A work in progress
Choreographed by Emmanuèle Phuon
The Dancers: Chey Rithear , Khieu Sovannarith, Khon Chansethyka, Khon Chansina, Nget Rady , Noun Savitou, Hing Seng Hong
Dramaturge Lim How Ngean
Scientific advisor Eric J. Sargis
Assistant to the Choreographer and Rehearsal Director: Phon Sopheap
Costume Design and construction: Vong Vannak
Produced by Amrita Performing Arts
Executive Director Fred Frumberg
Associate Director Hannah Stevens
Program Director Kang Rithisal
Production Coordinator Hourt Bunny
Office Manager Eang Sreypoeu
Project Coordinator Va Chamnann
Office Assistant Lim Chanboramy
Media Assistant Lim Hout Chhay
Original creation of this work was funded by Un Monde Par Tous and La Fondation La Ferthé. The work will have its world premiere within the Works and Process Program at the Guggenheim Museum in April 2013 as part of Season of Cambodia Festival in New York
A note from the choreographer:
Khmeropédies III is the continuation of a project that wants to develop a specifically Cambodian contemporary language in dance, based on Cambodian cultural elements and Cambodian Classical dance. It is the encounter of a contemporary dancer, myself, with Cambodian dancers. In this process everyone learns from each other.
Khmeropédies III takes its source in the study of monkeys, as did the old masters in the tradition of the monkey role. We follow the same path, adding modern resources such as video footage and scientific studies of primates within the development process.
Eric J. Sargis, Professor of Biological Anthropology at Yale University, acted as the Scientific Advisor for this piece. Dr. Sargis' expertise was especially useful when explaining how different primates move, stand, and sit (he is a specialist in functional morphology and positional behavior). He also helped in the construction of the different characters, providing the many details that make a character come alive such as attitudes, calls, motivations, etc.
About the company:
Emmanuele Phuon (Choreographer) is French-Cambodian and lives in Brussels, Belgium. She started her training with the Royal Ballet of Cambodia at age 5. In 1975, she moved to Bangkok with her mother where she lived until age 16. At that time, she decided to become a dancer and left for Avignon (France) where she studied and graduated from the Conservatoire National de Danse in 1986. In 1987, she went to New York. She has performed with the Elisa Monte Dance Company from 1989 till 1994, the Baryshnikov White Oak Dance Project from 1995 till 2001 and has worked with Martha Clarke, Joachim Schloemer, Meg Stuart among others. She is a 2009 Asian Cultural Council grantee and recently joined the company of Yvonne Rainer with her latest creation, Assited Living: Good Sports 2.
Lim How Ngean (Dramaturge - Singapore) has been actively involved in the performing arts for the past 20 years. He has been a performer in various productions in Singapore and Malaysia. He has contributed to arts journalism in Malaysia by writing reviews and features on dance and theatre. In 2009, he was invited by the Asia Europe Foundation (ASEF) to be a dramaturge/documentarian for the dance exchange Pointe to Point. He has also dramaturged dance performances for the Singapore Arts Festival. How Ngean is currently a PhD scholar at the Theatre Studies department in National University of Singapore. His research interests include intercultural performance, issues of embodiment and identity, and the politics of dance.
PHON SOPHEAP studied Lakhaon Kaol (Cambodian male masked dance) and completed his training in 2000 and has toured internationally as a classical dancer. With a strong interest in contemporary dance, Sopheap joined numerous regional dance workshops including the Young Choreographer's Workshop in Surabaya in July 2006 as an Asian Cultural Council recipient where he created his first contemporary solo work entitled A Monkey's Mask. Since then, Sopheap has toured internationally in works by Emmanuèle Phuon, Peter Chin and Arco Renz and was recently a featured performer in a new work of dance theater at Theater Aachen entitled Tomorrow Maybe by German director Ludger Engels. Sopheap was a featured dancer in CRACK – a new work of Cambodian contemporary dance by German choreographer Arco Renz that was awarded the 2012 ZKB Patronage Prize in Zurich Switzerland in September 2012.
KHON CHANSITHYKA (Mo) and KHON CHANSINA (Nan) began their training in Lakhaon Kaol (Cambodian classical male masked dance) in 2002, focusing on the role of the monkey and completed their training in 2011. Throughout their studies, they performed extensively with the Sovanna Phum Khmer Art Association, an independent dance and puppetry theater in Phnom Penh where they were given numerous opportunities to participate in contemporary dance workshops. Mo and Nan were featured performers in new works by Khmer / French choreographer Emmanuèle Phuon and Indonesian artist Eko Supriyanto and have toured throughout Southeast Asia. Most recently, Mo was a featured dancer in Stravinsky's Persephone directed by Peter Sellars at the Teatro Real in Madrid.
KHIEV SOVANNARITH started training in Lakhaon Khaol (Cambodian male masked dance) in 1991 at the Secondary School of Fine Arts, graduating in 2000. He furthered his studies at the Faculty of Choreographic Arts of the Royal University of Fine Arts in 2005 and graduated in 2011. During the course of his studies, Sovannarith performed extensively in both classical and contemporary works. He was also trained in Khmer traditional martial arts. He has been one of Amrita's strongest dancers we must never say this about any dancer. Sovannarith was a featured dancer in Revitalising Monkey and Giants by Pichet Klunchun, Khmeropedies III by Emmanuèle Phuon, as well as a new Cambodian play Breaking the Silence by Annemarie Prins.
CHEY RITHEA started training in Lakhaon Khaol Cambodian male masked dance in 1999 at the Secondary School of Fine Arts, graduating in 2008. A year later, he pursued his studies at the Faculty of Choreographic Arts, Royal University of Fine Arts in 2009 and will graduate in August 2012. During the course of his studies, Rithea has performed extensively in both classical and contemporary works. He was also trained in Khmer traditional martial arts and was a featured dancer in Amrita's new works Khmeropedies III by Emmanuèle Phuon and Para Human by Eko Supriyanto.
NGET RADY began his dance training in 1999, specializing in the monkey role of Lakhaon Kaol, the Cambodian classical male masked dance form. As a classical dancer, Rady has toured to Europe and throughout Asia and as a contemporary dancer has performed in numerous works of contemporary dance as well as participated in many contemporary dance workshops. Rady has already created a number of his own works including The Feeling for Street Children. He was a featured dancer in CRACK – a new work of Cambodian contemporary dance by German choreographer Arco Renz that was awarded the 2012 ZKB Patronage Prize in Zurich Switzerland in September 2012. Rady is currently a BA candidate at the Royal University of Fine Arts.
NOUN SOVITOU started training in Lakhaon Khaol (Cambodian male masked dance) in 2000 at the Secondary School of Fine Arts, graduating in 2010. He is currently pursuing his master's degree at the Faculty of Choreographic Arts of the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, where he will graduate in 2015. During the course of his studies, Sovitou has performed extensively in both classical and contemporary works. He was also trained in Khmer traditional martial arts. He has been a featured dancer in numerous Amrita productions including Khmeropedies III by Emmanuèle Phuon, Olden New Golden Blue by Peter Chin, and Para Human by Eko Supriyanto.
HING SENGHONG went to the Secondary School of Fine Arts in 2001 where he studied Lakhaon Kaol, classical male masked dance. He is currently a senior student at the Royal University of Fine Arts. He has performed extensively with Sovanna Phum Khmer Art Association. He has also participated in contemporary dance workshop with Eko Supriyanto, Pichet Klunchun, and Emmanuèlle Phuon and was featured in works by Cambodian choreographers Chey Chankethya and Chumvan Sodhachivy and a new work by Emmanuèlle Phuon.
Amrita Performing Arts is an International NGO based in Phnom Penh, with US nonprofit status. Amrita is committed to the creation of Cambodian contemporary dance and theater, responding to the creative drive of a young generation of artists who have taken on the task of ushering Cambodia's ancient performing arts heritage into the future. Our work is developed through workshops based on intensive exchange and dialogue with international collaborators. All of our efforts emphasize capacity building as we assist in nurturing a new generation of Cambodian choreographers, directors and practitioners in all areas of arts management. www.amritaperformingarts.org
