Cambodian Dance
by Denise Heywood
River Books
HK$349
The awesome grace and meticulous movements of Cambodian dancers have entranced audiences for centuries, and planes full of tourists descending on Siem Reap, the jumping-off point for Angkor Wat, now enjoy their performances.
Dating back to the days of the Angkor empire, which flourished from the ninth to the 15th centuries, Cambodian dance transforms each performer into the embodiment of the celestial apsaras ornately carved on temple walls - hence the subtitle of this volume, Celebration of the Gods.
Denise Heywood, a lecturer on Asian art, brings the reader a fine appreciation of the form, intertwined with its turbulent history and an explanation of why it has long been at the core of Khmer culture and identity. This recently reissued volume examines the origins and development of the dances, music, ritual and shadow puppetry in the context of their spiritual importance and as media for communicating with the deities. (Thai classical dancing, incidentally, borrows heavily from the traditional choreography of Angkorian times; after Siam's invasion of Siem Reap in 1431, hundreds of Cambodian dancers were abducted and taken to Ayutthaya, the Thai capital, to perform.)
