Look at them

The highlight of my weekend by a country mile, with Belle at Sovanna Phum

A busy day again today with work as usual this morning, followed by a few hours at the Olympic Stadium watching Cambodia Premier League football and then this evening, a front row seat at the premiere of Look At Us Now, a well-attended contemporary dance performance at Sovanna Phum, looking at the struggles faced by dancers in today's Cambodia. The performers were Yon Davy, Khieu Sovannarith, Phumtheara Chenda, Sang Porsda, Va Chamnan, Yim Savann, Phon Sopheap, Kay Sokchan and well-known classical dancer Vuth Chanmoly, who also appeared in Where Elephants Weep recently. The play allowed the artists to express themselves in a variety of vigorous and imaginative ways on stage, though the dialogue was in Khmer so it was difficult for the majority of the Western audience to understand. Contemporary dance in Cambodia is certainly progressing at a rapid pace with this and other recent performances, usually including the star of the scene at the moment, Belle. She wasn't one of the performers in this show as she's been working as artist-in-residence with the French Cultural Center for the last five months, but she was there to lend her support to the dancers and working behind the scenes.

On stage action from Look At Us Now

Vuth Chanmoly provided the closing sequence to Look At Us Now

Looking as proud as punch, and rightly so

Some of the performers take their bow at the end of the dance