Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts Royal Ballet July 2008 With the contribution of UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust 2 CONTENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................................................................5 FOREWORD.........................................................................................................................................................7 PREFACE..............................................................................................................................................................9 CHAPTER 1 ........................................................................................................................................................11 I. HISTORY OF CAMBODIA’S CLASSICAL DANCE..................................................................................11 1. KEYWORDS..................................................................................................................................................11 2. PREHISTORIC PERIOD...................................................................................................................................11 2.1. Notion of Khmer Classical Dance.....................................................................................................11 2.2. Khmer Beliefs and Religions.............................................................................................................13 3. HISTORIC PERIOD ........................................................................................................................................15 3.1. Funan Period (first – sixth century A.D.)..........................................................................................15 3.2. Chenla Period (7th – 8th century A.D.)...............................................................................................16 3.3. Angkor Period (9th – 14th century A.D.)............................................................................................17 3.4. Post-Angkor Period ...........................................................................................................................25 3.5. Concept of Art in Royal Ballet Dance ..............................................................................................28 II. PERFORMING METHODOLOGY ..............................................................................................................28 III. DANCING STAGE.......................................................................................................................................29 IV. STAGE DECORATION...............................................................................................................................29 V. SAMPEAH KROU (PRAYING CEREMONY) ...........................................................................................30 VI. COSTUME AND ORNAMENTATION......................................................................................................30 1. COSTUME DRESSING AND DRESSES OF CLASSICAL DANCE..........................................................................30 2. ORNAMENTATION OF KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE........................................................................................35 VII. PICTURE AND MEANING OF KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE ...........................................................39 VIII. MEANING OF KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE......................................................................................46 1. MEANING OF ROYAL BALLET OR KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE .....................................................................46 2. CHARACTERISTICS OF MEANING OF DANCE LANGUAGE..............................................................................47 2.1. Symbol Characteristics......................................................................................................................47 2.2. Reality of the Dance ..........................................................................................................................47 2.3. Pure Dancing or Kbach Loak ............................................................................................................47 2.4. Transitional Gesture or Interval Gesture...........................................................................................47 3. DEMONSTRATING THE MEANING OF KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE.................................................................49 IX. MUSIC AND SONG ACCOMPANIED BY THE KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE.................................50 CHAPTER 2 ........................................................................................................................................................67 STATISTICS OF DANCES AND KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE ................................................................67 I. LIST OF DANCES AND KHMER LKHON CLASSICAL DANCE ...........................................................67 1. UNDERSTANDING OF KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE ........................................................................................67 2. DEFINITION..................................................................................................................................................67 a. Devata (goddess)...................................................................................................................................68 b. Tep Apsara (Apsara).............................................................................................................................68 c. Literature...............................................................................................................................................68 d. Inscriptions............................................................................................................................................69 3 3. NAMES OF DANCES AND LKHON KBACH BORAN (CLASSICAL DANCE)....................................................... 69 4. LIST OF REVIVAL OF CLASSICAL DANCE OR ROYAL BALLET ...................................................................... 70 a. Names of Dances.................................................................................................................................. 70 b. List of Lost Khmer Classical Dance or Royal Ballet .......................................................................... 72 c. List Revival Lkhon Kbach Boran or Khmer Royal Ballet .................................................................. 73 d. List of Lost Lkhon Boran or Khmer Royal Ballet...............................................................................74 5. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE.................................................................................... 75 6. LKHON KBACH BORAN KHMER (KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE) .................................................................... 83 II. MUSIC ACCOMPANY LKHON BORAN (CLASSICAL THEATER)..................................................... 89 III. SOME EPISODES IN INAV BUSSA BA................................................................................................... 90 1. SOURCE OF INAV BUSSA BA........................................................................................................................ 90 2. BRIEF HISTORY OF INAV BUSSA BA ............................................................................................................ 92 a. Brief Summary of Ya Ran Chasing a Peacock....................................................................................93 b. Brief Summary of Inav Bussa Ba (Part I)............................................................................................ 93 c. Brief Summary of Inav Bussaba (Part II) in the Research .................................................................. 94 4. THE TEXT OF INAV BUSSA BA..................................................................................................................... 94 CHAPTER 3........................................................................................................................................................ 97 PRESERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE.......................................... 97 1. ETERNAL VALUES...................................................................................................................................... 97 2. CONCEPT OF LIFE COSMOLOGY ............................................................................................................ 97 3. GODSHIP ....................................................................................................................................................... 98 4. INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE..................................................................................................... 98 5. VISION IN CONSERVATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF KHMER CLASSICAL DANCE................. 99 6. CONSERVATION ......................................................................................................................................... 99 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................................. 104 APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................................... 107 I. LIST OF KHMER CLASSICAL ART MASTERS ....................................................................................