Photo Essays  |Society |Southeast Asia

Apsara: The Cambodian Dance

Nigh eliminated during the vicious reign of the Central khmer Rouge, a traditional fine art class is making a improvement.

Apsara: The Cambodian Dance

A troupe of professional dancers performs the Apsara Trip the light fantastic during an exclusive nighttime evidence in Thomeanon Temple, Kingdom of cambodia. The dance is led by an Apsara dressed in white describing the beauty and grace of these legendary women with precise movements and gestures, using different combinations and traditions, in accordance with movements of legs and feet, which correspond dissimilar concepts. Apsara dancing, a classical fashion dating back to the Angkorean era, nearly vanished during the regime of the Khmer Rouge.

Credit: Omar Havana

Apsara: The Cambodian Dance

SIEM REAP, Kingdom of cambodia. A immature Apsara student stretches earlier rehearsals in a local school in Siem Reap, Cambodia. In his Khmer Dictionary, Buddhist patriarch Chuon Nath explained that Apsara is a substantive referring to whitish bright and beautiful women in paradise; they tin can be called Srey Apsara, Srey Tep Apsara, or Neang Apsara.

Credit: Omar Havana

Apsara: The Cambodian Dance

An Apsara Dance student practices hands movements under the supervision of one of her teachers during training in a local school in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Hand gestures in Khmer classical trip the light fantastic toe are called kbach. These manus gestures form a sort of alphabet and represent elements from nature such as fruits, flowers, and leaves.

Credit: Omar Havana

Apsara: The Cambodian Dance

A group of Apsara Trip the light fantastic toe pupil exercise movements with two of their teacher, both former Apsara dancers that survived the Khmer Rouge, during training in a local school.

Credit: Omar Havana

Apsara: The Cambodian Dance

A immature Apsara dancer performs in Thomeanon Temple while 1 of the musicians waits to start playing traditional music with his traditional Roneat Thung, a depression pitched xylophone used in Khmer classical music, Cambodia.

Credit: Omar Havana

Apsara: The Cambodian Dance

A troupe of immature traditional dancers performs the popular "Fishing Dance" during a show in Bayon Temple, Cambodia. The Fishing Trip the light fantastic is a traditional folk dance developed in the 1960s, inspired by scenes of rural life and young beloved in Cambodia.

Credit: Omar Havana

Apsara: The Cambodian Dance

Two traditional dancers perform "the trip the light fantastic of the Gilt Mermaid" during a show in Thomeanon Temple, Kingdom of cambodia. The Sovann Machha Dance is a office of a story from the Reamker legend, an epic legend almost the struggle between skillful and evil, which portrays Hanuman, the White Army General Monkey, falling in beloved with a aureate mermaid.

Credit: Omar Havana

Apsara: The Cambodian Dance

A troupe of professional dancers performs the Apsara dance during an exclusive dark show in Thomeanon Temple, Cambodia. Apsara dancers need to acquire 4500 basic gestures to be adept dancers. Hand gestures in Khmer classical dance are chosen kbach. These paw gestures form a sort of alphabet and represent elements from nature such as fruits, flowers, and leaves.

Credit: Omar Havana

Apsara: The Cambodian Dance

A troupe of professional person Apsara dancers greets guests during an exclusive dark dinner in Thomeanon Temple, Kingdom of cambodia. Few people have the opportunity to watch these incredible dancers perform in what was once their home: the Angkor temples. In these temples performances are held for private and sectional dinners or for important meetings organised by the top end hotels and travel agencies in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Credit: Omar Havana

"To trip the light fantastic in Angkor is the dream that every girl has when nosotros offset to acquire Apsara Trip the light fantastic toe," confesses Sopha, a student at one of the oldest traditional courtroom dances in Asia. Apsara dancing, a classical style dating back to the Angkorean era, nearly vanished in the 1970s when the Khmer Rouge regime decimated much of the country's infrastructure, civilization and traditions. Almost 90 percent of Cambodia's artists and intellectuals were systematically eliminated by the Central khmer Rouge, devastating what had been a flourishing artistic customs.

In recent years, however, the dance has been making a improvement in Cambodia and is now a common feature of public ceremonies and in hotel lobbies beyond Cambodia's most tourist-friendly cities. Nonetheless few people take had the opportunity to watch these incredible dancers perform in what was in one case their home: the Angkor temples. In these temples – where performances are held for individual and exclusive dinners or for important meetings – their ancestral movements match perfectly with the mystical atmosphere that envelops the Cambodian nights.

"I am 75 years old now but I have dreamt of this moment since I was an Apsara student during the French era. I spent all of my life dedicated to dancing and information technology is at present, when I am close to expiry, when I dear to see that at last Cambodia is working to keep our Apsara Dance in the soul of our people forever," says Rous Sok Khon, ane of the about highly respected Apsara trip the light fantastic teachers in Siem Reap, where the Angkor temples can be found.

"I started dancing when I was a little girl. At that time my family unit was very poor, we had almost nothing to consume. With time and endeavor, I understood the importance of what we are doing. Cheers to women like Miss Rous Sok our country'southward legacy is live today. Her life is the case to follow for united states; she is just one of the very few dancers who survived the genocide. At present I trip the light fantastic toe to show to the people how rich the history of our country is. Now I dance for Kingdom of cambodia," confesses Srey Li, one of the primary dancers of Rous Sok's group.