop styles. I had a little more difficulty combining Khmer footwork with ATS dance, but I still think it can be done. I may figure it out, yet....
