Cambodian classical dancers perform during a new classical dance creation based on Mozart's "Magic Flute" choreographed by Sophiline Cheam Shapiro at Vienna’s Schlosstheater Schonbrunn.(AFP/Samuel Kubani)Sat Dec 9, 2006
VIENNA (AFP) - One of Europe's most beloved and enduring composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is being reincarnated with a new, Asian touch 250 years after his birth, with the watershed adaptation of "The Magic Flute" by Cambodia's Royal Ballet.
"The opera's magic and its transformations are very close to those of the Khmer ballet, and for me its core offers parallels to the country's history," said the work's choreographer, Cambodian dancer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro referring to her nation's troubled past.
Performed in Vienna's 18th-century Schlosstheater Schonbrunn, "Parmina Devi" -- or "The Magic Flute Revisited" -- respects all the canons of Khmer classical dance while remaining faithful to the themes of intrigue woven into the Mozart masterpiece.
Clad in gold-embroidered, figure-hugging costumes and moving with slow and studied grace, 23 female dancers interpret the operatic roles including the male ones.
Music -- Mozart's libretto is sung by a chorus -- is delivered in traditional Khmer style and plays a secondary role. "In Khmer ballet, dance assumes the dominant role," Shapiro explains.
Classified by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a 'heritage to humanity,' Khmer classical dance has roots stretching back centuries which were nearly eradicated during the brutal Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s.
The classical dance training was revived in refugee camps in Thailand. Besides the Royal Ballet, a few other dance troops have since emerged in Cambodia.
"In my view, one of the best ways to preserve it is to develop its repertory so it doesn't become a museum piece," says Shapiro of the dance form, which was traditionally taught from memory.
Born in Phnom Penh 1967, Shapiro survived Pol Pot's ruthless dictatorship by living for years with her family in the Cambodian forest. She counted among a new generation of dancers trained after his fall at the University of Fine Arts School of Dance in the capital.
Today, she divides her time between her native country and southern California.
"Parmina Devi" is part of Vienna's "New Crowned Hope" opera festival to mark Mozart's birthday on January 27, 1756. The festival is named after the masonic lodge the composer co-founded during the last weeks of his life.
After playing in Austria until December 13, the ballet travels to Phnom Penh in January, before touring in the United States.
"The opera's magic and its transformations are very close to those of the Khmer ballet, and for me its core offers parallels to the country's history," said the work's choreographer, Cambodian dancer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro referring to her nation's troubled past.
Performed in Vienna's 18th-century Schlosstheater Schonbrunn, "Parmina Devi" -- or "The Magic Flute Revisited" -- respects all the canons of Khmer classical dance while remaining faithful to the themes of intrigue woven into the Mozart masterpiece.
Clad in gold-embroidered, figure-hugging costumes and moving with slow and studied grace, 23 female dancers interpret the operatic roles including the male ones.
Music -- Mozart's libretto is sung by a chorus -- is delivered in traditional Khmer style and plays a secondary role. "In Khmer ballet, dance assumes the dominant role," Shapiro explains.
Classified by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a 'heritage to humanity,' Khmer classical dance has roots stretching back centuries which were nearly eradicated during the brutal Khmer Rouge regime of the 1970s.
The classical dance training was revived in refugee camps in Thailand. Besides the Royal Ballet, a few other dance troops have since emerged in Cambodia.
"In my view, one of the best ways to preserve it is to develop its repertory so it doesn't become a museum piece," says Shapiro of the dance form, which was traditionally taught from memory.
Born in Phnom Penh 1967, Shapiro survived Pol Pot's ruthless dictatorship by living for years with her family in the Cambodian forest. She counted among a new generation of dancers trained after his fall at the University of Fine Arts School of Dance in the capital.
Today, she divides her time between her native country and southern California.
"Parmina Devi" is part of Vienna's "New Crowned Hope" opera festival to mark Mozart's birthday on January 27, 1756. The festival is named after the masonic lodge the composer co-founded during the last weeks of his life.
After playing in Austria until December 13, the ballet travels to Phnom Penh in January, before touring in the United States.
1 comment:
It was a very wonderful performance. Congratulation to our artists who managed to integrate khmer Classical dance with one of mozart's piece "the magic flute".
Hun chhunly
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