Posted: 09/17/2009
Sophiline Cheam Shapiro performs "The Glass Box." (Photo courtesy of Michael Burr)
After skimming along the southern shores and archipelagos of South and Southeast Asia, the Khmer Arts Salon Series returns to its roots in its latest installment.
Saturday's presentation will feature two traditional Cambodian dances by students at the Khmer Arts Academy, as well as a videotaped performance of a piece by academy founder and acclaimed choreographer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro.
Series curator Prumsodun Ok says the latest installment is meant to explore gender roles in Cambodian dance, from political, social and aesthetic viewpoints.
The device Ok chose for the exploration is the use of flowers in classical and contemporary dance and how they manifest sexual identity not only in the canon of traditional dance but in a larger society.
As a male practitioner in Cambodian dance, Ok says, he has had to "navigate the gender politics" of Khmer dance and has been struck by the differences between male and female roles and the inherent questions those raise.
In the performances Ok has chosen, flowers provide the metaphorical device for the depiction of male and female identity.
In the popular "Robam Phuong Neary," the "flower" of womanhood is displayed not only through the use of elaborate silk and gold of Cambodian regalia, but also the exquisite hand gestures and flowing movement of princesses picking flowers in the garden.
In "Robam Pka Meas Pka Prak," which has rarely if ever been performed in the U.S., gold and silver flowers are presented as a tribute to a powerful king. The dance presents a very different ideology with themes of conquest and obeisance.
The final dance, "The Glass Box," which will be broadcast featuring professionals from Shapiro's troupe in Cambodia, is an original work by Shapiro that takes place in an ideal garden. But in this setting, unlike in many traditional works, the tame and ideal frailty of womanhood turns the garden, so often depicted as a place of peace and tranquility, into an oppressive and invisible prison.
In each performance, the flowers play very different roles and define gender qualities and expectations in divergent ways. To Ok, the dances also can be used as a lens through which to view larger Cambodian societal definitions of gender and gender roles.
In some ways, the Saturday performance is the Salon Series' most ambitious so far.
While early presentations mostly were used as introductions to various forms of Asian performance art, Ok says he hopes this performance will build on the foundations of the art form and move it forward to look at more modern interpretations.
As with all the Salon Series shows, the presentation will be followed by a lecture/discussion.
Greg Mellen 562-499-1291 greg.mellen@presstelegram.com
Khmer Arts Salon Series: The Gendered Flower
When: 7 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Khmer Arts Academy, 1364 Obispo Ave., Long Beach.
Admission: Free.
Information: 562-472-0090 or www.khmerarts.org.
Saturday's presentation will feature two traditional Cambodian dances by students at the Khmer Arts Academy, as well as a videotaped performance of a piece by academy founder and acclaimed choreographer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro.
Series curator Prumsodun Ok says the latest installment is meant to explore gender roles in Cambodian dance, from political, social and aesthetic viewpoints.
The device Ok chose for the exploration is the use of flowers in classical and contemporary dance and how they manifest sexual identity not only in the canon of traditional dance but in a larger society.
As a male practitioner in Cambodian dance, Ok says, he has had to "navigate the gender politics" of Khmer dance and has been struck by the differences between male and female roles and the inherent questions those raise.
In the performances Ok has chosen, flowers provide the metaphorical device for the depiction of male and female identity.
In the popular "Robam Phuong Neary," the "flower" of womanhood is displayed not only through the use of elaborate silk and gold of Cambodian regalia, but also the exquisite hand gestures and flowing movement of princesses picking flowers in the garden.
In "Robam Pka Meas Pka Prak," which has rarely if ever been performed in the U.S., gold and silver flowers are presented as a tribute to a powerful king. The dance presents a very different ideology with themes of conquest and obeisance.
The final dance, "The Glass Box," which will be broadcast featuring professionals from Shapiro's troupe in Cambodia, is an original work by Shapiro that takes place in an ideal garden. But in this setting, unlike in many traditional works, the tame and ideal frailty of womanhood turns the garden, so often depicted as a place of peace and tranquility, into an oppressive and invisible prison.
In each performance, the flowers play very different roles and define gender qualities and expectations in divergent ways. To Ok, the dances also can be used as a lens through which to view larger Cambodian societal definitions of gender and gender roles.
In some ways, the Saturday performance is the Salon Series' most ambitious so far.
While early presentations mostly were used as introductions to various forms of Asian performance art, Ok says he hopes this performance will build on the foundations of the art form and move it forward to look at more modern interpretations.
As with all the Salon Series shows, the presentation will be followed by a lecture/discussion.
Greg Mellen 562-499-1291 greg.mellen@presstelegram.com
Khmer Arts Salon Series: The Gendered Flower
When: 7 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Khmer Arts Academy, 1364 Obispo Ave., Long Beach.
Admission: Free.
Information: 562-472-0090 or www.khmerarts.org.
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