All-female troupe set to bring classical settings to life with contemporary dance

[geovalin]

Sarah Rhodes

 

Although the four female dancers at the heart of the Siem Reap-based troupe New Cambodian Artists (NCA) are trained in the classical art of Khmer dance, their main focus is on developing a culture of contemporary dance in the Kingdom. It has not been smooth sailing.

 

For most of their existence, they were certified to perform only classical Khmer dance at the landmark Angkor Wat temple in Siem Reap – and that was because of paperwork: the certificate issued to the troupe by the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts was solely for classical dance.

To complicate matters further, a certificate for contemporary dance didn’t exist.

 

But last month, after a year of lobbying, the ministry drafted and issued NCA with a contemporary dance certificate. The recognition of NCA as the country’s first contemporary dance troupe was a big step forward: it meant NCA’s dancers could exhibit their contemporary dance skills not only at the temples but also at hotels inside and outside Cambodia. “We are very happy to have the certificate, and now it’s easy to perform in the temples,” says 19-year-old dancer Khon Sreynuch, who dreams of performing in Paris “where we can show ourselves to the world”.

 

read more http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/all-female-troupe-set-bring-classical-settings-life-contemporary-dance

 

 

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