thin white line - a fine balance of then and now
a public showing of contemporary dance ideas in progress, created in collaboration between the choreographer and the dancers
Choreographer: Paea Leach
Dancers: Chumvan Sodhachivy, Chy Ratana, Hou Cheychanrith, Nam Narim, Yon Davy
Stage Manager: Hourt Bunny
Technical Equipment supplied
and operated by Dans La Phase
Produced by Amrita Performing Arts
Executive Director Fred Frumberg
Country Director Suon Bun Rith
Program Director Kang Rithisal
Office Manager Vy Chamnann
Note from the choreographer:
Thin white line is the result of a five-week (part time) working period.
It is a work very much in progress as we have been developing and improvising with ideas as well as learning about contemporary dance vernacular, as I know it. The word 'contemporary' is fairly open to interpretation. In relation to contemporary dance, the definition is possibly more obscure! My reading, in a simple form, is that is refers to things of the now. Present time. It is an exciting time to be in Cambodia as dance and performance, via Amrita, begins to explore contemporary work.
The dancers have been most generous as they embrace ideas and concepts that are quite new in some moments. We have made tremendous progress and I am proud of their work.
So then, thin white line is a collection of ideas in dance, arrived at together but spurned by my response to being in Cambodia for the first time and my interest in where cultures clash and agree. Mostly I have responded to all the images that I see on the street sitting side by side that seem opposite and complementary. I asked the dancers to work with ideas that reconsider how they might see and feel their world. We talked about tradition, religion and beauty and how to listen to the body in movement. We talked about sensation on our skin and imagining the dance studio as a huge open space, as well as about desires and decisions and energy and impulses for movement. We are proud to share with you the beginnings of many ideas that will hopefully be explored further in the future. They may seem a bit new and odd and there is no 'story', but we ask that you come with us on the exploration!
As part of the next generation in Cambodia these dancers sit at a nexus between past and present, or 'then' and 'now'. I think it is a brave and important journey for them, essentially a thin white line, or a fine balance between respecting tradition as they seek new ideas and influences.
I am in Cambodia thanks to Asialink, an arts programme that fosters relations between Australian artists and Asian organisations and individuals. I am incredibly grateful for this experience. I thank Fred and Sal and all at Amrita for their assistance and generosity. Mostly thanks to the dancers for their hard work and perseverance with me and a form of dance that is both intriguing and difficult to undertake.
Musical numbers:
Missing My Youthful Beauty by Master Kong Nay & Ouch Savy from Mekong Delta Blues
Senza by Camille, from Le Fil
Hope to Meet You by Dengue Fever, Electric Cambodia
Data Duplex by Ryoji Ikeda from Dataplex
Pergolesi Quis Est Homo, largo - allegro (a due), Alessandrini - Concerto Italiano from Pergolesi and Scarlatti - Stabat Mater (Alessandrini)
Werewolf by Coco Rosie, The Adventures Of Ghost horse And Stillborn
U_07 by Alva Noto from Unitxt
About the Company:
Paea Leach (choreographer) is a dancer, performer, writer, teacher, choreographer. She trained at Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA @ ECU) in Perth, Australia, gaining her Bachelor of Arts in Dance and then Honours degree (1999 and 2001). She has worked and toured nationally and internationally with Chunky Move (Melbourne), Australian Dance Theatre (Adelaide), PVC (Germany) and many independent dance and theatre makers in Australia. At the moment Paea also works as a dancer for Belgian choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet and company Eastman performing and touring the work BABEL.
Paea has been choreographing since a young age and has been funded for much international travel and research. She has made works for independent dance seasons, the performing arts university in Perth, for LINK Graduate dance company, for Lucky trimmer in Berlin among others. She has been commissioned to create solo/duo works within communities and across cultures. She was the driver for her own SOLOS project (2004 – 2006). She has been building a body of work with Perth based dancer, writer and improviser Jo Pollitt, that aims to harness writing and dancing as integral practice. Paea loves to teach and has done so extensively for WAAPA, Chunky Move, ADT, STRUT, Buzz dance, in Finland and at Marameo and Dock 11 studios in Berlin – classes for adults, beginners and professionals and prison inmates.
Chumvan Sodhachivy (Belle) (dancer) began training in Cambodian classical dance in 1994 focusing mainly on the male role of the all female classical court form but is also proficient in Cambodian folk dance and shadow puppetry. Eager to develop her contemporary creative skills, Belle was accepted into Robert Wilson's Watermill Center 2006 International Summer Arts Program. Since then, Belle has participated in numerous contemporary dance workshops around the world and has been a featured dancer in works by Emmanuèle Phuon, Arco Renz, Peter Chin and others which have toured internationally.
Chy Ratana (Leak) (dancer) graduated from the Secondary School of Fine Arts with a Baccalaureate in 2000, specializing in the monkey role of the Lakhaon Kaol (Cambodian male masked dance) form and is currently pursuing his Bachelor degree in choreographic arts at the Royal University of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh. In 2006, Leak developed a strong interest in contemporary dance and since then has been a featured dancer in works by Emmanuèle Phuon, Peter Chin, Arco Renz and others which have toured internationally. He remains faithful to his traditional skills but he is also eager to further develop as a contemporary dancer.
Hou Cheychanrith (Pov) (dancer) began training in classical and folkloric dance in 2006 with Cambodian Living Arts and later expanded his training to include classical singing. Pov has performed on local television, in the 2010 Cambodia Youth Arts Festival, and in works by Cambodian choreographer Chumvan Sodhachivy. He was a member of the 'Children of Bassac' troupe that toured to the UK in 2008 and Japan in 2009 and 2010. This is Pov's second contemporary dance workshop; his first was with Indonesian choreographer Eko Supriyanto.
Nam Narim (Dancer) comes from a long family line of esteemed Cambodian classical dancers. Narim began her classical training at the age of nine. She completed the Secondary School of Fine Arts in 2000 and received her BA in choreographic arts from the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh in 2004. She continued her studies at the Korean National University of Arts where she graduated in 2009 with a masters degree in choreography. She is currently a member of the Cambodian National Theatre troupe, Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts.
Yon Davy (dancer) studied both classical and folkloric dance. Davy has always had a strong interest in contemporary dance and has been involved with workshops and performances with numerous choreographers including Emmanuèle Phuon, Bob Ruijzendaal, Peter Chin, Arco Renz and others and was a recipient of residency study grants for contemporary dance and choreography at the Taiwan National University of the Arts and in Surabaya. Davy holds a degree in business management alongside her dance activities.
Amrita Performing Arts is committed to the creation of cutting edge 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.