62 barefoot dancers gather at the temple of Preah Vihear on the tense Cambodian-Thai border to perform a sacred ritual for peace led by Ravynn Karet-Coxen (right).

A religious ceremony of rare intensity took place August 17 in the temple of Preah Vihear, where sixty-two young girls danced a sacred ritual to pray for peace. Originating the event was Ravynn Karet Coxen, founder of the Nginn-Karet Foundation for Cambodia.

By Frédéric Amat

© 2010 Cambodge Soir – This translation of the original article appears with the permission of the copyright holder. No further reproduction is permitted.

PREAH VIHEAR, CAMBODIA — Sixty-two girls, entirely dressed in white reminiscent of Rome’s Vestal Virgins, performed a Buong Suong (sacred ritual) before the astonished eyes of soldiers stationed in the heart of Preah Vihear temple, which is located four hours by road from Siem Reap.

All the dancers come from impoverished families living in the villages of Banteay Srey district, which is considered to be the cradle of the Khmer culture. All attend classes at the Conservatoire Buppha Devi, which was founded by the Nginn Karet Foundation and named for its Royal Patron. With specialized dance and music teachers, the Conservatoire offers these disadvantaged children from farming families the opportunity to learn the refined disciplines of classical dance, folk dance, music and shadow theater thereby discovering their country’s ancient culture and learning traditional Cambodian values.

The troupe of Nginn Karet Foundation dancers gather at Preah Vihear

According to Ravynn, “our institution doesn’t aim to train these young artists to later work in the tourist venues of nearby Siem Reap town. The arts we teach develop the spirit, mind and body by creating close communion with nature. These young dancers train to perform sacred rituals that honor and invoke our gods with the pure respect of our ancestral traditions.

“These rituals, and their associated gestures, have been developed over a thousand years to petition the heavens to bless our country and to attract prosperity and abundance to our land. Today, Angkor’s temples are perceived more for tourism or for their archaeological aspects, but rarely for their spiritual quality, which is a pity. Our goal is to re-sanctify our ancestor’s temples with these purifying rites”.

Sacred dancers ascending Preah Vihear temple with offerings of peace.

For these young artists, discipline is strict. They are required to regularly attend the training six half-days every week; the other half-days being devoted to academic studies.

In the Hindu (not Buddhist) ritual that took place at Preah Vihear — as for other ceremonies previously organized by Ravynn and members of her foundation — the dancers must be “pure”, which is to say virgins. They are not adorned with makeup or jewelry, so as to enhance the beauty of the gestures and to preserve the piety of the rites.

Gathering Lustral Water at Preah Vihear's sacred pond Srea Meas.

The adornments and offerings are therefore natural, carved by the dancers and teachers from banana trunks or designed with plants, flowers and fruits, each having a specific symbolic meaning.

“The same is true of our Institution of Royalty, which is paramount for the Khmer because it represents the divine presence on earth and the protection of the Kingdom. In accord with the ideals of the Devaraja religion of Jayavarman II, prayers, incantations and pilgrimages are all necessary to strengthen the soul of our country. I fundamentally believe that when the sacred sites have been respected as such, and re-sanctified, Cambodia will regain peace.

“It is with this goal that we organized this sacred ritual at Preah Vihear with 62 dancers. This number is not without significance, by the way. It commemorates the irrevocable judgment of the International Court of Justice of The Hague, delivered in 1962, that granted Cambodia the right to regain the sovereignty of Preah Vihear,” explains Ravynn, whose father, Nginn Karet, participated in the World Court proceedings as an expert engineer geographer.

The sacred dancers began their blessing ritual at the foot of the mountain.

So, at Preah Vihear, sixty-two dancers, candles and sticks of incense in hand, ascended hundreds of temple steps, from the mountain’s base to its final courtyard. The young ladies gently and beautifully invoked the names of all the Khmer gods, royal spirits, kings, spiritual masters, ancestors and the leaders of modern Cambodia, as they stopped at each Gopura (an entry structure on each level) to perform special ceremonies using lustral water gathered from the temple’s sacred pond of Srea Meas.

As the sacred ritual concluded storm clouds gathered and raindrops fell -- to the dancers it was a sign that their gods had heard their pleas for peace.

Focused on their ritual dance they reached the highest point at the edge of a cliff, offering their final prayers for tensions to subside so that this sacred site is again peaceful.

When all nine dance rituals were complete the witnesses were awed to see the sky darken. Within minutes lighting flashed, thunder rumbled and heavy rain descended near the mountain. On the top, only a mist of spray touched the gathered troupe of dancers, who saw it as a sign that the gods had heard their plea and accepted the Buong Suong.

This was the first time in many centuries that a sacred Hindu rite was celebrated in Preah Vihear temple; a rite for peace, at the summit of Cambodia, in this sanctuary mid-way between Heaven and Earth.

***

Cambodge Soir is the most important French language newspaper published in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. It is distributed throughout the country and is available online for purchase by the single issue or by subscription (online edition).

Le Ballet Royal du Cambodge Paris performance.

By Kent Davis – Devata.org

PARIS — At the beginning of time, an extraordinary Hindu legend relates how the forces of good and evil worked together to create Amrita, the nectar of immortality. Today, humankind still seeks this magical elixir and Khmer dancers continue to recreate the tale.

The Royal Ballet of Cambodia will perform in Paris on October 10, 2010 with the support and collaboration of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts of Cambodia. Their performance is directly connected to their country’s thousand-year-old royal tradition of dance through the choreography, which was arranged by Cambodian Princess Buppha Devi.

Cambodian dancers in full costume.

The Princess, a former prima ballerina in this sacred art, is the daughter of former Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk, and the sister of the present King Sihamoni. At its origin, this dance form was only performed as an offering for gods and royalty. It has only been presented as a performance art in modern times.

“The Legend of the Apsara Mera” presents two Brahmanic tales that became integral to Khmer culture. Act I is the “Churning of the Sea of Milk” (“Le mythe du barattage de la mer de lait”). While the myth originated in India, Khmer interpretation and portrayal are unique, focusing on the naga, or cosmic serpent, and Vishnu at the center of the image balancing the forces of good (devas on the right below) and evil (asuras on the left).

Angkor Wat features the largest artistic representation of the Hindu legend of "the churning of the ocean of milk" on Earth. Visnu appears at the center with the naga Vasuki wrapped around Mt. Mandara. Vishnu also incarnates as his avatar, the turtle Kurma below, to provide a base. The demons, or asuras, pull on Visuki to the left as gods, or devas, pull on the right. This churns the ocean to manifest magical objects, including the apsaras that fly over the scene.

Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia is home to the largest artistic rendering of the “churning the sea of milk” on Earth; a bas-relief panel 49 yards wide. In considering the legend, the Cambodian dance history book Earth in Flower by Paul Cravath quotes French archaeologist Bernard-Philippe Groslier’s observation that the naga is the “god of the waters” that “haunts the whole of Khmer art, from the endlessly repeated theme of the churning of the Sea of Milk down to the most insignificant architectural element which will accommodate it.”

In addition to the elixir of immortality, the art of Angkor Wat reveals that something else associated with Khmer culture manifested from the ocean: the apsaras or celestial women who fly above the scene. Khmer art routinely features women and goddesses, with temples like Angkor Wat honoring women, even to the exclusion of men. The female dance tradition of Cambodia is closely associated with these ancient beliefs.

Performance by the Royal Cambodian Ballet. Copyright 2010 Anders Jiras.

Act II presents “The Legend of Kambu and Mera” (“La légende de Kambu et de Méra”). Quoting historian Thierry Solange, Earth in Flower describes how this legend establishes that “the origin of the kings of Cambodia goes back to the union of the hermit Kambu Svāyambhuva, eponymic ancestor of the Kambujas, with the celestial nymph Merā….” As Cravath explains, Svayambhuva means “self-creating,” and Merā was an apsaras or heavenly dancer given to him by Shiva.

The royal troupe features elaborate costumes, including beautiful new crowns replicating the ancient styles worn by women in the stone portraits at Angkor Wat.

A modern crown created for this special performance of the Royal Cambodian Ballet and a crowned devata seen on the West Gopura of Angkor Wat. Photo left - Copyright 2010 Anders Jiras. Right - Kent Davis

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Act I: The myth of the Churning of the Sea of Milk

Act II: The Legend of Kambu and Mera

Exécution musicale - Ngornly Seang, Pruong Proeung, Kong Chum, Kol Nol, Sok Chhem, Kimsour san

Chant – Borin Yann, Marey Doung, Sarath Hun

Danse – Phirum Meas, Chamroeumina Chap, Chansoda Chen, Sokhoeum Sok, Pech Heung, Viphearun Yann, Mary Prom, Savin Sam, Sathya Sam, Danida Muong, Borena Chhin, Thida Kao, Samphors Chamroeum, Phirum Keo, Limsothea Sam, Dalis Ou, Lin Seng, Vichivi Praseth, Vichheka Praseth, Chamroeuntola Chap, Chanmoly Vuth, Sovanney Samart, Khankanha Ram, Leakhena Im, Linda Hem, Sophy Yan, Chumnit Penh, Thavrak Seur, Yeng Yang

Chorégraphie – S.A.R. Norodom Buppha Devi, Proeung Chieng

Chorégraphie-Costumes – Soth Somaly

Interprète - Kor Borin

Costumes – Sim Mantha, Pen Sokhuon, Ros Yaran,

Décor -Sek Savuth

Soutien - Ministère de la Culture et des Beaux-Arts du Royaume du Cambodge, Ministère de la Culture et des Beaux-Arts du Royaume du Cambodge

PARIS

Sunday, 10/10 2010 16:00
Sunday, 10/10 2010 20:00

PARIS TICKET INFORMATION – FRENCH

PARIS TICKET INFORMATION – ENGLISH

BRUSSELS

BRUSSELS TICKET INFORMATION – FRENCH

NKFC dancer performs blessing ritual at Siem Reap city shrine. Photo Kent Davis.

By Aye Sapay and Cherry Thein © 2010 The Phnom Penh Post This article appears with the kind permission of the copyright holder. No further reproduction is permitted.

Siem Reap, Cambodia – Fourteen young Khmer girls, dressed in flowing white garb with coconut flowers in their hair, danced sinuously to the rhythm of traditional classical music. The Preah Ang Chiek Preah Ang Chhorm Shrine in Siem Reap, next to the Royal Residence, was the venue enlightened by their sashays.

As the girls went through their paces on the evening of January 26, a growing band of lucky tourists gathered, gob-smacked, to watch this ritual unfold. The looks of delight on the crowd’s faces proved they knew they were seeing something special, but of course they were unaware of the significance of the proceedings.

They were unaware that the shrine where the ritual was taking place was the most sacred site in Siem Reap and that the images of the divinities within the shrine are considered the most powerful in the town.

They were unaware, too, that the ritual was unfolding in the presence of royalty and that two of the three women sitting on a prayer mat among the dancers were princesses, including one of Cambodia’s most legendary classical dancers, Her Royal Highness Princess Buppha Devi, and her daughter, Princess Norodom Sisowath.

The third woman was the “mother” of the tribe of little dancers, Lady Ravynn Karet-Coxen, although she was quick to say, “You can drop the lady bit and just call me Ravynn Karet-Coxen as it is more in tune with the work I do with the most destitute, thank you.”

HRH Princess Buppha Devi and Ravynn Karet-Coxen preparing a morning ceremony at the NKFC school. Photo © Anders Jiras.

The dancing girls were part of a troupe of more than 160 children who had been lovingly trained by Ravynn Karet-Coxen, the founder of the Nginn Karet Foundation for Cambodia (NKFC) Conservatoire Preah Ream Bopha Devidance school, of which Coxen is chairperson.

Princess Buppha Devi, the patron of the school, had come to the sacred shrine on the evening of January 26 to partake in the ritual and to pray for the good health of King Father Sihanouk and King Sihamoni, to pray for the government so that it can lead the country well, and to pray to the dance divinity and the dance spirit of ancient Angkor.

But more importantly, the ritual at the shrine was the culmination of a day of celebration marking the third anniversary of the Royal Patronage of Ravynn Karet-Coxen’s dance school at nearby Banteay Srey; the first and only arts school in the Angkor Archaeological Park and the only school of its kind in the Kingdom.

The onlooking tourists were lucky to see the performance because usually the dancers are hidden and protected from the prying eyes to “preserve their purity” as Ravynn Karet-Coxen put it.

Girls and boys train in folk dance and traditional music. Photo © Copyright Anders Jiras.

he said her school was not intended to train dancers to entertain people for money.

She proclaimed the dancing taught in her school helps the children learn to respect their god and divinities, and explained that the little dancers usually perform in temples and sacred areas for the gratification of the Gods and the King. Last year the dancers performed their first royal private performance for the king’s birthday.

She added that her dancers are never allowed to wear heavy costumes, jewellery or make-up on their faces, like the so-called traditional dancers who perform in public for tourists. Her dancers are also instructed to dance in bare feet on Mother Earth or on simple mats, and not on stages.

“We do not dance for entertainment or money,” Ravynn Karet-Coxen emphasised. “And certainly not to amuse tourists in the hotels. We don’t need that. We are dancing for our God.”

Rural students attend the school at no cost to their families, who live below poverty level. In 2010, NKFC initiated a program enabling supporters to sponsor young dancers and musicians. The cost is only $5 per week but even that small amount of money will change a child’s life and future.

Special thanks to photographer Anders Jiras for sharing his images for this article.

Women, children and the elderly all fell victim to the Khmer Rouge regime's brutal policies.

Banteay Srey, Cambodia – From 1975-1979 genocide swept the tiny Asian country of Cambodia like a firestorm. As the name implies, the “Khmer Rouge” perpetrators were of the same ethnic Khmer blood as their fellow citizens but communist fanaticism drove them to enslave their brothers and sisters. In four short years they killed nearly a quarter of the population through starvation, overwork and murder.

The Khmer Rouge aggressively targeted and systematically exterminated educated people, particularly those who practiced age-old traditions. An estimated 90% of the country’s dancers, musicians, artists and teachers died, leaving a cultural and spiritual vacuum in the hearts of the people. In 1979, a Vietnamese invasion wrested control from the Khmer Rouge in most of the country, but many guerillas retreated to the jungles and mountains of the north, where they dug in.

The remote Angkor region, former home to the Khmer civilization that flourished during the 8th to the 12 centuries, became a Khmer Rouge stronghold. Two decades passed. It wasn’t until 1995 that Siem Reap province was completely liberated, but by then an entire generation of people there had known only privation, fear and brutality.

A Daughter Returns to a Tortured Homeland

After Cambodia gained independence from France in 1953, King Sihanouk directed cartographer Nginn Karet to organize the Service Géographique Khmer, transferring national mapping responsibilities from the French government in Saigon to Cambodia. Through Karet’s work, Cambodia later proved ownership of the disputed border temple of Preah Vihear for the Cambodian people. Karet passed away in 1965 but left his Swiss wife and children with a profound love and respect for their shared country.

In 1994, after more than two decades of European exile, his daughter Ravynn Karet-Coxen committed herself to begin rebuilding her broken country. The family maintained many political contacts in Cambodia, including General Toan Chhay, a resistance leader who doggedly fought the communists throughout their occupation. Ravynn went to him to ask where she should begin? Where had people suffered the longest? Who had the greatest needs?

The general was quick to reply: the Banteay Srey district of Siem Reap Province had 2,500 rural families living in subhuman conditions. There were 14 villages with nearly 20,000 people trying to survive. He quickly advised Ravynn to begin elsewhere. Without realizing the extent of the crisis, Ravynn formed the Nginn-Karet Foundation (www.NKFC.org) and committed herself to begin helping the seven worst villages in the district.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” said Ravynn in a telephone interview. “But nothing could have prepared me for what I found. When we first went to the villages I was speechless. Housing, sanitation, education and health services were almost non-existent.

“These people lived in abject poverty, barely surviving from day to day. It is shocking to say but some were living like animals. There was no clean water or hygiene. Children ran wild without supervision, care, education or direction. The primary occupation was scavenging forest wood to sell for a daily bowl of rice. They ate whatever insects or animals they could catch for protein.

“But these were just physical symptoms. What frightened me most was seeing the psychological devastation. There was no eye contact. There was no laughter. There was no emotion. Just numbness. These families had no hope, no future and no concept of bettering their living conditions or livelihoods.

“It tore my heart apart. Many times I wept and didn’t know if I could continue. This is why I named the foundation for my father. With my respect for his memory and his name I knew I would never quit. Never.”

Ravynn Karet-Coxen (center) at a village hygiene class.

Ravynn’s struggle continued. During the first years progress was slow and building relationships was next to impossible. Successes were few and far between. She agonized over whether her group could even accomplish the seemingly simple goals they had set. These people had never experienced empathy or compassion before and lethargy abounded.

“The few who spoke to me said that during the years of the Khmer Rouge each breath was a breath of fear. The Communist leaders were paranoid and capricious. They never hesitated to incarcerate, beat, torture or even execute a villager for the slighted infraction — actual or imagined. Neighbors spied on neighbors. I saw scars on their minds and bodies.

“We worked for years building schools, wells and latrines. We helped villagers improve their houses and taught them cleanliness. But the question I kept asking myself was what could restore these broken human spirits? All these material things didn’t seem to be working as well as they should.”

National Geographic's recreation of Angkor Wat temple in 1,150 AD.

Is Cambodia Actually a Land of Plenty?

In ancient times, the Angkor area was known as “The Land of Gold” and Cambodia was known throughout the region for its wealth. Rich forests and plains yielded far more fruit, rice, vegetables, fish and animals than the people could use. The Khmers exported their natural bounty to China and other neighbors. Yet today modern visitors find Cambodia a wasteland filled with starving, uneducated, impoverished people. What happened?

“I was baffled to see my country, where 80% of the population was involved in agriculture, suddenly forget how to grow even the most basic crops,” said Ravynn. “For generations, my people lived simple but comfortable lives of abundance in the forests. But now they have forgotten how to plant for the seasons, to make organic compost, to harvest and preserve vegetables, and so much more. In previous generations Cambodian mothers prided themselves in maintaining tidy homes, now I saw them living in squalor with children who no longer knew how to even brush their teeth. My heart ached.

“We spent years rebuilding the most basic village systems: providing clean water, sanitation, housing. Gradually villagers began, once again, to learn personal hygiene, farming skills, child care skills. People became more self sufficient, began taking charge of their futures and started to practice healthier lifestyles. But something was still missing.

“Then, two years ago, something wonderful happened. Some older villagers approached me to ask for our help opening a small school to teach traditional Cambodian dance. Here I pause to explain how powerful, important and sacred the dance tradition is to the culture of my country.

“For Khmer people, traditional dance and music are passions that flow in our veins. In Cambodia, dance is much more than entertainment or even art: dance is our way to speak to our gods and to thank them for the gifts of this rich land that we inhabit.

“The discipline, power and purity of Cambodian dance embraces all our religious and cultural values, values that have been passed down to us since the time of Angkor. Our dance not only teaches our most ancient legends and Buddhist values, these ancient rituals purify the soul and make Cambodian people one with our land. Cambodian dance gives inner peace.”

Children at NKFC study Cambodian classical and folk dance, as well as music.

New Blessings for the Khmer People

With the formation of NKFC’s dance school everything suddenly began to change. Parents remarked to foundation workers that children attending the new classes gained confidence, energy and strength. The revival of the traditional Khmer arts of music and dance drew families closer together, inspiring emotions and vitality unseen for decades. The power that permeates the land of the Khmers seemed to return to the area through the children.

According to Ravynn:

“We accidentally rediscovered the missing key, a timeless language of nature that flows in our veins. These simple arts began unshackling broken people from painful pasts, these gentle rhythms were a balm that brought love to their numbness. The children stood with confidence and walked proudly. Parents re-embraced traditional Cambodian family values in their hearts and minds.

“I realized that our earlier efforts had gone to improving physical things — homes, crops, water supply — but even then, the eyes were still empty. But now, through the wellspring of Khmer traditions, we are reviving ancient strengths and sacred arts that heal villagers and their children from the inside. For the first time, I clearly see that we are truly nourishing the souls of our people.”

The skill of the dance and music school students has progressed beyond everyone’s expectations. The modest facilities, open air thatched roof pavilions with three full time teachers, accepted new students as donations allowed.

NKFC students practice 6 days per week, in open air pavilions and no electricity. Music is provided by cassette players powered by car batteries.

In 2006, Ravynn met with Her Royal Highness Princess Buppha Devi to present the idea of a rural dance and music school. The Princess, already familiar with Ravynn’s record of success with village improvements offer to become the school’s official patron. Ravynn organized the school but waited more than two years before formally accepting the royal acknowledgment.

In 2009, the students performed for King Sihamoni at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, an incredibly rare honor for any dance performance in Cambodia. Following that performance, Ravynn officially named the school the  “NKFC Conservatoire – Preah Ream Buppha Devi Chhouk Sar – Banteay Srey.”

NKFC students dance for His Majesty King Sihamoni at the Royal Palace.

H.M. King Sihamoni recognized every dancer with a personal greeting as Ravynn Karet-Coxen witnessed the blessings.

In 2010, the school has accepted 163 students to train. Children and their families pay nothing to attend so the opportunity is based on finding personal sponsors for each child. The cost is less than $5 per week per student, but even that amount is beyond the ability of the local families.

Sponsoring a young dancer or musician is easy,  quick and rewarding. You truly have the opportunity to participate in the spiritual and cultural reawakening of a deserving land.

The restored temple of Chau Say Tevoda. Note the new stone sections in lighter color.

Between 1,120-1,150AD, Angkor Wat’s sponsor, King Suryavarman II, also began building the elegant Hindu temple of Chau Say Tevoda. Yasovarman II is credited with additional work during his brief reign (1,160-1,166AD). Finally, Jayavarman VII (ruling 1,181-1,215 AD) added new decorative elements to harmonize with the religious transformation he initiated converting the state from Hinduism to Buddhism.

The central shrine is encircled by sacred female images called devata.

Two of the Khmer civilization’s greatest kings, Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII, also installed the greatest number of sacred female images, or devata, in their temples. The style and unique qualities of the devata at Chao Say Tevoda make this small temple well worth a detour on any visit to Angkor.

The Khmer kings Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII enshrined images of more than 4,000 sacred women in their temples. No one knows exactly why.

Chau Say Tevoda includes a central sanctuary, two libraries and four gopura (gateway) structures, one for each cardinal point. Directly to its north sits Thommanon temple, which was also built by King Suryavarman II based on a similar design.

Thommanon also features prominent devata in fine condition (see Devata.org’s Thommanon photo gallery here) but there are significant stylistic differences in the women populating the two temples. For years, Thommanon was in far better condition thanks to extensive restoration done by the EFEO in the 1960’s under the direction of Bernard Philippe Groslier.

Many of the women at Chao Say Tevoda express strength in their beauty.

Unfortunately, Chao Say Tevoda had been devastated by centuries of natural erosion, and all that remained were 4,000 pieces of stone masonry, many of which had tumbled down an embankment into the Siem Reap River.

On March 29, 2000, H.R.H. Princess Buppha Devi with APSARA Authority and other Cambodian dignitaries welcomed H.E. Yang Tin Ai, Ambassador for the People’s Republic of China as his government initiated a massive restoration project of the temple that included both Chinese and Cambodian workers. Tim Tye’s Asia Explorers website offers a few excellent photos taken while the restoration.

The Chinese restoration project was controversial because they chose to totally reconstruct the temple buildings by including newly fabricated stones. While American and Japanese teams rejected this approach it conformed to UNESCO and ICOMOS guidelines allowing for their use of 2-9% of modern replica stones in heritage reconstruction.

The Chinese restoration team included replicas of missing stone sections (seen above in lighter colors).)

The results are dramatic. The new sections are easy to identify and, while the replicas do not equal the artistic quality of the original Khmer sections, they do help visitors experience the temple in a condition closer to what was originally built.

The Chinese team completed their work in 2009, when the improved temple again began receiving visitors.

May the devata of Chao Say Tevoda bestow blessings on the Chinese for their important contribution of restoring this Khmer cultural treasure.

NOTE: A complete photo gallery of all the unique Chau Say Tevoda devata is in preparation. The link will be posted here in the future. In the meantime a trinity of devata appears below:

This devata's crown, with central element, is unusual. None of the symbolic attributes that devata display have yet been interpreted.

This alert looking devata is crowned by her long, thick, braided hair dressed in coils.

This graceful crowned devata is similar to her sisters at Angkor Wat. Note that she holds a "rooted bud" (Devata.org terminology) exactly like the sacred women surrounding the central sanctuary on the top level of Angkor Wat.

By Lucretia Stewart

Princess Buppha Devi was twenty-three when she danced for General de Gaulle on the terrace in front of Angkor Wat. That was over forty years ago, in 1966, before the Vietnam War and the Cambodian holocaust, when Cambodia was a very different place.

In his memoirs, Sihanouk Reminisces, her father, King Sihanouk, recalled the occasion. “One of the highlights of the de Gaulles’ stay was a visit to the temples of Angkor and the spectacular son et lumière I arranged in the venerable setting of Angkor Wat, the magnificence of which had never been seen before. De Gaulle was spellbound by the fireworks and by the performances which followed.”

Princess Buppha Devi, now over sixty, is Minister of Culture and Fine Arts in her country’s government, a job she takes very seriously. She has not danced – in public, at least – she says, for ten or fifteen years. But Cambodian classical dance, which she regards as part of the national heritage, remains her passion. When I interviewed her recently at her office in Phnom Penh, she told me that she had learned “to dance almost as soon as she could walk.” Her mother, a commoner, was also a dancer, but it was her grandmother, Queen Kossamak, who took charge of her and moulded her as a dancer.

“Dance has been in my family for generations,” she said, “My mother, my grandmother – my father even played a musical instrument to accompany the royal ballet. But it belongs to all Khmers and, as I see it, our principal aim is now the preservation of classical dance – not only dance, but all of our culture.”

1962 - Princess Buppha Devi presents an Indonesian dance.

The Princess, like most Cambodians, is tiny. As you would expect, she holds herself beautifully and she still has the figure of a young girl. Although she can seem rather intimidating (I found myself simultaneously curtsying and putting my hands together and bowing my head in the sampeah, the traditional gesture of respect, every time we met or said goodbye), her smile is very sweet and she has an easy way with people. She is determined that Cambodian dance should reach a wider public (the royal ballet has already toured the United States).

She told me that Cambodian classical dance – or court ballet, as it is sometimes known – dated back to the time of the Khmer Empire at Angkor (the ninth to the fifteenth century) and had been associated with the Royal Court of Cambodia for over a thousand years. It is composed primarily of episodes from the Reamker, which is the Cambodian version of the great Hindu epic, the Ramayana.

Princess Buppha Devi - 1962

Although it is based on the Indian epic, the Reamker contains many episodes that do not exist in the original, and, unlike the Brahmanist Ramayana, it is interpreted from a Buddhist point of view. It is also a uniquely Cambodian representation of social relationships and the moral universe, where the dancer embodies the Khmer ideals of beauty, grace and continuity – continuity not only between past and present, but also between the realm of the gods and that of men.

“Cambodian classical dance has always been under the protection of the royal family, of my family,” she said, “with dancers traditionally being taken into the Palace and being brought up there. Even today, when dance has become less associated with our family, it is not unusual for dancers to spend a certain amount of time at the Palace.”

A special building, the Chan Chaya, meaning of the Shadow of the Moon Pavilion, intended for performances of classical dance, was constructed by King Sisowath, Sihanouk’s great-great-uncle, within the Royal Palace compound. In 1906, Sisowath took a troupe of nearly one hundred dancers to France.

There the sculptor, Auguste Rodin, then aged sixty-six, was entranced by the dancers when he saw them perform at a reception given by the Minister of Colonies in the Bois du Boulogne in Paris.

“The Cambodians,” Rodin wrote afterwards, “have shown us everything that antiquity could have contained. It is impossible to think of anyone wearing human nature to such perfection; except them and the Greeks.” Rodin drew the dancers over and over again, saying, “The friezes of Angkor were coming to life before my very eyes.”

In Cambodian classical dance, a dancer usually dances only one, or at most, two roles. Princess Buppha Devi’s role was, fittingly, always that of “Apsara”, as the heavenly dancing girls who decorate the walls of the temples at Angkor are called. In pre-Vedic Indian mythology, the Apsara were water nymphs who lived in lotus pools. They were very beautiful and sometimes lured men to their deaths; they were also associated with fertility rites. Apsara was also the name of Sihanouk’s first feature film; Princess Buppha Devi starred in the title role.

This is how Sihanouk’s biographer, Milton Osborne, described what was normally laid on for visiting Heads of State:

“All would watch the traditional classical Cambodian dances performed to the music of the pinpeat orchestra, a mix of drums, gongs, traditional clarinets and strings. Seen for the first time, this was a truly exotic scene as dancers, richly clad in silks shot through with gold thread, played out stories drawn from ancient Indian legends. At times the dancing was slow and measured, full of abstract grace. At other times it was marked by buffoonery, as dancers playing the parts of monkeys in aversion of the Ramayana scratched for fleas beneath their armpits. Adding a special touch of glamor to these performances was the fact that the principal female dancer was Sihanouk’s beautiful daughter Buppha Devi.”

De Gaulle wasn’t the only world leader to be captivated by the Princess’s dancing and by her beauty. She also performed for General Tito, China’s Chou en-Lai and President Sukarno (the last admired her so much that he apparently asked Sihanouk for her hand in marriage), as well as for Jacqueline Kennedy and Princess Margaret.

1962 - Prince Sihanouk presents his daughter Princess Buppha Devi to President Sukarno of Indonesia after a special performance.

But, when the Khmer Rouge seized control of the country in 1975, the dancing had to stop. Millions of Cambodians died and many fled their homeland. Princess Buppha Devi was amongst those who left. “I went with my grandmother to Peking in 1973 – she died there in 1975 ten days after the fall of Phnom Penh – and I wasn’t able to come back to Cambodia until 1991 when my father also returned home.” I asked her where she had spent almost twenty years of exile. “Well, after Peking, we were in Korea and then we ended up in Paris where I came across many Cambodian musicians and dancers who were also exiles. I gave lessons to young dancers and, in 1982, I went to the refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian border and taught dance there.”

An oil painting of Princess Buppha Devi in an early performance.

One Monday morning in early October, on the first day back at school for the students at the Faculty of Fine Arts, where both classical and traditional dance are taught (as well as Khmer literature), I went to watch Ouk Phalla rehearse. Phalla is a prima ballerina and also the dancer who is said most to resemble Princess Buppha Devi in the role of Apsara. I had interviewed her at the school few days before. Like all classical dancers, she began her rigorous training as a child when she was just nine years old. She first performed in public at the age of thirteen. Now aged twenty-three, she is as beautiful as a lotus blossom and as graceful as a willow. I asked her to show me how far back she could bend her fingers. Effortlessly she pushed them back until they touched her wrist.

Minutes after Phalla had returned from changing into her practice outfit, a piece of dark cloth folded to make a pair of loose trousers and worn with a silver chain belt, and a tightly-fitting low-necked blouse, the Princess, flanked by her three Pekinese dogs, arrived to supervise the rehearsal. Someone fetched a cushion and she took a seat on a low platform next to the musicians. The skeleton rehearsal orchestra started up: a double-sided drum, a gamelan (which is a sort of oriental xylophone) and a big wooden wheel festooned with tinkling bells. Simultaneously a chorus of four elderly women began a kind of high-pitched, nasal chant. While the dogs jumped on and off the stage and ran round and round in circles until they finally settled at their mistress’s feet, Princess Buppha Devi, waving a cigarette in the air, carefully scrutinised three dancers, including Phalla, as they performed the Apsara dance.

Princess Buppa Devi accompanied by the Royal Cambodian troupe following a performance.

The dance, the Princess told me, can involve as few as three and as many as nine dancers (one of whom is always the star – in this case, Phalla). It had a curious, dreamy quality to it, a serenity and a kind of timelessness as though it could go on forever. This was in part because of the music which seems other-worldly, in part because none of the movements were fast – they were all slow and graceful but intensely controlled – and in part because of the ethereal beauty and incredible sweetness of expression of Phalla.

As the Pekes frisked around Phalla’s contorted legs, Princess Buppha Devi demonstrated precisely how a particular gesture or movement should be executed (once the Princess moved so did the dogs). On stage, performing, the Princess retained the grace and flexibility of a much younger woman, as did Em Theay, another dancer (and former teacher of Princess Buppha Devi), who still dances and teaches although she is sixty-nine.

Em Theay is one of the few dancers left from before 1975. Many died during what Cambodians always refer to as “Pol Pot time”, a period, as every Cambodian whom you meet will tell you, of exactly three years, eight months and twenty days; others have died of old age. Em Theay’s mother, she told me, had been the Queen’s cook; her father “servant to the old King.” At the age of seven, she was chosen to train as a dancer by Queen Kossomak and when Sihanouk became king, she went to live at the Palace. Her role was, and is, that of the Giant or Reap, a part that is traditionally played by a strong woman (Em Theay is, however, characteristically petite by Western standards); she was happy to demonstrate for us some of the gestures and steps, and also to show us several albums of photographs of her in the role and at the Palace where she still often spends her days.

When the Khmer Rouge came, Em Theay was forty-three. She was forced to go to Battambang Province in the northwest of the country. “Everyone knew I was a dancer and they liked to see me dance,” she said, “I also looked after children. I sang songs to send them to sleep and people would gather round to listen.”

Now Em Theay teaches at the National Theatre and at the Faculty of Fine Arts (in the old days, she even taught Princess Buppha Devi). She still performs and, when we met, was preparing for a show in Singapore. Both her daughter and her granddaughter are dancers, but she fears for the future of Cambodian classical dance. She says that the government is not sufficiently careful enough about safeguarding Khmer culture and civilization.

Her fears are echoed by Ouk Phalla who says, “Young people prefer Karaoke to classical dance.” Phalla believes that it is her duty as a dancer to preserve her heritage, to help Cambodia and to be a symbol of Cambodia.

In this, she echoes Princess Buppha Devi’s claims for classical dance. As the latter says, “The dance is sacred; we do it for the glory of God,” adding, “But it’s our lifeblood we are preserving here.”

About the Author:

Lucretia Stewart

Born in Singapore as the daughter of a diplomat, Lucretia Stewart has spent her life traveling in Asia, Europe, Australia and the Americas. As a child, she grew up in China, and was later drawn back to the region to experience Korea, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Burma, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia.

Stewart first worked extensively as a journalist, before focusing on her career as an author. Her books include  Tiger Balm: Travels in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia (1992), The Weather Prophet: A Caribbean Journey (1995), Making Love: A Romance (1999) and Travelling Hopefully: A Golden Age of Travel Writing (2006). In 2000 she also edited Erogenous Zones: An Anthology of Sex Abroad.

She continues to contribute to a number of magazines, while contributing chapters to numerous publications. She lives in Naxos, Greece…when she is not traveling.

A Banteay Srey dance school started by Lady Coxen is transforming rough-edged girls from poor Siem Reap villages into disciplined performers of traditional sacred Khmer ceremonies.

Nginn-Karet dancers performing at Banteay Srey temple in Cambodia.

SIEM REAP, CAMBODIA - A unique dance school founded by Lady Ravynn Karet Coxen to train village children from Banteay Srey has been officially named following a sacred ritual earlier this month in honour of King Sihamoni’s birthday.

The village dance school has now been named NKFC Conservatoire Preah Ream Bopha Devi, Chhouk Sar – Banteay Srey, and operates under the High Patronage of Samdech Reach Botrei Preah Ream Norodom Bopha Devi.

Many factors make the school unique: Pupils must display “good manners” and adhere to a strict set of criteria, including the stipulation that “they will never perform in hotels or restaurants where people are eating or drinking” because “it is sad to see this sacred art form damaged and devalued to only generate money as entertainment for tourists”.

The school is just one component of the Siem Reap-based NGO, the Nginn Karet Foundation for Cambodia (NKFC), of which Coxen is chairman.

The NGO has a wide-ranging programs encompassing health, education and agricultural improvements in 14 “adopted” villages in the Banteay Srey district benefiting over 2,500 families. Some funds are now being raised by children selling 3,000 trees that were grown from seeds and saplings to teach the kids the importance of maintaining a healthy environment.

This tree-planting program began last year when the children grew 2,000 trees and raised US$3,012.

The genesis of the dance school dates back three years ago when King Sihamoni sent Coxen a DVD of a movie he’d made.

She organised an evening of entertainment for the villagers, and blind musician Kong Nai, a master of the chapei, or Cambodian lute, sang relevant songs about drinking safe water and other hygiene tips.

Coxen also trained three children to perform a welcome dance before the movie screening. When the King saw a video of the performance he was, according to Coxen, “completely flabbergasted and absolutely in love with the dancers. I was then asked to start a dance school”.

“I started the school in our centre near Banteay Srey temple. We selected children and they were like little monkeys, undisciplined and loud.

“But I had promised to start a dance school and I was determined to give it a go. If in three months time it didn’t work, I would skip it.

“I put a dance teacher on three months probation and then, three months later, I came to see them perform. I had tears in my eyes. They had turned into little swans,” she said.

“The discipline they showed was magnificent.”

This year, the number of dancers has grown to 147, and the school carries on its mission of “transforming little muddy children into elegant, gracious creatures dancing with their soul”.

In February, Coxen took 38 of her best dancers to Phnom Penh to perform for the King in the dance hall in front of the Royal Palace.

Everyone now believes that the gods of Angkor were present during the ceremony.

Nginn-Karet dance students make an historic performance for King Sihamoni in the Royal Palace Dance Hall

“This was the first time in recent history that our sacred dance was performed for a Cambodian King. King Sihamoni watched, not just as a king, but also as a teacher. He was very pleasantly surprised and very complimentary. He was so moved by their precision of rhythm and movement.”

King Sihamoni welcoming dance students from Banteay Srey in the Royal Hall of Dance.

Inspired, Coxen then decided to organise another special performance in honour of King Sihamoni to coincide with his birthday. She opted for a sacred ritual in the Banteay Srey temple using 57 dancers, signifying the age of the monarch.

“This sacred ritual probably hasn’t been performed in a temple in at least a thousand years,” she claimed. “In the morning, we planted 57 trees in honour of the King in the pagoda at Rohall village.

“As part of a traditional Boung Soung ritual, the 57 children then danced to choreography of mine, inspired by a sacred dance from the Reamker, or the Ramayana.”

Coxen did away with traditional heavy costumes and make-up, and instead designed ethereal white gowns made partly from mosquito netting.

“I was inspired by the carvings at Angkor and kept the clothing very light, very divine, to appear as dew from the celestial gardens in the rays of the moonlight.”

She fashioned hair extensions and braids to recreate sketches made by Sappho Marchal, the daughter of renowned Angkor conservator, Henri Marchal. Sappho grew up among the ruins of Angkor Wat and spent years drawing the devata whose images dominate the entire temple . In 1927, when she was 23 years old, Sappho published her book “Khmer Costumes & Ornaments: After the Devata of Angkor Wat,” which was reissued in English in 2005 .

After the dance, 57 komes – large lit kites – were released into the sky and then, as participants prepared to go home, the skies opened up.

“I prayed for a week beforehand that no rain would ruin the ceremony. But when the ceremony concluded, guess what? The rain fell like crazy!

“Everyone now believes that the gods of Angkor were present during the ceremony,” a smiling Coxen recounted.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE BUONG SUONG RITUAL: According to the book Earth in Flower: The Divine Mystery of the Cambodian Dance Drama by Dr. Paul Cravath:

“the royal ceremony to bring rain was known as buong suong tevada; loosely translated it means ‘paying respect to the heavenly (feminine) spirits.’ The dances performed as the offering in buong suong must be among those considered sacred.”

To learn more about the Nginn-Karet Foundation and their program to support traditional dance training please visit http://www.nkfc.org/