The Programme

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The dances were performed in the following order:

 

1) Buong Suong: Robam Phream

The Buong Suong is a ritual performed as a prayer for rain or, as in this case, national peace. It invokes the aid of the gods, ancestral spirits and ‘neak ta’ (supernatural forces) to protect the kingdom, through the medium of dance. In this case it was the Robam Phream (Dance of Brahma), and Menh Kossony was the lead dancer, in the role of Phream.

 

2) Apsara (with Om Yuvanna)

The lead dancer here was Voan Savay. She survived the Pol Pot era and made her way to the Thai border and Site II, where she started up dance classes in the camp.

 

3) Folk Dance (Bamboo Pole Dance)

 

4) Moni Mekhala

The dancer playing the role of Ream Eyso, the giant, was Soth Sam On. She survived the Pol Pot era but died in Cambodia three or four years ago.

The dancer playing the role of Mekhala, the goddess, was Kem Bunnak. She died during the Pol Pot regime.