Cravath, Paul - The Ritual Origins of the Classical Dance Drama of Cambodia

8/18/2019 Cravath, Paul - The Ritual Origins of the Classical Dance Drama of Cambodia

1/26

The Ritual Origins of the Classical Dance Drama of CambodiaAuthor(s): Paul Cravath

Source: Asian Theatre Journal, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Autumn, 1986), pp. 179-203Published by: University of Hawai'i PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1124400Accessed: 01/10/2009 13:03

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2/26

The Ritual

Origins

of

the

Classical

Dance

Drama

of

Cambodia

Paul

Cravath

The

court-dance tradition of Cambodia is

among

the oldest and

most refined

theatre

forms

in

Asia. Prior to 1970 dances of

extraordinary

beauty

were

performed by

a

single troupe

resident

in

the

royal palace,

where

they

were

revered

as a

living symbol

of the

kingdom.

Known to outsiders

as

the

Royal

Cambodian

Ballet,

the lakhon

lueng

(king's dancers)

tradi-

tionally

represented

the earth over

which the

king

was lord. Their

per-

formance

in

a ritual

context was

considered

an

offering

to the

spirit

realm

of deceased

ancestors,

capable

of

influencing

monsoon

rains

and the land's

fertility.

The

relationship

between

dancer,

spirit

world,

and

monarch

in

Cambodia

developed

from ancient

indigenous

roots to

support

the evolv-

ing

needs of local

kingship

in the

early

centuries

A.D.

This

essay

examines

the

ways

in

which the

ritual function of

Khmer

dance confirms its

indige-

nous

origin. My

method

will

be

to

survey

the ritual

context

of dance

in

earlier

periods

and

to

describe

archaic

elements still

found

in

dance

per-

formance

today,

foremost of which

are

offertory

rites

honoring

natural

and

ancestral

spirits.

In

this

continuity

of

ritual

function

we discern a

structure of

belief so

fundamental

to the

Cambodian

worldview

that the

dance which

embodies it

can

only

have

originated among

the

Khmers

themselves.

This view

is

radically

different from

the

theory

widely

accepted

throughout

this

century

that

the

overall

style,

gestures,

and

repertoire

of

Southeast

Asian

classical

theatre,

dance,

and

puppetry

are

performed

exactly

as

in

Indian

choreography,

a

view

espoused by

French

historian

George

Coedes

([1944]

1968,

xvii)

and

reiterated

by

numerous

scholars

during

the

colonial

period.

Until

his death

in

1969

at

age

103,

Coedes was

Paul Cravath

recently

completed

his doctoral dissertation on Cambodian theatre at

the

University

of

Hawaii,

where

he is

an

instructor

of

acting

in

the

Department

of

Drama and

Theatre.


3/26

Cravath

the most

influential

Southeast

Asian

scholar of the

century,

due

in

large

part

to his translation of

many

early

stone

inscriptions.

His

subsequent

interpretation

of

virtually

all

early

Southeast

Asian

culture as a

colonial

transmission

by

Brahmans

and

traders from

India was

never

veiled: It

is

interesting

to note

that even in

prehistoric

times

the

autochthonous

peoples

of Indochina

seem to

have been

lacking

in

creative

genius

and

showed

little

aptitude

for

making

progress

without stimulus

from

outside

([ 1962]

1972,

13).

Minority

views

developed,

however,

with the

Dutch

historians in

particular tending to a more Southeast Asia-centric point of view. The

most

radical

and,

ultimately,

the

most

influential of

these

was the

economic

historian

J.

C.

van

Leur,

who

wrote

in

1934 that in

Southeast

Asia

both

Hinduism

and

Islam

are

a

thin,

easily

flaking glaze

on

the

massive

body

of

indigenous

civilization

(1955,

169).

During

the

past

three

decades,

this

claim

has been

dramatically

substantiated

by

a

widespread

network

of

scholars whose

dean

is

archaeologist

Wilhelm

G.

Solheim. Their

conclu-

sions are

the

impetus

for

my rejection

of the

belief that

Indian

elements

form the foundation of Cambodia's classical dance.

In

an

excellent

summary

of

the

spectrum

of

theories

concerning

the

so-called

Indianization of

Southeast

Asia,

I. W.

Mabbett

summarizes

Solheim's

work

as

a

series of

claims

which

uncompromisingly

assert

the

primacy

of

Southeast

Asians

in

all

major

Asian

technical

innovations

and

thus

deny

the

region's

dependence

upon

diffusion

from

China,

India,

the Far

West,

or

anywhere

else. On

the

contrary,many thingsareheld to have been transmittedto partsof China,

Japan,

and the

coasts

of the

Indian

Ocean

by

Southeast

Asian

sailors

and

traders

(1977,

5-6).

As

evidence,

recent

excavation in

northeastern

Thailand

has

dated

double-mold

bronze

casting

at

about

2700

B.C.

(Bayard

1972,

1411),

indi-

cating

bronze

manufacture

up

to a

thousand

years

earlier

than in

either

China

or

India

and

allowing speculation

that

early

in

the

fourth

millen-

nium

B.C.

bronze

was

invented

somewhere

in

Southeast Asia (Solheim

1972,

14).

Proponents

of

Solheim's

interpretation

of

such

archaeological

data

posit

a

Hoabinhian

technocomplex

or

group

of

cultures

sharing

certain

techniques

(Gorman

1970,

82)

which

spread

throughout

the

vast

circle of

Southeast

Asia.

Solheim

believes

that

around

8000

B.C. or

earlier,

fully

distinct

cultures

began

to

crystallize

out

of

the

Hoabinhian

result-

ing

ultimately

in

the

cultural,

ethnic,

social,

linguistic,

and

economic

mosaic

that we

know

today

(1975,

151).

To

date,

the

new

discoveries

have

received

little

scholarly appli-cation to the

study

of

Southeast

Asian

performing

arts.

In

response,

the

180


4/26

THE RITUAL ORIGINS OF THE

CLASSICAL

DANCE

DRAMA OF CAMBODIA

181

present interpretation

of

dance-related

data

presupposes

a

greater age,

sophistication,

and

integrity

of Khmer culture than historians have

previ-

ously

allowed and

attributes to

Khmer dance

an

indigenous

ritual function

within that culture from the earliest times.

If the new view

of

Southeast

Asian

history

is

correct,

then

a new

explanation

of the

significance

of the

dance

drama

in

Cambodia is

necessary.

For that we must look

carefully

at

the

local

indigenous

cultural

patterns.

Dance in Early Ritual

There

is

strong

evidence that dance was an essential element

in

early

Southeast Asian

religious

ritual. The earliest evidence

of

dancing

specifically

associates this

art

with funeral rites

and,

by

extension,

the realm

of ancestor

spirits.

Dancing figures

are a

primary

motif

in

the

elaborate

ornamentation of

large

bronze

kettledrums

of a

type

found from

southern

China

to

Indonesia,

including

sites

in

Cambodia, Thailand,

and

Malaysia,

dating

from

at

least the

fifth

century

B.C.

(Groslier

1962,

32).

The drums

have been found in association with burial sites, suggesting a link between

the

dancing figures

and the

deceased.

As

early

as the seventh

century

A.D.,

written documents

regarding

the area of Cambodia also associate

dancers with funeral rites

(Ma

1883,

424),

and

the evidence as

a

whole

suggests

that

drums and

dancing

were

believed to assist the deceased

in

gaining

rebirth

in

the

spirit

world.

Certainly

that has

been the case

in

the

twentieth

century.

In

1927

when

King

Sisowath died

in Phnom

Penh,

his

body

was

placed

in

fetal

position

in

a silver urn filled with mercury for a lengthy period prior to the cremation

ceremony,

which was

largely

a

rite of

rebirth into

the ancestral world

(Poree

and

Maspero

1938,

147).

Dancers attended the

corpse

of

King

Monivong during

similar rites

in

1941.

They

wore the

traditional

dead-

white face

makeup

associated with the

spirit

world toward which

they

functioned

as the

king's

escorts.

Although

this is modern

evidence,

we

know that

the custom of burial

in

fetal

position

was

widespread

and has

been documented

in

the

region

as

early

as

the fourth millennium

B.C.

(Coedes [1962] 1972, 15); the associated custom of dancers accompanying

the

king's

remains

is

undoubtedly

ancient

as well.

Beyond

the

context

of

funerals,

dance was

performed traditionally

as an

offering.

To

this

day,

Cambodians

view

dance

as one of the

most

powerful

temple offerings

to obtain

assistance from

the

spirits,

and what is

known

of Khmer

temples

from

the sixth

century

A.D.

onward

suggests

that

the

belief

is

ancient. While the soul of

the deceased

migrated

to the

abode

of

ancestors

(believed

to

be on

top

of

a

mountain),

a

part

of

his

essence

could

be enshrined within a rock or tree or structure from which he would

continue to benefit the

community

if

proper offerings

and

attentions were


5/26

Cravath

FIGURE

4.

Royal

dancers

attending

the

funerary

urn

of

King

Monivong

in 1941.

rendered.

Thus,

there has

always

been

an

ambiguous

identity

between

the

spirit

of the

powerful

ancestor and the

spirit

of the

land

with which

he or

she was associated.

As Paul Mus

concluded,

ancestor

worship

and a

fecundity

cult

were the two

primary,

interrelated

features

of

indigenous

religious

belief

in

mainland Southeast

Asia

(1933,

367).

On the

basis

of the

many dancers known from the earliest written records to have been as-

sociated with

temples,

it

seems

fairly

certain

that

ritual dance

has been

intimately

connected

with ancestor communion

and

fertility

rites in the

area of Cambodia

from the most ancient times.

Ritual

Dance from the

Third to

Ninth Centuries

The earliest written

records

of dance

in the area of

present-day

Cambodia are

from the

late sixth

century, despite

earlier

Chinese

accounts

documenting

a

relatively

advanced

third-century kingdom

which

had

182


6/26

THE RITUAL

ORIGINS

OFTHE

CLASSICAL

ANCEDRAMA

OF

CAMBODIA

183

books, libraries,

taxes

paid

in

gold,

and

a

port city

on the

Mekong

delta

controlling

much of the earliest international trade

through

Southeast Asia

(Pelliot

1903, 254;

Wolters

1967,

37).

Numerous records

from the

sixth

century

onward

mention

dance

as a

temple offering.

One

seventh-century

account,

for

instance,

details the

gifts given

by

a

high dignitary

to

a

temple

which he had

erected. Included were

nine

female

dancers,

seven

female

singers,

and nine male

musicians,

together

with three other female

dancers

and six female

singers

who

presumably

held

a

different

position

or function

than

those first

indicated;

all

are mentioned

by

name

(Coedes

1937,

V,

64).

Such accounts

appear

in

stone

inscriptions

listing

the

property

and

lands attached to

particular temples.

Female

dancers,

female

musicians,

female

singers,

and male musicians donated or

belonging

to

the

temple

as

slaves of the

god

often headed the lists. The

god

so honored was

traditionally

a sacred

tree

or

stone

which embodied the

spirit

of

that

place,

and dances were

performed

in

its honor

according

to

a

strict schedule.

These

inscriptions

reflect certain forms

of

Indian influence now

believed to have begun in the second half of the fourth century A.D.

(Christie

1970,

3) through

a

process

that has been much

debated.

In a

recent

summary

of

all

arguments,

Kenneth R.

Hall

concludes that entre-

preneurial

activities of traders of various cultures stimulated

the local

rulers

to

selectively adopt

Indianized

patterns

for

their own

purposes,

namely

to lend

greater

authority

and

legitimacy

to

a

central overlord

capable

of

dominating regional

patterns

of maritime trade and

enforcing

a

stable

network of

interdependence

and

loyalty among

his lesser chiefs

(1985, 53).

Sanskrit

became

a

religious

and

socially

cohesive force

in

the

hands

of

an

increasingly powerful

monarch whose

authority

was believed to

emanate from his

spiritual prowess

rather

than,

as

previously

believed,

from his

military power (Hall

1985,

47).

In

the

local

temples

to which

dancers

were

attached,

deities

(sacred

trees

and

stones)

were

given

addi-

tional Sanskrit

names

and Indian

forms

(Aeusrivongse

1976,

116).

For

example,

the

oldest

inscription

in

the

Khmer

language (dated

A.D.

611)

mentions that a

single donation to a temple included seven dancers, eleven

singers,

and four musicians

offered to the local

deity

whose name

signifies

a

tree but

included the suffix

-isvara,

indicating

Shiva

(Coedes

1937,

V,

18-19).

Temples

which

the dancers

served

in

the

pre-Angkorean

period

were

ultimately

extensions of

the state

temples,

and

in

the dancers

them-

selves we see evidence of the

monarch's

pervasive

influence.

Unlike other

slaves

who bore

Khmer

names

such as

Cat,

Dog,

or

Stinking,

dancers

in

the

earliest

inscriptions

bear

Sanskrit

names

including

Ador-

able,

Gifted in

the

Art

of

Love,

and

SpringJasmine

(Lancaster

1971,


7/26


8/26

THE

RITUAL

ORIGINS OF THE CLASSICAL DANCE

DRAMA OF

CAMBODIA 185

The creation of the dancer

in

celestial

form

is

the theme

of an

important

Khmer

myth

carved in bas-relief on the southern

halfofAngkor

Wat's

east

gallery.

The

myth

is seminal to

much of the

temple

and

city

architecture

itself and

objectifies

the

Khmer

view of the interaction of earth

and

sky,

matter and

spirit,

female and

male,

rice and rain-that is to

say,

the union of the Feminine

and Masculine which

engender

all

fertility,

spiritual

fulfillment,

and life itself. The

myth

is sometimes known as

the

Churning

of the Sea.

1

At

the bottom of the sea a

great

ndga

serpent

stretches the entire

forty-nine yards

of this

mythical

ocean,

symbol

of the uncreated

(Gros-

lier

1970,

33).

Above

this,

the

ndga

appears

a second time-a convention

suggesting

a later

action-supported

by

two

groups

of

figures.

On

the left

are

ninety-twoyakkha (ogres)

pulling

on

the

head;

on the

right

are

eighty-

eight

deva

(gods) pulling

on the

tail. The

ndga,

the most

frequently

used

and

oldest Khmer

symbol

of the

earth's

forces,

is

wound around the

stone,

mountainlike seat of a four-armed

deity.

The effect

of

the resultant churn-

ing

is seen

along

the

top

of

the

carving:

thousands of

flying

dancers

emerge

from the ocean's foam (PLATE 10).

These celestial

dancers,

conventionally

termed

apsaras, symbolize

the welfare of the

kingdom-the

untold riches often

said

in

the

inscriptions

to issue forth from the earth

in

intimate

union

with the

passionate

vital

principle

of

[the]

king

(Groslier

and

Arthaud

[1957]

1966,

30).

The two

contending

forces

ofyakkha

and

deva

paradoxically

work

together

to

support

the central male

figure,

and

the

bas-relief

thereby

depicts perfect

fulfill-

ment of the

serpent power,

or

earth's

potential

(Feminine),

in

union

with

the dualistic forces of the king (Masculine). In short, the dancer revealed

the form of the Feminine

in

its

most

perfect

flowering.

The

dancing

apsaras

were the

embodiment of the

life-creating

energy resulting

from a

process

for which

Angkorean

temples

and

entire

cities

were

architectural

metaphors. Bridges leading

to the

gates

of

several

Khmer

cities

including Angkor

had

ndga

balustrades

supported by giant

stone

deva

and

yakkha,

and

the

city

gates

at each of

the cardinal

points

reproduced

the

central

temple-mountain

in

miniature.

The entire

con-

struction was a reflection of the Churning of the Sea, since the vast

reservoirs

surrounding

the

city

represented

the

ocean

(as

well as

fertility

for

the

broad areas

they watered);

the

gate

tower and

central

temple

represented

the ancestral

mountain

or

king;

and the

ndga

in

the

balustrade

supported

by

gods

and

giants

represented

the earth

serpent.

It is no

wonder that

at

Angkor

there were

myriads

of

dancers

both

in art and in

human

form.

The

king

was

surrounded

by

thousands of

women as

concubines,

dancers,

and

even

guards.

His central

position

in

this

feminine world was

believed

to

create the

welfare of

the

kingdom,

and

one

fundamental

and timeless

function of

the Khmer

royal

dancers

was to

provide

a

necessary

harem-a

function

reputedly

maintained until

1970.


9/26

Cravath

FIGURE

5.

In a

bas relief from

Angkor, ogres

(below) pull

on

the

head of a

serpent.

The celestial dancers

(above) emerge

from the ocean's foam.

(Photo:

Groslier.)

FIGURE6.

A

detail of the celestial

dancers

(Figure

15) being

created

from the

foam of

the

churning

sea.

(Photo:

Groslier.)

186

'::

'

...


10/26

THE RITUAL ORIGINS

OF THE CLASSICAL DANCE

DRAMA

OF CAMBODIA

187

Whether or

not the

king's

dancers were

actually

his sexual

partners-and

many

were-they

collectively symbolized

in all

periods

the

energy

of the

fecund earth itself

and of

necessity

were in constant

attendance on

the

monarch as an

image

of the

fertility

which

together they

represented

and

mystically engendered.

While there is

some

correspondence

between the

Angkorean

cos-

mology

thus

described and the

Indian model-as

Vishnu is

surrounded

by

heavenly

dancers in

paradise,

for

instance,

so should his

earthly

correlate

be

similarly

attended-its

overall contour is

nonetheless

determined

by

Khmer beliefs regarding ancestral influence and fertility. There is one

element, however,

which

has been

widely

assumed to reveal an

Indian

base

for the Khmer

performing

arts and

requires

some

analysis-namely

the

Rdmker,

he

legend

of the Indian

epic

hero

Rama

(Ram

in

Khmer).

Excerpts

from

the Rdmker

form one of

the three most

frequently

performed

pieces

in

the

repertoire

of Khmer classical

dance

drama,

and the

story

is known

by

virtually

all

Khmers

in

simplified

form.

Popular

versions

of the

tale,

however,

are

not

necessarily

to be

identified with the

classical

Indian Rdmayanawhich was recited in Khmer temples under sponsorship of

the

Indianized,

indigenous,

ruling

elite as

early

as

the sixth

century

A.D.2

This

sacerdotal

function of

the Ram

legend

was not

maintained

in

Cambodia,

and the

Rdmker s not

among

the

seven sacred

stories

tradi-

tionally performed

in

palace

ritual.

In

brief,

the

Indian

Rdmayana

was

known

in

Brahmanic

Cambodian

temples

in

early

times,

but it

did

not

survive with

either its form

or

religious

function intact.

The

Rdmker,

the

jewel

of

Khmer

literature, has,

on

the other

hand, remained an important form of entertainment uniquely reflective of

fundamental

Khmer

concerns.

In

the

Ramker,

or

instance,

as

performed by

all-male

lakhon khol

troupes-a

village

tradition

conforming

in

most

ele-

ments to

the form of

royal

dance-Komphakar,

the

brother

of

Reap

(Ravana),

is the

central

focus.

He has

stopped

the

flow of

the

waters

and

only

by

trickery

on

the

part

of

Ram's

monkey

cohorts

are

the rains

liberated. The

scene

was often

performed

to

bring

an

end

to

drought (Sem

1967,

161-162),

as

were a few

other

revered

dances

in

the

village

folk

dance

tradition.

On

such

evidence,

as

well as

careful

study

of

many

scenes

from

the

Ram

story

carved

by

Angkorean

sculptors,

and

on

the basis

of

internal

literary

evidence,

some

scholars

have

concluded

that the

Rdmker

was

indigenous

to

Southeast

Asia

and

appreciably

different

from

the

Indian

Rdmdyana Martini

1938,

1950,

1961;

Przyluski

1924).

The main

difference

lies

in

the

primary

focus of

the

Rdmkeron

control of

feminine

power

and

the

resultant

fertility.

Thus,

the

Indian

epic

of Ram

was

not

so

significant

to

the

Cambodian

people

as

were

selected

motifs

coinciding

with

their

belief

structure and

the

rituals

which

gave

it life.


11/26

Cravath

A

second

important

contribution

of

Ramker

scholarship

has been

to

demonstrate that following the demise of Angkor in the early fifteenth

century,

the

royal

dancers

continued to

perform

at

the Khmer

court,

certainly

on a

less

grand

scale but

without

interruption.

Saverous

Pou

has

isolated

a

version

of

the Rdmker ext

evolved

by

a number

of talented

poets

during

the sixteenth

and seventeenth centuries.

The

five thousand

stanzas

in

a

carefully

integrated

style

are

in

no

way

comparable

to the Indian

epic,

particularly

in their

unelaborated

binary

intellectual framework

of

two

fundamental forces in

contention.

Furthermore,

Pou

concludes,

the

Khmer poets created a text that is clearly Buddhist in its moral teachings

and was

unquestionably

a

work

meant for recitation

in

theatrical

perfor-

mances

(1977, 134).

Pou's

study

strongly

confirms

the

Khmer claim

that

the

court-dance tradition

in

Cambodia

remained unbroken from the

pre-

Angkorean

period

to

the

present.

The

Form of

Khmer

Classical Dance Drama

In order to show the way in which the modern form of Khmer court

dance-descendant of the

ancient

temple

tradition-reveals its

indige-

nous

roots,

we turn

now to

an

examination

of

the dance

as

performed

in

the

1970s.

I

will

consider a

number of

performance

elements and

attendant

customs to

demonstrate

also

that

Khmer

dance,

whether

in

repertoire,

music,

choreography,

or

gesture,

owes

very

litttle to

Indian

influence.

I

first

gained

familiarity

with

the form

of

Khmer

dance

in

1975

when,

after

lengthy

negotiation,

I

managed

to

arrive

in

Phnom

Penh

eleven days after the Khmer Rouge had begun their final siege of the

city

on New

Year's

Eve.

The

Classical

Khmer

Ballet,

as

Norodom

Sihanouk's

personal

dancers

were

known

during

the

republic,

had

made

their

last

foreign

appearance

in

Bangkok

a

month

earlier and

now

only

rehearsed

periodically

and

perfunctorily.

By

contrast,

younger

students of

classical

dance at

the

University

of

Fine Arts

(UBA)

continued to

meet

their

teachers at

least

four

days

a

week

despite

food

shortages,

a

social

world

disjointed

by

refugees,

and

rockets

falling daily

into the

city.

The

dancers

practiced

a

style

and

rehearsed a

repertoire.

The

repertoire

is

of two

types.

First

are

the

roeung

(dance

dramas),

involving

plot,

characterization,

and

dialogue

chanted

by

a

female

chorus of

former

dancers. The

dramas

originate

from

about

forty

stories;

in

some

cases

single

episodes

have

remained

popular,

while in

others

the

entire

story

is

telescoped

into

a

flexible

series of

episodes.

While

many

of

the

dramas

concern

events

in

the

lives of

protohistorical

kings,

the

pervasive

theme of

the

dramatic

repertoire

is

the eternal

struggle

for

control

of

the

Feminine

(Cravath

1985,

289-343).

This

struggle

exists on two

levels,

the

realistic

and the

archetypal.

188


12/26

THE RITUAL


DRAMA OF CAMBODIA

189

On the realistic

level

it concerns

the

timeless,

painful

passing

of the

female

from father to husband. The hero-husband

requires

magic

power

and even

help

from

animal

energies

to wrest

his

beloved

from

her

father,

who

is

in

most instances a

yakkha.

The

yakkha

does not

represent

evil but

rather

the

older order

with

an

incestuous

aspect.

The

oldest Khmer

myths

con-

cern the union of

a

female-male

pair

of

progenitors.

The

contemporary

repertoire

of the dance drama adds

pair

after

pair

of characters to this list.

It is

by

the

action

of

the male

upon

the

female

that

fertility

must

be

achieved

in the face of all

opposition.

This concern

with

fertility

is

a

dramatic reflection of the dancers themselves, who symbolically enact its

creation

onstage

and,

as the

king's

harem,

embody

it

themselves

offstage.

The second branch of the

repertoire

is

the

robam

( pure

dance

pieces),

of which

some

sixty

are

known

to

have

been

performed

in

this

century.

The

robamare

group

dances

in

which female and male roles

are

both danced

by

women

(PLATE 9).

The

robam

are much older than

the

roeung

and are believed to have

originated

as ritual

dances to hasten

the

coming

of

the rains.

In

the seventeenth

century,

robamwere

performed

on

the occasion of ceremonies and also at the beginning of theatre presenta-

tions

...

to

put

the

spectator

in

some

way

under

the

invocation and

the

protection

of the divinities

incarnated

by

the

dancers

(Coedes

1963,

499).

Dancers

are

accompanied by

a

standard ensemble of

male musi-

cians who

play eight

percussion

instruments

(drums,

gongs,

and

xylo-

phones)

and a

four-reed

sralay,

somewhat similar to an

oboe. The

high-

pitched

blend

of

the chorus

leader's chant with

the

sralay

is

one of the

distinguishing

features

of

the

genre.

Traditionally,

Khmer

music was

performed as an offering to the spirit world and was considered to be an

ancestral

heritage

and,

hence,

sacred.

French

musicologistJacques

Brunet

has

pointed

out that:

contrary

to the

generally

accepted

notion,

Cambodian

music owes

very

little to

Indian

influence. It

gradually

evolved on

the basis of the

autoch-

thonous

stratum,

systems

that

originated

in

the local

culture,

and

instru-

ments

which for the

most

part

are

indigenous

to

the

Indo-Chinese

penin-

sula

(1970).

Apart

from

repertoire

and

music,

formal

elements

of

the

dance

choreography

itself

indicate

an

indigenous

origin

associated with

the

spirit

world or

fertility

rites.

These

include a

hypnotic

tempo,

the

spiritlike

appearance

of the

dancers,

a

pervasive

concern for

the

creative

tension

between

female and

male,

offerings

to the

four

directions,

and

a

concern for

social

and

sexual

harmony.

Khmer

dance

choreography

uses a

loose

vocabulary

of

movements

which are

individually

fixed but

may

be

combined with

infinite

variation.


13/26

Cravath

New works

may

be

choreographed

at

any

time.

By

almost

any

standard,

the dance is slow, with a wavelike

rhythm

of

alternating

moments of

expanding

and

suspended energy.

Comparatively large

movements

of arms or

legs, together

with

various forms of

turning, walking,

and

kneeling,

alternate

with

long

periods

of

standing

in

a

single

spot

performing very

small movements

of

hands, feet,

and

head,

often

in

delicate interaction

with a

partner.

None-

theless,

the

elbows

are

continually away

from the

body,

one

or both

arms

are

usually

extended

at

shoulder

height,

the

fingers

are

always

taut

with

energy, the knees are bent, and one foot is often raised for long periods-

all

of which

contributes to a

hypnotic

balance of

movement and

stillness.

Throughout

the

dance,

there is a

smoothness and

continuity

to all

move-

ment which

gives

the entire

scene

exceptional grace

and

lightness.

In

terms of

space,

there is a

very

strong

feeling

that the

dancers,

who

are

considered

in

many

robam

o

embody

divine

spirits,

come from

a

sacred

place

into

a

space

which is

in

turn

sanctified

by

their

presence.

The

Khmer

term for

entering

the

stage

is chaen

( to

go out )

whereas

leaving

the

stage

is

chol( to enter ) -as though suggesting that the dancer goes somewhere in

performance

and

upon

her exit

from

the

stage

reenters

this world.

In

the

pure

dance

robam,

the

physical space

is

empty

of

props,

furniture,

or

set

pieces.

In

the

roeung

dance

dramas,

this sense of

appearing

without ref-

erence to

time or

space

is

altered

by

plots

and

staging

techniques

which

localize the

dancers

in

palaces,

forests, skies,

and,

in

general,

the human

realm.

The

dancer

always

moves in

synchronization

with

others.

In

the

robam,all the female characters on stage make identical moves simulta-

neously;

the male

characters do the

same.

Often

the two

groups

dance the

same

movements with

slight

variations of

degree

appropriate

to their

character's

gender-the

male's

gestures

are

broader,

his stance is

wider,

and so

forth.

In

scenes

of

seduction,

for

instance,

with

many

couples

on

stage

simultaneously,

all

the

princes'

gestures

are

synchronized,

as

are the

princesses'

responses.

In

the

robam,

the dancer

is

rarely

a

solo

performer.

With the

exception

of

cues for

entrances,

exits,

and

sequential

movements

with

her

partner

of

opposite

character

gender,

the

Khmer dancer is a

member of a

group

which

moves as one.

The

floor

patterns

which

the

dancers

execute

show us

that

the

dance is

fundamentally

offertory

in

nature.

For

Cambodians,

dance

is

considered to be a

requisite

and

effective

element of

rituals

designed

to

achieve

harmony

with

nature

spirits.

The

dancers'

movements over

the

ground

must

necessarily

be

respectful

of

those

spirits,

especially

the

huge

ndga

serpents

believed to

dwell

just

beneath

the

earth's

surface. In

plowing

a

field,

for

instance,

one

must take

care

to

follow

the

contour of

the

naga

body,

particularly

in

the

first

ritual

soil-breaking

of the

season. In

an

earlier

190


14/26

THE

RITUAL ORIGINS OF THE CLASSICAL DANCE DRAMA OF

CAMBODIA 191

FIGURE

7.

In

a

performance

of

robam

circa

1973,

male

and female

characters

dance

in

pairs.


15/26

Cravath

age,

such considerations

undoubtedly

played

a

major

role in

determining

the elaborate choreographic patterns of dancers who today still move

swiftly

in

curves

and circles around the

dancing

area,

especially upon

entry

and

prior

to exit.

On

the modern

Khmer

stage, spatial

orientation

is based on

a

center

and

four distinct corners or directions.

Upon entering

the

stage,

dancers

proceed

in

a

single

file to

each

of the

four corners and

immediately

prior

to exit

pass through

the

center.

During

the

buong suong ceremony

(discussed

below)

and in several

robam,

the

choreography specifically

in-

cludes symbolic offerings in silver cups made to the four directions in turn.

Careful observation of

group

entrance and exit

patterns

used

throughout

the

repertoire

reveals

that

the circular floor

movements

are a

shorthand,

moving

version of this

offertory

ritual.

A

second conclusion can

be

drawn

from

studying

the floor

patterns

in

the main

segment

of

each robam:

Khmer dance

is

the artistic

represen-

tation of the tension

between the Feminine and

Masculine

principles,

ultimately

portraying

social

balance and

harmony

between

female

and

male. In the robam,dancers move through a choreography of lines and

circles. The lines are

generally

stationary;

that

is,

dancers are in a

fixed

floor location.

The circles are

usually

transitional

movements.

Thus

a

row

of

female characters

dancing

at

length

beside

or

in

front of a

row of male

characters

is

the

most

frequent

configuration

in

Khmer dance.

The lines of

dancers

are

usually

either

perpendicular

to or

parallel

with

the audience's

line of

vision.

Brief circular

movement

sequences

are

used

to

change

from

one linear

configuration

to

another.

Never are all the female roles on one side of the performance area and

all

the

male roles on

the

other; rather,

the

rows

they

form

always

alternate.

When two of

the rows

move

closer

together-following

a

promenade-to

form

couples,

all

couples

simultaneously

perform

in

place

the

stylized

movements

of

pursuit,

seduction,

or

other

subjects

of

the

narration.

Fre-

quently

a

pair

of

dancers,

each

of

whom

leads his

and her

respective

row,

move

into the

center of

a

circle

formed

by

the

other

couples.

These

lead

dancers

are

always

the

last

to exit from

the

stage

at the

conclusion of a

group

dance. If

the

dance is

part

of

a

roeung,

t

is

the

prince

and

princess

or

the main

character

couple

in

the

story

who

are

thus

featured.

Overall,

the

floor

patterns

suggest

that in

the

Khmer

view,

the

individual

partners

in

the dance

of life are

always

part

of a

society

of

equals.

Within

this

society

there

may

be

a

prince

or

superior

person,

but

everyone

is

pursuing

the

same

pattern

of

action.

Never is

the

entire

society

severed

by

group-to-group

confrontation,

since the

conflict

or

tension of

any

single

couple

disappears

within

the

objectively

viewed

balance

of

the

society

at

large.

Never

does one

structure

simply change

into

another;

it is

through

the circular

pattern

of

dissolution

and

rebirth

that a

new

image

emerges.

192


16/26

THE RITUAL ORIGINS

OF THE CLASSICAL

DANCE DRAMA

OF CAMBODIA

193

The

female/male

polarity,

both

individually

and

socially,

remains,

and

in

the final

closely

formed lines and circular exit we see that social balance

and

harmony

as well as

rebirth

are both

represented

and

invoked.

One

specific aspect

of

Khmer dance

choreography

which has been

widely misinterpreted

merits

scrutiny-namely

the hand

gestures,

of

which

there are

just

four. The

hands are

often held

in

one of the

four

gestures

for

long periods

and,

in

various

combinations,

are

used to

mime

the choral narration and

portray

formalized emotions

(PLATE

8).

There

is

no

moment

in

Khmer dance-save for

onstage

relaxation -when the

hands are not held in one of the four gestures.

To illustrate a certain sentiment

in

expressive

dance -those

parts

of

performance accompanied by

the

chorus-the four

gestures

are

used

in

conventionalized

ways.

But

just

as

frequently-in pure

dance

segments

without

choral

accompaniment-the

gestures

are

simply

the

way

the hands

are

held

during

a

particular temporal

unit of the dance.

One,

for

example,

almost

always

signals

the conclusion.

Although

the hand

gestures

appear

to

have no

names,

they

are

sometimes referred to as the leaf, flower, tendril, and fruit of a plant.

Khmer

dance teachers claim that

the

choreography originated

in

imitation

of

natural forces. The

positions

for

standing

are

inspired by

the undulation

of

water;

music comes from the sounds of nature and

animals;

dance

movements derive from the trees

represented

by

the

dancer's

body.

These

images

connoting

nature, however,

need not be

strictly

viewed as inher-

ently

descriptive

since

they

often

simply

add

beauty

rather than

meaning

to the dance.

They

are,

in

a

sense,

a

dance unto

themselves.

Observers have often used the Sanskrit term hastain reference to the

hand

gestures

in

Cambodian

dance,

but this word is

extremely

misleading

because

it

implies

a link

to Indian

dance hasta

which

in

many

cases form an

actual

language

of

denotative

gestures.

That is

certainly

not the case in

Khmer

dance.

Moreover,

Indian

counterparts

to the

four

Khmer

gestures

cannot

be

isolated.3

A

study

of

373 hasta

used

in

South Indian

kathakali,

for

instance,

reveals

somewhat similar

gestures

but no

correlation

whatsoever

in meaning. The mudrakhyamudrdslightly resembles the Khmer flower

gesture,

but

none

of

its

twenty

enumerated

meanings

includes

flower.

On

the other

hand,

the

kataka

mudra

means

flower

but in

no

way

resembles

the

Khmer

hand

gesture (Venu

1984,

28-33,

35).

A

similar

absence

of

relationship

obtains in

regard

to

the other

three

gestures

as

well.

In

the

preceding

examination of

formal

elements,

we

noted that

the

repertoire

is

primarily

concerned with

the

theme

of

fertility.

The

music

is

an

offering

to the

local

spirits,

choreography

reflects

fundamental

and

ancient

Khmer

social

values,

and

the

hand

gestures represent natural

forces.

Together

these

features

strongly deny

any

significant

influence from


17/26

Cravath

D)

Fruit

Picking

a Flc

7jwer

FIGURE

8. The

four

basic hand

gestures

of

Khmer

dance,

and a

specific

mimed

application.

194


18/26

THE

RITUAL ORIGINS OF

THE

CLASSICAL DANCE DRAMA

OF

CAMBODIA

195

India

in

either the form or function

of

the

dance,

especially

in

light

of

the

fact that the basic structural pattern of large group dances by female and

male

partners (both

played

by

women or

otherwise)

is

virtually

unknown

in

India. It is

in

the

contemporary

offertory

function of

these

dances,

however,

that

we discern the

strongest

circumstantial evidence

for

con-

cluding

that

Khmer court dance

derives from

indigenous

roots and

still

reveals the

essentially spiritual

function that

dance has

always

maintained

in

Cambodia.

Ritual

Function of the Dance

Drama

Today

Performances

in

the

royal

palace by

the

king's

dancers were tra-

ditionally

believed to elicit

assistance from

supernatural

powers

in

creating

natural

harmony

throughout

the

kingdom,

especially

in

regard

to rainfall.

In

her

study

of

the sacred

dances of

Cambodia,

French

ethnologist

Solange Thierry

pointed

out

that

many

Khmer folk

dances were

tradition-

ally

considered to

represent

a

point

of contact

between the

celestial

and

terrestrial worlds (1963, 350). But in the Cambodian mind it was always

the

royal palace

dancers who were

believed

to

be

the most

potent

means

of

such

communion.

Thus,

we turn now to an

examination of the

evidence

of

ritual

in

this

century,

ritual

performed

within

the

memory

of

living

dancers

and

showing through

its

continuity

the

power

of

its hold on

Cambodia. We

begin

with

the

royal

palace ceremony

of

buongsuong,

in

which

the

dancers

were

the most

significant

element.

The

royal

ceremony

to

bring

rain

was known

as

buong uong

tevodaor

simply buongsuong; loosely translated it means paying respects to the

heavenly (feminine)

spirits.

Implicit

in

the

ceremony

is

making

an

offer-

ing

and

requesting

that a

wish

be

granted.

An

ordinary

person

could do the

buongsuong

ritual

in

very

simplified

form

at

any

temple.

The

royal

version

was

performed

as a

general

blessing

for the

nation or

to

alleviate unfavor-

able

conditions. It

was

usually

performed

in

the

throne

room,

in

the

Royal

Monastery

of

the

Emerald

Buddha

(Wat

Preah

Keo),

or

in

some

other

important

wat.

Due

to the

essentially private

nature

of

performance by the king's

dancers

prior

to

1970,

little

has

been

written

about

this

ritual.

Notable

exceptions

are

brief

announcements

published

in

Kambuja

magazine

in

1965 and

1967.

In

both

years,

with

continuing

serious

drought

in a

number

of

provinces,

head

of

state

Samdech

Sihanouk

received

delegations

of

peasants

requesting

that

he

perform

the

buong

suong

tevoda

ceremony

to

bring

rain.

The

ceremony,

which

Sihanouk on

both

occasions

ordered

performed

and

over

which

he

presided,

consisted

mainly

of

sacred

dances.

In

the

presence

of

ritual

offerings

and

following

the

invocation

of

both

supernatural

forces

(neak

a)

and

the

spirits

of

dead

kings by

the

palace


19/26

Cravath

FIGURE

9.

The

buong

uongceremony being

performed

at Wat

Preah

Keo

near

the

royal palace. (Photo: Cambodian InformationDepartment.)

astrologer (hora),

the

buongsuong

tevodawas

performed

first

in

the throne

room

of

the

palace

and

then in Wat Preah

Keo

in

front of

the

statue

of

King

Norodom

(Anonymous

1967).

A

number of

dances

regularly

performed

as

late

as

the

1970s

were

considered sacred and the dances

performed

as

the

offering

in

buong uong

were

among

them.

According

to Professor

Chheng

Phon

of

the Univer-

sity of Fine Arts, there are seven sacred dances: Robam Vorachhun,

Robam

Mekhala,

Robam Ream

Eyso,

Robam

Preah

Thong,

Robam

Baolut,

Robam

Sarahbarom,

and Robam Baramit

(Chheng

Phon

1975).

Of

these,

the

first

three form

a

unit

and

are

the most

important.

The

buong

suong

in

1967

began

with

the entrance of

the

dancers,

each

holding

a silver

tray

of

offerings.

They

performed

a

dance

in

which

these

trays

were

raised

to the four cardinal

points

in

turn.

They

then

performed

the three

dances,

culminating

in

a

battle.

First Ream

Eyso,

the

Thunder God, entered in the midst of his followers and danced wielding

his

magic

axe. He exited

and

Mekhala,

Goddess

of

the

Waters,

appeared

playing

with

her

magic

crystal

ball

and surrounded

by

her

followers,

the

tepthida.

Then

Vorachhun,

King

of

the

Divinities,

all

in

gold,

armed with

a

sword

and

surrounded

by

his

followers,

the

tevoda,

oined

the

goddess;

Mekhala,

Vorachhun,

and

their followers

together

executed

a

dance

expressing

peace, joy, goodwill,

and

serenity.

Into this

harmony

burst Ream

Eyso, jostling

both tevoda nd

tepthida

in

trying

to reach

Mekhala.

Three

times she

threw

her

magic

ball into the

air

and

caught

it,

representing

three flashes

of

lightning

that blinded Ream

196


20/26

THE

RITUAL


DRAMA

OF

CAMBODIA

197

Eyso

and knocked

him

to the

ground.

In the

fracas,

tevoda

and

tepthida

as

well as Vorachhun

departed, leaving

the two

principals

to their eternal

contest

symbolizing lightning

and

thunder,

earth

and

sky, beauty

and

ugliness, gentleness

and

violence,

female and male.

The

dance

concluded

when

Mekhala

flung

her

lightning

bolt

one

final time and

ran

away

smiling, leaving

Ream

Eyso

temporarily

vanquished.

From

their invisible

confrontation

in

the

skies

there results

...

the rainfall which

fertilizes the

earth

and causes

the

rice to

grow

(Anonymous

1967,

23).

Significantly,

the

dances included

in

the

buong uong

tevodawere not

esoteric in nature. In fact, they were among the most popular in the

repertoire

and

would

have been known

by

most

classically

trained

dancers,

including

dance

students

at the

University

of Fine Arts.

Within

the ritual

context of the

buongsuong

tevoda, however,

and

following

the

preparatory

rites,

the dances assumed a

unique

power

due

to the fact

that the tevoda

(celestial

deities) actually

appeared

in

the

dances

as

main

characters.

A

dancer

performed

the

role

of tevodaor

other

supernatural

force,

and the

giver,

the

gift,

and the

recipient

became

one.

In a

limited

sense,

the

spirit

entered the dancer.4

Until the

1940s,

one

important

element

traditionally

identifying

the

dancer

with the

spirit

world was her

makeup,

which

obscured

all

personal

features under

a

layer

of white

paste.

(Teeth

and

eyebrows

were

blackened and

lips

were

reddened.)

The

color

white

is identified

with

death

throughout

much

of

Southeast

Asia,

and the female

spirit

mediums

of

southern

Thailand

still

rub their faces with

white

rice

powder

in

prepa-

ration

for

going

into

trance

(Gandour

and

Gandour

1976,

100).

We cannot

say whether the Khmer dancer's makeup is the vestige of any similar

function,

but

unquestionably

the thick

white

powder gave

her

the

ap-

pearance

of a

dissociated,

otherworldly

spirit.

Today,

in

fashionable

makeup,

the

dancer's

face

still

remains

immobile

(in

sharp

contrast

to

Indian

dance)

except

for

a

mysterious

half-smile.

Royal

Khmer

dancers were

believed

to have

a

positive

effect on

natural

disorders not

only

through

buong

uong

but also

by

performance

of

their

weekly

ceremony

to assure

good

health

for themselves

and

proper

rhythm for the musicians. This ceremony, known as twaykru( salutation to

the

spirits ),

was

performed

every

Thursday

in

a

large

rehearsal

space

on

the

ground

floor of

the

palace.

The

musicians

were

required

to

play

at

least

five

specified

pieces

of

music,

four of which

corresponded

to

the

four role

types:

female, male,

monkey,

and

ogre.5

Dancers trained

in

each

of the

role

types

danced

with the

music;

if

dancers

were

not

present

to

represent

one of

the four

types,

the

musicians

performed

anyway.

The

king

(or

president)

could

ask that

this

ceremony

be done

in

a

more

elaborate

form-including

thirty pieces

of

music

lasting up

to two

hours-to

create

security

for

the

country

or to fulfill

some

national need.


21/26

Cravath

A

third

ceremony

in

which

we see

a

ritual function for the

classical

dance was the annual

ceremony

ofpithi

sampeah

kru lokhon

krop

muk

( cere-

mony

of

homage

to

the

spirits

and teachers

for

wearing

the

masks ).

Usually

called

simply

sampeah

kru,

the

ceremony's

purpose

was

to

make

offerings

to the

spirits

of the

dance,

the

kru,

to

gain

their

power.

The

word

kru is

always

used

ambiguously

in

Khmer dance

because

it

also

means

teacher,

and the essence of

the

ceremony

is

receiving

the

teachers'

empowerment

to

perform

the

dance.

The

sampeah

kru was

presided

over

by

a

man,

traditionally

ap-

pointed by the king, who was very familiar with the dance tradition and

was able to

play

the

nondancing

role of

the

eysei (hermit)

in

the

roeung.

He

was

called the

tep

robam

and,

together

with the

monkey

roles and

the

clown,

was one

of

the few

men who

performed

with

the

female dancers.

The cere-

mony,

which

took

place

in

the

palace

and

was

attended

only by

teachers,

dancers,

and the

king

or

queen,

lasted two

days.

On

the first

day

elaborate

food

offerings

were made on

altars

erected at the

eight

cardinal

points

and

on

a main

altar

where

all

the

masks

(belonging

to

theyakkha

roles),

head-

dresses, and stage weapons were displayed.

On

the

second

day

further

offerings

were

made and

the

core

of

sampeah

kru

was

performed.

Placing

the mask of

the

eysei

on

his

head,

the

tep

robam ook

each of

the masks

and

headdresses

in

turn,

placed

it

on the

head

of the dancer

who

had

learned

that

role,

and

then

removed it.

At

that

point

and

subsequently,

according

to

Brunet,

the

masks are in

fact

regarded

as

living spirits

as

soon as

they

are

worn

by

the dancers. The purpose of all the invocations before the dance is to

ensure

that

the masks are

possessed

o

that the

dancers

may

become

one

and the

same

person

with

the

mask

(1974,

221).

Popped

rice

was

thrown to

the

spirits

assembled to

receive the

offering

of

food and

dance,

and the

sampeah

kru

concluded

with a

group

dance

in

which

each

performer

wore her

mask

or

headdress-many

for

the

first

time-

followed

by

a

dance from

each

of

the role

types: yakkha,

masculine

roles,

feminine

roles,

and

monkeys,

in

that order.

The

bond

established

between

spirit

and

dancer

in

the

ritual

act of

placing

the

mask

on

the

dancer's

head

in

the

sampeah

kru

was

highly

respected by

all

performers.

The

dancer

always

saluted the

mask

with

the

sampeah

salutation

before

wearing

it,

and

she

never

put

the

mask

on

by

herself. Even

for

simple

dances

she

would

take

the

mask and

have it

placed

on

her head

by

the teacher

of

that

role,

thus

receiving

the

spirit

(kru)

of

the

mask from

the kru

of the

role.

When a

young

dancer

feared

performance

or

had

difficulty

remembering

her

role,

the

tep

robam

placed

the

mask

of

the

eysei

momentarily

on

her

head

to

infuse

her

directly

with

the

spirit

of the

198


22/26

THERITUALORIGINSOF

THE

CLASSICALANCE

DRAMAOF

CAMBODIA

199

dance,

the chief kru. In this

ceremony,

then,

we see the

certification

of

the

Khmer dancer's contact with the

spirit

world,

since her art

subsequently

always

had the

ability

to call

forth

the

presence

and

life-power

of

the

spirits

to

calm

the

aberrations of

nature,

if

not of

armies.

The

Fading

Flower

of Khmer

Dance

The matrix of the

Khmer dancer as

a

ritual

performer

lies within

a

culture

whose

level

of advancement has

only recently

been

appreciated.

The evidence suggests that dance was associated with funeral rites, with

large

bronze

drums,

with

ancestor

worship involving

sacred

stones,

with

a

fertility

cult,

and with a

pattern

of

kingship enabling

communion with

the

ancestor-spirit

realm

in

order to

assure sufficient

rain

for the

earth's

fertility.

In

the

early

centuries of

this

era,

dance flourished

in a

culture

dedicated to

extensive

navigation

throughout

the Indian

Ocean

and,

at

home,

to

the

engineering

of

large

stoneworks to

control water and

invoke

fertility. Dance was primarily performed in temples dedicated to ancestral

spirits

residing

in

stones,

the

rites for

which were

transformed

during

a

period

of

religious syncretism

with

Sanskrit and Brahmanic

practices

around the

fourth

century

A.D.

In

the

Angkorean

period

thousands of

dancers

served

in

the

temples

as

an

offering

to

the

ancestral

spirits

who

could

influence the

cosmic

interaction

of earth

and

water.

In

the

modern

period

dance

remained

an

offering,

and the

choreography

of

contemporary

dance drama

continued

to invoke fertility through the tension and harmony of female and male just

as

the

Angkorean apsaras

embodied the

energy

of

nature's

balanced

forces.

Khmer

dance reveals

no

Indian

influence

in

music,

gestures,

or

choreography,

and

from a

repertoire

of some

forty

dramas

and

sixty

dances,

only

the

story

of

Ram

shares

similarities with

the

Indian

epic. By

moving

beneath

surface

similarities

such

as

adopted

character

names or

selected

story

lines,

however,

we

begin

to

view

the

ancient

structure

and

function of

Khmer

dance as

ritual

to

invoke

natural

harmony

and

prosper-

ity.

That

ritual in

the

buong uong,

the

twaykru,and the sampeahkrutakes the

form

of

direct

intercession

with

the

world

of

spirits

for

the

benefit of

society.

The

Cambodian

palace

dancers lost

their raison

d'etre

with

the

demise of

monarchy

in

1970,

but

classically

trained

dancers remain

today

a

powerful

symbol

of

Khmer

national

identity-an

image

sustained

initially

by

the

government

of

the

republic

(1970-1975),

then

by

refugees

in

camps

along

the

Thai

border,

and,

at

present,

in

various

Khmer

communities

in

France,

the

United

States,

and

elsewhere.

Despite

great

effort to

preserve

the

classical

dance

tradition,

one

significant

function of

Khmer

dance

appears

to

have

been

irretrievably

lost-dance

as

a

ritual

offering

to


23/26

Cravath

deceased

ancestors believed

to

influence

the

fertility

of

the land.

This

function reflects an ancient

indigenous

method of

invoking

natural har-

mony

and human

happiness. Today

there

is

very

little dance

in

Cambodia

and

the

classical tradition has

been severed

from

its roots. The

flower

is

without

nectar,

and

an

intimate

link

with

mystical

wisdom has been

lost.

NOTES

1.

Unlike the

well-known

Indian

Churning

of

the Sea of Milk

related

in

the

Bhagavata

Purana,

the

bas-reliefs show

what is

very

much

a

Khmer sea

filled

with

fish

representing

Angkor's

food and

livelihood.

The most

significant

dif-

ference from

the Indian

variant,

however,

is that

instead of

the twelve

sacred

objects

appearing

from

the

sea,

only

one

treasure

appears

in

the

Khmer

myth

as

a

result of the

churning:

waves of

dancers.

2. In those

temples

the

Mahbbharata

was also

chanted,

but

today

we

find

no

evidence of

that

epic

in

either

the court or

popular

performing

arts

traditions.

A

process of selection seems to have favored stories conforming to Khmer values.

3. This

point

is

only

casually

acknowledged

in

Jeanne

Cuisinier's in-

fluential

study

(1927)

of

Khmer

hand

gestures-a

study

that

insists

upon

an

Indian

origin

for

Khmer

gestures

and

assigns

them

Sanskrit

names.

4.

The

Cambodian

dancer

was never

a

spirit

medium

in

the sense

that she

became

possessed

by

a

spirit

manifesting

itself in

ecstatic

behavior

or

a

trance

state.

That

role was

traditionally

fulfilled

by

a

medium

known

as the

rup,

a word

literally

meaning

image

or

form,

with

whom

village

dance

was

often

associated. One

function of the

village

dancer was

to attract

the neak ta

spirits

into the

medium.

5. Each dancer is trained in just one role type, but each role type includes

numerous

subcategories.

All

four

role

types

appear

in

the

roeung

dramas,

whereas

it is

primarily

female and

male role

types

that

appear

in

the robam.

Both

female and

male

roles are

performed

by

women. The

ogre

(yakkha)

roles are

usually played

by

women,

but

some

men

have been

trained in

them

for

use

in

extremely

vigorous

performances.

Monkey

roles

were

traditionally

played

by

women

also,

but in

the

1940s

men

came to be

preferred

for

their

greater

stamina.

No

women were

being

trained

in

the

monkey

roles in

1975,

although

one

of the

oldest

teachers

had

played

them

in

her

youth.

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Aeusrivongse,

Nidhi.

1976.

The

Devaraja

Cult

in

Khmer

Kingship

at

Angkor.

In

Explorations

in

Early

Southeast

Asian

History:

The

Origins of

Southeast

Asian

Statecraft.

Mi-

chigan

Papers

on

South

and

Southeast

Asia,

edited

by

Kenneth

R. Hall

and John K. Whitmore, no. 11, 107-148. Ann Arbor: University of

Michigan

Press.

200


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Giteau,

Madeleine. 1965.

Khmerculpturend heAngkorCivilization. ranslatedby Diana Imber.New

York: Abrams.

Gorman,

Chester.

1970.

Excavations

at

Spirit

Cave,

North Thailand: Some

Interim

Interpre-

tations. Asian

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3:

79-107.

Groslier,

Bernard

Philippe.

1962.

TheArt

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Indochina.

ranslated

by George

Lawrence.

New York:

Crown

Publishers.

1970.

Reconstruction of Galleries at

Angkor

Wat. NokorKhmer3

(April-

June):

28-43.

Groslier,

Bernard

Philippe,

andJacques

Arthaud.

[1957]

1966.

Angkor

Art

and

Civilization. ranslated

by

Eric Ernshaw Smith.

New York:

Praeger.

Hall,

Kenneth

R. 1976.

An

Introductory

Essay

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Southeast Asian

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Classical

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Early

Southeast

Asian

History:

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Origins

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sian

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Kenneth R. Hall

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Cravath, Paul - The Ritual Origins of the Classical Dance Drama of Cambodia

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