Khmer Arts
This page is dedicated to sharing information about Khmer traditional Arts.
Classical Dance.
“The Cambodian ballet thought up by artists long ago, has been perfected and polished through a millennium. It is a unique contribution to the World’s Culture.
During the Royal Cambodian ballet’s first visit to Paris in 1908, Auguste Rodin, Arbitrary of the Arts in Europe, wrote at the time – The Cambodians have shown us all that integrity can contain.It is impossible to see human nature brought to a higher state of perfection.
We have only the Cambodians and the ancient Greeks. They (The Cambodians) have found postures that no one else has dreamed of. They have movements unknown to us, even in ancient times”
Quote USA Radio 1970, recording courtesy of Meas Saem
The Origin of Cambodian Classical Ballet
From archaeological digs in Cambodia, there is evidence that dance forms existed in pre-historic times. Later, around the 1st century, India strongly influenced a large part of the South-East Asian region including Cambodia. There is also thought to be influence from Java, Indonesia. Carvings have been discovered of both the Apsara dancer and Hanuman (the Monkey King from the Indian Ramayana epic.) dating from the Cambodian Funan period (1st-6th century AD). The Apsara can also be found in ancient Indian carvings on Indian temples. In Cambodia she is known as Tep Apsar (Tep- gods) Apsar (white apsara).
“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.” (Extract from Cambodian government document on intangible cultural heritage.)
“Dance and music are essential for Khmer life. Khmer people need art from the cradle to the grave. There is a Khmer saying, “Life is art and art is Life.”(Extract from Cambodian government document on intangible cultural heritage.)
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.
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).
Who are the Dancers
From an 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 colour of their *Krubun” (silk cloth 2-3 metres long, rolled in the middle to create a trouser-skirt) is different. The movements of their hands and elbows are similar but slightly different. Both male and female parts are important and both are able to wear beautiful costumes and make-up, so that if it were not for the difference in “sandpot” (skirt) and rolled trousers both would be equally feminine.
In the 1960’s the Royal Family, including the Queen mother, HM Queen Kossamak and the children of King Sihanouk, especially Princess Bopha Devi and HM King Norodom Sihamoni, did a great deal to conserve and care for the Cambodian Ballet.
Now no children are trained at the Royal Palace as ballet dancers, instead there exists the Royal University of Fine Arts with their classical ballet section. Where children as young as 6 and 7 are selected at entrance exams to become professional ballerinas. The best become part of the Royal Ballet Corp and National Theatre.
The Significance of Crowns, Jewellery and Costumes and Ceremonies
The principal female ballerina, dances the Apsara and it is she who is the “White Apsara”, her followers and fellow Apsara dancers wear coloured silk skirts. On their heads they wear heavy crowns, (weighing as much as 5 kilos) and at least as much in weight of jewellery. Today these crowns and bracelets and anklets are no longer made of gold, as in the time of Angkor, but are 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.
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, (of specific kinds, usually 5 or 7 different types, including bananas and lychées –Ply Mean), incense and prayers, asking permission from the dancer’s teacher, ancestors and Divinities for permission to wear the crown.
Suprech Kru Ceremony
As in all the Cambodian classical performing art forms, such as music and theatre, a “Suprech 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 Cambodian 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.
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.
Pin Peat.
Pin Peat music is used firstly in the Royal Court, where some pieces are only played for Royal ceremonies and court dances. However Pin Peat music is also central to traditional Cambodian life, because it is used for classical ballet, shadow puppet theatre, official ceremonies, religious ceremonies and funerals.
When the Khmer (Cambodian) empire was at its height in prosperity and regional power, from approximately the ninth to the fourteenth centuries, carvings of Pin Peat orchestras were made and can still be seen today on the great temples of Angkor Vat. A date can therefore be set of more than a thousand years, for the existence of Pin Peat music.
The instruments used then, are almost identical to those used today in a modern ensemble. The centuries-old oral tradition from master to pupil, has ensured that despite much turmoil and the tragic destruction of the Khmer Rouge, this extraordinary music is still alive today in its original form, although many great masters were killed during between 1975 and 1979 (Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge).
Today in a measure to preserve this music, efforts are being made by KCDI, but of course also the University of Fine Arts and other arts foundations of note, to document and notate Pin Peat and other ancient Khmer music.
Pin Peat music is used firstly in the Royal Court, where some pieces are only played for Royal ceremonies and court dances. However Pin Peat music is also central to traditional Cambodian life, because it is used for classical ballet, shadow puppet theatre, official ceremonies, religious ceremonies and funerals.
A typical Pin Peat orchestra consists of between nine and twelve instruments :
- Roneat Ek (Main bamboo xylophone alto)
- Roneat Thom (Lower pitch bamboo xylophone)
- Roneat Daek (Metal xylophone)
- Sralai (Quadruple-reed Khmer oboe)
- Gong vong Thom (circular gong, lower pitch)
- Gong vong Toc (circular gong, high pitch)
- Sampho (Two faced drum, horizontal position)
- Skor Thom (Two large vertical drums)
- Chhing (finger cymbals)
- Chumrean (Voice)
Pin Peat music is based around the seven-tone pentatonic scale. There is no harmonization in the Western sense, but instruments played together create a complex piece and the player is free to add ornamentation within the framework of the melody. It can also be said that the opening lines of the Roneat Ek can give an idea of the central theme whilst the Sralai weaves in and out of the piece creating a theme within a theme and gives the piece a sense of weight and direction. The voice of course can hold the theme, but also the meaning of the words (often ancient Khmer) are important and often profound and poetic. The Sampho drum is vital to maintaining the rhythm and tempo of the piece, whilst the Skor Thom is used to emphasize and add drama, especially to dance pieces.
*Some instruments are doubled such as the roneats or gongs.
Empowering Blind Youth Through Traditional Khmer Arts
The Khmer Rouge genocide (1975-79) devastated Traditional Khmer Music and Arts, decimating a third of the population. Since 1994, our school has dedicated itself to preserving these cultural treasures for future generations. This project offers blind youth vocational training and therapy in Traditional Khmer Music, alongside counseling and 24-hour care, enabling them to pursue careers as musicians and achieve independence.