On the Stage - Soth Sam On and Kem Bunnak　

 

The last dance was Moni Mekhala. Soth Sam On, as Ream Eyso, a giant who controls storms, tries to steal a magic crystal ball from Moni Mekhala, goddesss and guardian of the seas and oceans, played here by Kem Bunnak.

 

When Ream Eyso throws his axe, the heavens shake with thunder, but Moni Mekhala then tosses her crystal ball into the air and blinds the giant with lightning so that he falls to the ground powerless.

 

Kem Bunnak was already a seasoned dancer, having been photographed in a performance at Angkor Wat in 1949, aged 14. Both dancers are dead now. Bunnak did not survive the Khmer Rouge, and Soth Sam On died a few years ago in Phnom Penh.