Classical Dance Pushes the Bounds of Traditional Gender Identities

In founding the first all-male, gay classical dance company in Cambodia, U.S.-born artist Prumsodun Ok simultaneously preserves traditions and empowers diversity. Merging two cultural streams — the progressive and the conservative — that many see as mutually exclusive, Ok presents a new outlook on Khmer culture. “In the Khmer tradition, there is space for people who don’t fit into male or female.

For example, in one of our most sacred classical dances, a Brahman who comes to act as a messenger between heaven and earth is depicted. And this Brahman is half male, half female. So in our culture we already have what people in the world today call ‘queer.’”

Born to Cambodian refugees in the U.S., Ok has pursued a career in Khmer classical dance, experimental filmmaking and photography. Moving back to Cambodia in 2015, he founded Cambodia’s first Khmer-classical gay dance company Natyarasa, which now consists of 10 professional dancers.

What seems contradictory at first is actually well-connected, says Ok: “In Khmer, when we use the word ‘perform,’ we say ‘samdeng.’

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