KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE- Gestures & Meanings, Training and costumes

this video displays a wide range of vintage photos of khmer classical dance from the early 1920's through the early 1970's. i do not know the technique ranges in this form of dance, so i got the captions from the photo's website. also, i don't train or dance khmer court dance, but if you encounter an error in this video, please feel free to make corrections. all of these images are from the book called, Earth In Flower: The Divine Mystery of the Cambodian Dance Drama, by Paul Cravath.

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Education

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[ChantawryP]

i always wondered, how do you make your hand so thoon?

[lchan90a]

@ChantawryP

intense training and painful bending of the hands/ wrists. dancers are trained to bend their fingers backwards until it touches the wrist. sounds excruciating, but this what makes the dance perfectly graceful. =)

[Krittayot95]

Wow I didn't know Cambodia had the double shouldered sbai! Do we still use them today?

[lchan90a]

@Krittayot95

yes, Cambodia had the cape-like sbais before the 1950's. unfortunately, those sabis are longer in use. the dance went through changes which excluded a few costume pieces during the reign of HRH Queen Sisowath Monivong Kossomak Neary Rath Vattana.

[shawnawynd]

Very nice. Thank you.

[lchan90a]

@shawnawynd

you're welcome =)

[cheamkhmerful]

@MrPrathet  lovely comment! you are one of khmer who love khmer! good luck to you

[cheamkhmerful]

Sad! I wishes that dated never ever happened, I wishes that Polpot never born on this earth! I wishes that Khmer could smile and be happy just like while King Shihanou was the president of the Country! Polpot can die peacefully but my relative which is killed by him and his hands was die with starving!

[MrPrathet]

Our cultural heritage from Great Khmer Empire is AMAZING and its the BEST CULTURE on earth............long life Khmer nation and long life Khmer Kingdom forver.............Hahaha.....­.........555555555555555555555­555555

[wbprods]

great art, thanks for sharing

[Krittayot95]

@Ooilei yes it was taken out because it looked to similar to thai dance during the time of "cambodianization" but i still wished that we kept using the old sbais with some dances

[Ooilei]

@Krittayot95 The cape style sbai is a Thai influence, and most likely the reason it was removed from the Khmer ballet costume repertoire. The Siamese wear big bulky capes, while the Khmer wear lighter short sbais, which are not only easier to dance in, but also show off poses better, thus making the pose look prettier.

[iDANCEveryday]

the black and white pics are amazing!!