Khmer classical dance originated from the royal courts of Cambodia and features elaborately costumed dancers performing to Pinpeat music. It was traditionally performed for royalty and religious ceremonies but is now a celebrated part of Cambodian culture, often performed at public events and for tourists. Two popular classical dances are the Robam Chuon Por ("Wishing Dance") and Robam Tep Apsara ("Apsara Dance"), which features dancers portraying the celestial beings known as Apsaras. Khmer classical dance traces its origins back to ancient Cambodia and has been influenced by Indian culture, with movements and costumes still reflecting carvings found at Angkor Wat.

1. University of Cambodia
Lectured by:
Mut Somoeun, M.Ed
KHM 140: Khmer Culture

2. KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE

3. KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE
 Khmer classical dance, or Robam Preah Reach Trop, is a
highly stylized dance form originating from the royal courts.
 Performances of classical dance consists of elaborately
costumed dancers and music played by a Pinpeat ensemble. It
is performed for invocation of deities and spirits as well as to
pay homage to royalty and guests.
 In the mid-20th century, it was introduced to the general public
and became widely celebrated as iconic of Cambodian culture,
often being performed during public events, holidays, and for
tourists visiting Cambodia.
 Two of the most performed classical dance are the Robam
Chuon Por ("Wishing dance") and the Robam Tep Apsara
("Apsara Dance").

4. APSARA DANCERS

5. THE ORIGIN OF CAMBODIAN
CLASSICAL BALLET
 From archaeological digs in Cambodia evidences
that dance forms existed in pre-historic times.
 Around the 1st century, India strongly influenced
a large part of the South-East Asian region
including Cambodia.
 Carvings have been discovered of both the
Apsara dancer and Hanuman (the Monkey King
from the Indian Ramayana epic.)
 In Cambodia, she is known as Tep Apsar (white
Apsara).

6. APSARA (ANGEL DANCERS)

7. KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE
 Apsara emerged from the churning of the ocean of
milk when the gods and demons worked together to
seek Amrita ( immortal water).
 Apsara originated from water and that is why she
represents Devi Araksa (God of the Water).
 It is believed that Apsara is goddess of the Indra
world and consort of Gandharavas who is the
musician of Deva.

8. KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE
 Dance and music are essential for Khmer life.
 Khmer people need art from the cradle to the grave
(birth to death).
 Khmer saying, “Life is art and art is Life.”
 Bas reliefs found on the carvings in Angkor Wat
depict many details of Cambodian dance.
 In these carvings, many dancers are of the celestial
Apsara and a clear idea is given of body, hand and
foot movements, as well as costumes and crowns.

9. APSARA DANCERS

10. KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE
 These same movements as well as costumes are still
used today, in one of the world’s most extraordinary
cultural heritages.
 Since ancient times classical dancers were kept in
the Royal Palace and performed for the Royal
Family, not as high class entertainment, but as
representatives of celestial beings and semi-god
figures out of the Ramayana (Reamker).

11. WHO ARE THE DANCERS?
 Early age young girls are chosen for their physical
talent and the kind of attractiveness necessary for
Cambodian ballet.
 They are then divided into male and female roles.
Those girls who tend to be taller, with longer faces,
take the male part, whilst those smaller with
rounder faces, take the female roles. Even in ballet
practice as children, the color of their *Krubun”
(silk cloth 2-3 meters long, rolled in the middle to
create a trouser-skirt) is different.
 The movements of their hands and elbows are
similar but slightly different.

12. DANCERS

13. DANCERS
 Both male and female parts are important and are
able to wear beautiful costumes and make-up, so that
if it were not for the difference in “sampot” (skirt)
and rolled trousers both would be equally feminine.
 In the past, children were trained at the Royal Palace
as ballet dancers, but now at the Royal University of
Fine Arts with their classical ballet section.
 Children aged 6 and 7 are selected at entrance exams
to become professional ballerinas. The best become
part of the Royal Ballet Corp and National Theatre.

14. APSARA DANCERS

15. SIGNIFICANCE OF CROWNS, JEWELRIES
AND COSTUMES AND CEREMONIES
 The principal female ballerina, dances the Apsara “White
Apsara”, her followers and fellow Apsara dancers wear colored
silk skirts.
 On their heads they wear heavy crowns, (weighing as much as
5 kilos) and at least as much in weight of jewelries.
 Today crowns and bracelets and anklets are no longer made of
gold, as in the Angkor time, but painted gold.
 Real Frangipani flowers are attached to the dancer’s long dark
hair and a long cluster of woven Jasmine flowers descend from
one side of the crown.
 Frangipani flowers can only be worn for this ballet and are
considered as ill-luck if a woman wears them in her hair outside
such dance ceremonies.

16. SIGNIFICANCE OF CROWNS, JEWELRIES
AND COSTUMES AND CEREMONIES
 The crowns and head-gear of all dancers are considered
sacred. Many female crowns used for different dances,
including Apsara, Chuon Phor (Wishing dance) etc; have at
the sides, what appear to be two wings, indeed these
represent Angel’s wings.
 No dancer can simply put a crown on their head, without
first offering fruit, (specific kinds, usually 5 or 7 different
types, including bananas and lychées), incense and prayers,
asking permission from the dancer’s teacher, ancestors and
Divinities for permission to wear the crown.

17. DANCERS & CROWN

18. CROWN...

19. SAMPEAH KRU CEREMONY
 In Khmer classical art forms, such as music and theatre, a “Sampeah
Kru” ceremony must be held each year.
 Here ornate conical forms are constructed from banana leaves and with a
hard-boiled egg still with its shell, put on top, the largest perhaps a foot
high and the smallest less than half a foot. They are laid out in pairs
opposite each other, along a ceremonial mat, descending in size from the
tallest to the shortest.
 Food is cooked, including a pig’s head, different dishes, sweets and fruit,
tea and Khmer rice wine, as well as cigarettes. These are lain out on one
side of the long covered ceremonial mat. The other side, are the same
ingredients but not cooked, instead raw.
 This is so, all the celestial ancestors of the Dance can partake in the
meal. The female and male – Prince and semi-deity roles eat the cooked
food and the Yik’ (ogre) eats the raw food, whilst the Monkey king
enjoys the fruit and sweets. Prayers are chanted and the ceremony is led
by the Ceremonial leader, a man who is usually advanced in age and has
played an important role in the arts.

20. SAMPEAH KRU

21. SAMPEAH KRU CEREMONY
 Blessings, Protection and Prosperity are asked by the
artists from the Buddha and from the potent “Ta Yse”,
from their ancestral teachers, from the ancestors of the
different dances, music and theatre and so on.
 Holy water is sprayed on those present and each artist
has a small cotton bracelet tied around their wrist. The Ta
Yse is considered a Divine figure and the great
grandfather and founder of all Cambodian arts. This
ceremony is typical of the marriage between Hinduism,
Buddhism and Animism in Cambodia.

22. HANUMAN (MONKEY KING AND HIS
MONKEY SOLDIERS)
 Men and boys are not allowed to dance male roles as
deities and Princes, these roles are reserved for girls
women.
 Instead men may dance the Monkey and Hanuman
(king of the monkey) role, as this involves more
acrobatics cartwheels and pretend scratching and
monkey antics, considered unsuitable for female
dignity!

23. HANUMAN (MONKEY) & MANYKHALA

24. MONKEYS

25. THE YEAK (GIANT ACTOR)
 Large boned women, who have not great physical
beauty, but none the less have talent as dancers,
dance the role of the “Yik”, (the ogre/ Asura).
 Monkeys show their skills in making fighting
moves with daggers and swords. Their
movements are different from the above female
and male roles, as the feet are further apart and
their legs more opened.
 There is still the flexibility in their fingers, but
their movements are larger and more decisive
than the other role dancers, emphasizing strength
and “ogre/ Asura” ferociousness.

26. YEAK/ ASURA

27. YEAK/ ASURA

28. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BALLET
MOVEMENTS
 Each movement of the fingers and hand is symbolic of
meaning, for example they can mean, flower- bud, open
flower, leaf. Then these movements put together with
arm, body and foot movement mean different things,
such as “I”, “Love”, “Over there” and so on.
 The lower back is perpetually curved in a slight arch and
the feet are arched underneath with the toes higher than
the rest of the foot.
 Although the dancers appear tranquil, actually their
bodies are under great strain, as every movement is
curved and bent.

29. MOVEMENTS

30. QUESTIONS & ANSWERS