Grace under pressure

The gruelling path of Cambodia's classical dancers

PHNOM PENH:

Cambodian master classical dancer Penh Yom moves among her teenage students, carefully adjusting a bent-back finger here and the tilt of a head there, as she passes on a centuries-old art form.

Khmer classical dance, performed to traditional music, is renowned for its graceful hand gestures and elaborate costumes, and has a history spanning a millennium. But after barely surviving Cambodia's genocidal Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s, the tradition now faces new threats.

Because of a changing media and entertainment landscape, limited funding, and economic pressures, enrolment at the Secondary School of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh is falling, and many students do not complete the gruelling nine-year curriculum.

The art form was nearly obliterated when the Khmer Rouge killed almost all master dancers and musicians, among nearly two million who were murdered or died of starvation, illness, or overwork during the regime's brief four-year rule.

Pol Pot's followers regarded dancers as enemies of the people, both educated and symbolic of a feudal past they sought to erase. Artists were specifically targeted for identification and elimination. Penh Yom, 78, survived by concealing her profession. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge-run Democratic Kampuchea in 1979, she regrouped with a small troupe of dancers to revive the form. Her own training began in the Royal Palace when she was just eight.

"Now I am worried that it will disappear," she said. "We keep urging them to train hard and help us preserve this art. Like 'you the grandchildren and me the grandmother, try hard together'."

Dancer Yang Sopheaktra, 21, who graduated three years ago, recalled the training as "really difficult". "We need patience. For example, when we bend our fingers, we have to count up to 100," she said. "We have to remember many dance styles. Students with less talent often drop out easily. Sometimes I was so tired I wanted to quit."

Her father, also a dancer, had initially opposed her following in his footsteps. "He wanted me to learn whatever is not related to the arts." But she persevered: "I want to help preserve this art form with new ideas."

From hair to toe

Also known as Cambodia's royal ballet, classical dance performances were originally staged for court occasions such as coronations or marriages. The art form was first introduced to an international audience in colonial France in 1906.

UNESCO declared it an intangible cultural heritage in 2003, noting that it takes dancers "years of intensive training" to master gestures and poses that "evoke the gamut of human emotions, from fear and rage to love and joy". Yet it risks "becoming a mere tourist attraction," UNESCO warns.

The Secondary School of Fine Arts employs more than 90 classical dance teachers and serves as the primary training centre for the next generation. Pupils attend dance classes in the mornings and follow the standard school curriculum in the afternoons.

Tuition is free, but accommodation has been reduced, and trainers expect many students to drop out amid educational demands and family financial pressures. This year, 39 eight-year-olds registered, just over half the usual number.

A few weeks into the course, new entrants bent their hands, legs, and bodies under the watchful eye of trainer Hang Sophea, who focused on instilling the basics. "I have to watch them from hair to toe so that in the future they can be our heirs," she said.

Some students will soon drop out, and at most 15 are expected to complete the training. "As teachers, we are worried... Now it is the modern era, and everything is on a smartphone," Hang Sophea added. "We constantly remind them not to forget our identity."

But some students embrace social media to promote their art. Tola Thina, 18, in her final year, often posts her performances on Facebook, where she has over 20,000 followers. "This culture is really beautiful and I love it," she said. "I want to be a traditional dancer and preserve it."