Thursday, January 22, 2009

Rags to riches

Sokvannara Sar is an unusual Cambodian performer. Instead of performing traditional Khmer dance, he is a rising star of classical Western-style ballet and brought his art to Phnom Penh in 2006 when he danced at the opening of the then-new American Embassy in the city to great acclaim. He's come a long way in a short time after he was spotted by arts patron Anne Bass in a dance group at Preah Khan temple in Angkor and given the opportunity to study ballet in New York. Better known to all as Sy, he has adapted incredibly well to his new life in the United States and appears on course to make a big name for himself in international ballet. His rags to riches story was the focus of Dancing Across Borders, a documentary by Anne Bass, which enjoyed a preview screening at the French Cultural Centre last night. Her sympathetic portrayal gave a glimpse into the sheer hard work needed to make an impression in the fiercely competitive world of ballet and how Sy has grasped his chance with both hands. Among the invited guests, popular Cambodian crooner Sapoun Midada, who sang the film's closing song, mixed with luminaries such as senior minister Veng Sereyvuth, former Ambassador Roland Eng and the new United States Ambassador Carol Rodley.
Film director Anne Bass with Khmer singer-songwriter Sapoun Midada at last night's screening
The song that closed last night's film is called Pouk Euy, Me Euy, or Dear Father, Dear Mother, and sung by Sapoun Midada, a superstar amongst Cambodia's music-hungry fans. Alongwith Preap Sovath, Midada is at the very pinnacle of the music scene in Cambodia and writes many of his own songs. He's particularly known for his sentimental love songs though the song for the film was based on a county boy who moved to the city to support his family by playing guitar, something which Midada is also well-known for.

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Thursday, January 15, 2009

Arty-farty dance

I don't pretend to understand or even like much of the contemporary dance I've seen, I'm more of a traditionalist, but every type of work deserves its five minutes of fame and contemporary dance is no exception. One such work that may be seen in Cambodia in the near future, after a tour of Canada and Singapore, is a new work of contemporary dance by Canadian choreographer Peter Chin, Transmission of the Invisible. His work is the result of several years of research in Cambodia and intensive workshops with two of Amrita Arts outstanding young Khaol (Cambodian male masked dance) artists, Phon Sopheap and Yim Savann with three of Chin's dancers from his company Tribal Crackling Wind. The work premiered to critical acclaim in Canada in February of last year and will tour Canada early this year as well as in Singapore in the summer.

Staying on the arts front, two princes from Cambodia's royal family have publicly called for control of the nation's Royal Ballet to be handed back to the Royal Palace, from whence it was moved to the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts in 1970. They suggest it will improve the quality and attendances, and maybe give all those royal advisors something to do as well. Why oh why the Royal Ballet aren't performing regularly at the Chaktomuk Theatre or elsewhere is beyond me. There is definitely mileage in putting on regular, scheduled shows for tourists and Cambodians alike, that can be a platform for their back catalogue of works, generate income and sharpen skills of performers, not to mention providing employment and opportunities to the students leaving the Fine Arts campus every year. It's a no-brainer for me and has for a long while left me scratching my head.

Finally, Manhattan socialite, philanthropist and arts patron, Anne Bass, debuted her film Dancing Across Borders in Siem Reap at the weekend. Back in March 2007 I highlighted the documentary in progress on a rising star in the world of ballet, Sar 'Sy' Sokvannara (pictured), a gifted Cambodian dancer who'd trained at the School of American Ballet and was with the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle. The full-length film is now complete and waiting to be unleashed upon the public. It chronicles Sokvannara’s journey as a dancer as he uses the skills he learned from traditional, ritualistic Cambodian dances with the Wat Bo school in Siem Reap to the ballet stage in America.

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