A dancer practices at the Khmer Arts Academy at the Center for Culture and Vipassana in Takmao, Cambodia, on Thursday. (Jeff Gritchen/Staff Photographer)By Greg Mellen, Staff writer
02/16/2008
TAKMAO District, Cambodia - As a gentle breeze wafts through the open space of the Khmer Arts Theater 15 kilometers south of Phnom Penh, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro glides effortlessly through a group of about 20 dancers.
Drifting from one dancer to the next, the teacher softly adjusts an elbow, cocks a wrist and bends fingers, as if molding each like a piece of clay. Then she floats on to another, again fine-tuning the intricate movements and positions that define Cambodian classical dance.
A traditional seven-piece band accompanies the dancers, who are practicing a traditional and complex two-hour dance called Ream Eyso and Moni Melchala, a ritualistic story of the struggle between a water goddess and a demon.
As Shapiro puts her professional touring dancers, the Khmer Arts Ensemble, through their paces in a magnificent theater at the Center for Culture and Vipassana, it's hard to imagine that less than six years ago she was teaching inner-city youth in Long Beach in a cramped space at the United Cambodian Community building as well as conducting sessions in her living room.
"This is a surprise and a good surprise," Shapiro says of her recent run of success. "I never thought I'd make it back like this and spend more time in Cambodia."
Part of her heart, though, remains in Long Beach.
"I'm keeping that connection and sense of attachment in both places," she says.
Shapiro leads a professional group that tours internationally and performs both traditional dances and Shapiro's original pieces. This month, the Khmer Arts Ensemble is preparing to take a production of Pamina Devi, Shapiro's Cambodian interpretation of Mozart's Magic Flute, to Amsterdam. It is a piece Shapiro debuted in Vienna in August 2006 at the Schonbrunn Palace Theatre.
Shapiro and her dancers are also working on projects with artists from Japan to San Diego.
To appreciate how far Shapiro has come, it helps to know a little of her past.
As child, Shapiro survived the Cambodian genocide. After the downfall of the Khmer Rouge and the restoration of arts and dance programs in Cambodia, Shapiro was one of the first classical dancers to graduate from the Phnom Penh School of Fine Arts. Under the Pol Pot regime, arts and artists were systematically purged. Among the 1.7 million Cambodians who died were about 90 percent of the nation's dancers.
As a result, for Shapiro dance is more than just movement and music, it is a vital part of the culture and soul of Cambodia, a fragile form that was nearly wiped away forever.
"I think classical dance is a very beautiful piece of artistry that's unique to the heritage from Cambodia," she says. "It's a symbol of a precious thing, a symbol of cultural pride."
An academy arises
As a tuk-tuk putters along a nondescript country road in Kandal Province, passengers start to hear a distinctly Cambodian melody drifting through the trees. Next to an empty field are a pair of small signs that read "Khmer Arts Academy" and "Center for Culture and Vipassana," referring to a form of Buddhist meditation. And there, behind a stand of trees, rises an imposing structure built by Shapiro's uncle, Chheng Phon.
The roofed open dance practice area is half a football field long. It backs into stairs rising to a stage area and into a 20-foot-tall building topped by large pillars featuring Buddha faces reminiscent of the ancient Bayon temples and featuring details that look as if they were lifted straight out of Angkor Wat.
As Shapiro jokes, instead of limestone it's made of cement, and instead of being built in the 1300s it was built in 1999. Also, unlike the Angkor Wat temples, it has electricity and air conditioning.
The theater complex sits across the street from the Shapiros' decidedly more modest home.
Sophiline founded the Khmer Arts Academy in 2002 with her husband John, whom she married in 1991. Together, they are becoming a kind of power couple in the Khmer arts scene. In addition to the dance troupe, the academy features traditional music and singing. They are working on creating a media center that will produce films and documentaries about classical dance and an archive center.
Teaching them early
At the core remains the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach, where former students of Shapiro teach about 50 Cambodian-American children the dances and traditions of their homeland.
Shapiro says the youngsters remain a vital part of Khmer Arts. She says teaching children the basics and fundamentals of Cambodian dance at an early age makes them better dancers down the road.
Furthermore, she said it gives Cambodian-American children a sense of self and pride in their culture.
In the summer, the Shapiros plan to bring students from Long Beach to Cambodia for a camp in which they will not only learn dance from the professionals but be immersed in Khmer arts and culture.
"We have kind of a double goal," John Shapiro says of the couple's dreams for the academy. "We want to make meaningful art and present it here and (worldwide). And we want to foster the vitality of the dance environment. We want to train dancers, but we also want to encourage scholarship, education and outreach."
The dance troupe has only been together in its current form for about a year. The dancers are all graduates of the Royal University of Fine Arts and range in age from 18 to 21. Many have been dancers for most of their lives.
Shapiro hopes that as time goes on, many of her students will begin their own troupes and classes.
Sopheap Chan is one of Shapiro's students and gushes about the experiences she has gained, traveling to the United States to dance.
When asked about her long-term goals, as if reading from Shapiro's playbook, Chan says, "I want to do like my teacher."
While the success of the academy in the last couple of years has been stunning, there is no sense of complacency. The group still has to rely on donors and grants for much of its money and still has a way to go before becoming self-sustaining.
John Shapiro says the Khmer Arts Academy is one of very few traditional Cambodian arts enterprises that are independent of the government. They are by far the most accomplished of those groups. Keeping the momentum going will be a challenge, but the Shapiros have optimism to spare.
But Sophiline Shapiro is happy with what she sees. In February her dancers performed opposite the Ministry of Culture's troupe, which represents the country, and more than held its own. In fact, Shapiro said her girls outperformed their more renowned rivals.
Staying busy
In the meantime, the creative juices have been flowing. On the day several journalists showed up, the Shapiros were also visited by Japanese artist Assui Minagishi, who is a master of the ichigenkin, a one-stringed traditional instrument. A collaborative effort is in the works to do a piece that represents visions of rice goddesses in the two cultures.
Like many who stumble across the academy, Minagishi was blown away by what she saw.
"I am so excited to have a chance to combine with them," the musician said.
When first introduced to the Shapiros, Minagishi saw only a solo dance performance with recorded music.
After seeing a full rehearsal she said, "Before I had an idea what I wanted to do. Now it's all gone."
Plans are also under way for a collaboration with San Diego composer Chinary Ung that could be performed at Disney Hall.
Whether it's in Cambodia, Europe or the United States, Shapiro just wants to expose as many people as she can to her country's art.
"Angkor Wat is a great structure," Shapiro says, "but dance is artistry that can be shared throughout the world and made more accessible to humanity."
02/16/2008
TAKMAO District, Cambodia - As a gentle breeze wafts through the open space of the Khmer Arts Theater 15 kilometers south of Phnom Penh, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro glides effortlessly through a group of about 20 dancers.
Drifting from one dancer to the next, the teacher softly adjusts an elbow, cocks a wrist and bends fingers, as if molding each like a piece of clay. Then she floats on to another, again fine-tuning the intricate movements and positions that define Cambodian classical dance.
A traditional seven-piece band accompanies the dancers, who are practicing a traditional and complex two-hour dance called Ream Eyso and Moni Melchala, a ritualistic story of the struggle between a water goddess and a demon.
As Shapiro puts her professional touring dancers, the Khmer Arts Ensemble, through their paces in a magnificent theater at the Center for Culture and Vipassana, it's hard to imagine that less than six years ago she was teaching inner-city youth in Long Beach in a cramped space at the United Cambodian Community building as well as conducting sessions in her living room.
"This is a surprise and a good surprise," Shapiro says of her recent run of success. "I never thought I'd make it back like this and spend more time in Cambodia."
Part of her heart, though, remains in Long Beach.
"I'm keeping that connection and sense of attachment in both places," she says.
Shapiro leads a professional group that tours internationally and performs both traditional dances and Shapiro's original pieces. This month, the Khmer Arts Ensemble is preparing to take a production of Pamina Devi, Shapiro's Cambodian interpretation of Mozart's Magic Flute, to Amsterdam. It is a piece Shapiro debuted in Vienna in August 2006 at the Schonbrunn Palace Theatre.
Shapiro and her dancers are also working on projects with artists from Japan to San Diego.
To appreciate how far Shapiro has come, it helps to know a little of her past.
As child, Shapiro survived the Cambodian genocide. After the downfall of the Khmer Rouge and the restoration of arts and dance programs in Cambodia, Shapiro was one of the first classical dancers to graduate from the Phnom Penh School of Fine Arts. Under the Pol Pot regime, arts and artists were systematically purged. Among the 1.7 million Cambodians who died were about 90 percent of the nation's dancers.
As a result, for Shapiro dance is more than just movement and music, it is a vital part of the culture and soul of Cambodia, a fragile form that was nearly wiped away forever.
"I think classical dance is a very beautiful piece of artistry that's unique to the heritage from Cambodia," she says. "It's a symbol of a precious thing, a symbol of cultural pride."
An academy arises
As a tuk-tuk putters along a nondescript country road in Kandal Province, passengers start to hear a distinctly Cambodian melody drifting through the trees. Next to an empty field are a pair of small signs that read "Khmer Arts Academy" and "Center for Culture and Vipassana," referring to a form of Buddhist meditation. And there, behind a stand of trees, rises an imposing structure built by Shapiro's uncle, Chheng Phon.
The roofed open dance practice area is half a football field long. It backs into stairs rising to a stage area and into a 20-foot-tall building topped by large pillars featuring Buddha faces reminiscent of the ancient Bayon temples and featuring details that look as if they were lifted straight out of Angkor Wat.
As Shapiro jokes, instead of limestone it's made of cement, and instead of being built in the 1300s it was built in 1999. Also, unlike the Angkor Wat temples, it has electricity and air conditioning.
The theater complex sits across the street from the Shapiros' decidedly more modest home.
Sophiline founded the Khmer Arts Academy in 2002 with her husband John, whom she married in 1991. Together, they are becoming a kind of power couple in the Khmer arts scene. In addition to the dance troupe, the academy features traditional music and singing. They are working on creating a media center that will produce films and documentaries about classical dance and an archive center.
Teaching them early
At the core remains the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach, where former students of Shapiro teach about 50 Cambodian-American children the dances and traditions of their homeland.
Shapiro says the youngsters remain a vital part of Khmer Arts. She says teaching children the basics and fundamentals of Cambodian dance at an early age makes them better dancers down the road.
Furthermore, she said it gives Cambodian-American children a sense of self and pride in their culture.
In the summer, the Shapiros plan to bring students from Long Beach to Cambodia for a camp in which they will not only learn dance from the professionals but be immersed in Khmer arts and culture.
"We have kind of a double goal," John Shapiro says of the couple's dreams for the academy. "We want to make meaningful art and present it here and (worldwide). And we want to foster the vitality of the dance environment. We want to train dancers, but we also want to encourage scholarship, education and outreach."
The dance troupe has only been together in its current form for about a year. The dancers are all graduates of the Royal University of Fine Arts and range in age from 18 to 21. Many have been dancers for most of their lives.
Shapiro hopes that as time goes on, many of her students will begin their own troupes and classes.
Sopheap Chan is one of Shapiro's students and gushes about the experiences she has gained, traveling to the United States to dance.
When asked about her long-term goals, as if reading from Shapiro's playbook, Chan says, "I want to do like my teacher."
While the success of the academy in the last couple of years has been stunning, there is no sense of complacency. The group still has to rely on donors and grants for much of its money and still has a way to go before becoming self-sustaining.
John Shapiro says the Khmer Arts Academy is one of very few traditional Cambodian arts enterprises that are independent of the government. They are by far the most accomplished of those groups. Keeping the momentum going will be a challenge, but the Shapiros have optimism to spare.
But Sophiline Shapiro is happy with what she sees. In February her dancers performed opposite the Ministry of Culture's troupe, which represents the country, and more than held its own. In fact, Shapiro said her girls outperformed their more renowned rivals.
Staying busy
In the meantime, the creative juices have been flowing. On the day several journalists showed up, the Shapiros were also visited by Japanese artist Assui Minagishi, who is a master of the ichigenkin, a one-stringed traditional instrument. A collaborative effort is in the works to do a piece that represents visions of rice goddesses in the two cultures.
Like many who stumble across the academy, Minagishi was blown away by what she saw.
"I am so excited to have a chance to combine with them," the musician said.
When first introduced to the Shapiros, Minagishi saw only a solo dance performance with recorded music.
After seeing a full rehearsal she said, "Before I had an idea what I wanted to do. Now it's all gone."
Plans are also under way for a collaboration with San Diego composer Chinary Ung that could be performed at Disney Hall.
Whether it's in Cambodia, Europe or the United States, Shapiro just wants to expose as many people as she can to her country's art.
"Angkor Wat is a great structure," Shapiro says, "but dance is artistry that can be shared throughout the world and made more accessible to humanity."
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