Wednesday 15th August 2012.
This post is being published out of order. I thought it had been published, but it turns out that it hadn’t. Anyway, here it is:
An Apsara is a female spirit of the clouds and waters in Hindu and Buddhist mythology.
Apsaras are beautiful, supernatural beings, youthful and elegant, and superb in the art of dancing. They are often the wives of the Gandharvas, the court musicians of Indra, and dance to the music made by the Gandharvas, usually in the palaces of the gods, where they entertain and sometimes seduce gods and men.
In Cambodia, Apsaras represent an important motif in the stone bas-reliefs in the temples at Angkor (8th–13th century AD).
Khmer classical dance, the indigenous ballet-like performance art of Cambodia, is frequently called “Apsara Dance.”
Most traditional dances seen today were developed in the 18th - 20th centuries. In the mid 20th century, Queen Sisowath Kossamak Nearireach (retired King Norodom Sihanouk's mother) not only fostered a resurgence in the study and development of Khmer traditional dance, but also helped move it out of the Palace and popularize it.
Princess Bopha Devi was trained by her grandmother Queen Sisowath Kossamak in the art of traditional dance from early childhood. The princess went on to become the face of Khmer traditional dance in the 1950s and 60s both in Cambodia and around the world. Picture from http://amyleahlove.blogspot.com
Many traditional dances that are seen in performances today were developed and refined between the 1940s and 1960s under the guidance and patronage of Queen Sisowath at the Conservatory of Performing Arts and the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh.
Almost all of the Theatrical Folk Dances that are presented in modern performances were developed during this period.
Like so much of Cambodian art and culture, traditional dance was almost lost under the brutal repression of the Khmer Rouge regime of the late 1970s. The extraordinary efforts of Princess Bopha Devi did much to revive and reconstruct this art in the 1980s and 90s.
After we arrived at our hotel in Siem Reap, at the end of a long and eventful day, we met up with the other 14 people on our tour, and were taken out to a Cambodian buffet dinner at a restaurant which also included an Apsara Dance show.
Apsara dance has a grounded, subtle, even restrained, yet feather-light, ethereal appearance. It is distinct in its ornate costuming, taut posture, arched back and feet, fingers flexed backwards, codified facial expressions, and slow, close, deliberate but flowing movements.
A few days later, we visited a silk factory in Hoi An. When this lady demonstrated how the silk came off the silk cocoon, I wondered if she had had Apsara training.
Another extremely popular dance included in most traditional dance performances in Siem Reap is the Theatrical Folk Dance known as the “Fishing Dance.” The Fishing Dance is a playful, energetic folk dance with a strong, easy-to-follow story line. It was developed in the 1960s at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh and was inspired by the developer's interpretation of certain rather idealized and stereotyped aspects aspects of rural life and young love. Clad in rural attire, a group of young men and women fish with rattan baskets and scoops, dividing their attention between work and flirtatious glances.
Women are portrayed as hardworking, shy, demurring and coy, whereas the young men are strong, unrestrained, roguish and assertive.
As the dance continues a couple is separated from the group allowing the flirtations between them to intensify, only to be spoiled by the male character playing a bit too rough, leading to her coy rejection.
He pokes and plays trying to win her back, bringing only further rejection. Eventually,he gently apologizes on bended knee and after some effort, draws a smile and her attention once again.
Just as they move together, the group returns, startling the couple and evoking embarrassment as they both rush to their 'proper' roles once again. The men and women exit at opposite sides of the stage, leaving the couple almost alone, but under pressure of the groups, they separate, leaving in opposite directions, yet with a hint of a secret promise to meet again.
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