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Friday afternoon, costume staff and students were granted the opportunity to observe the dressing process of the dancers of the Khmer Arts Academy's production of Pamina Devi: A Cambodian Magic Flute, currently touring the US. The performance appeared courtesy of the Carolina Performing Arts series. Theatre empresario Peter Sellers sponsored the production, choreographed and directed by Cambodian classical dancer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, as part of a Vienna Mozart festival. Now the KAA have taken it on tour.
If you are unfamiliar with what traditional Cambodian dance is like (i certainly was), check out some of the articles written about the academy and the tour:
New York Times article
Daily Tarheel (UNC college paper) article
Responses to the premiere last month at the University of Florida.
Shapiro told us a lot of interesting information about classical dance conventions in the Cambodian tradition. For example, all the roles are performed by women, but there are four character archetypes: men, women, giants (who apparently also double as gods or demons), and monkeys. The men are signified in costume by the wearing of peaked epaulets. Characters also wear masks, such as the Garuda, a bird-creature.
Shapiro also talked about the genesis of this particular production, in which she played upon Mozart's opera's themes of "enlightenment and change," a phrase adopted and perverted by the genocidal Khmer Rouge in the Cambodia of Shapiro's youth.
We were allowed (after removing our shoes) to come backstage and observe the dressing process of the 31-member dance troupe. These dancers begin the dressing process 4.5 hours before the performance begins--they are stitched into their shirts and undertrousers, and the other pieces are all held on with a combination ties and artful folding processes. Everyone was very friendly and happy to answer our questions, show us details of their methods and traditions, and allow us to take photos. All the pictures in this post are courtesy of photographer Amanda Phillips.
( Click to see pictures! )
If you are unfamiliar with what traditional Cambodian dance is like (i certainly was), check out some of the articles written about the academy and the tour:
New York Times article
Daily Tarheel (UNC college paper) article
Responses to the premiere last month at the University of Florida.
Shapiro told us a lot of interesting information about classical dance conventions in the Cambodian tradition. For example, all the roles are performed by women, but there are four character archetypes: men, women, giants (who apparently also double as gods or demons), and monkeys. The men are signified in costume by the wearing of peaked epaulets. Characters also wear masks, such as the Garuda, a bird-creature.
Shapiro also talked about the genesis of this particular production, in which she played upon Mozart's opera's themes of "enlightenment and change," a phrase adopted and perverted by the genocidal Khmer Rouge in the Cambodia of Shapiro's youth.
We were allowed (after removing our shoes) to come backstage and observe the dressing process of the 31-member dance troupe. These dancers begin the dressing process 4.5 hours before the performance begins--they are stitched into their shirts and undertrousers, and the other pieces are all held on with a combination ties and artful folding processes. Everyone was very friendly and happy to answer our questions, show us details of their methods and traditions, and allow us to take photos. All the pictures in this post are courtesy of photographer Amanda Phillips.
( Click to see pictures! )
