Robam Apsara (Funan Arts School) - 2020 Cambodia Town Virtual Parade & Culture Festival

This is a classic, traditional dance. It is the most well-known, recognized and loved Khmer dance throughout the world. The costume, the jewelry and smiling dancers proudly present classic Khmer lady character, the rich Khmer culture and heritage. Apsara represent an important motif in the stone bas-reliefs of the Angkorian temples in Cambodia (8th–13th centuries AD), however all female images are not considered to be apsara. In harmony with the Indian association of dance with apsaras, Khmer female figures that are dancing or are poised to dance are considered apsara; female figures, depicted individually or in groups, who are standing still and facing forward in the manner of temple guardians or custodians are called devatas. Apsara dancers at the Bassac Theatre. In 1940s, Queen Sisowath Kossomak Nearirath Serey Vatthana, the wife of King Norodom Suramarit, was sent an invitation to visit the Sothearath primary school. While there she saw the school mistress prepare an inspirational angkor apsara dance performed by young school children in the paper apsara costume including Crown, Sampot and Flower, all referencing Apsara represented at Angkor Wat. The Queen got the idea to re-create the dance, which led her first granddaughter, Princess Norodom Buppha Devi, a daughter of Norodom Sihanouk, to become the first professional apsara dancer of the modern era. The Princess started practicing the dance at 5 years old and danced apsara for first time during King Norodom Sihanouk's tenure. In 1967, the fine–boned young princess, clad in silk and glittering jewels, performed beneath the stars on the open pavilion within the palace walls, accompanied by the royal dance troupe and the pinpeat orchestra. Selected by her grandmother, Queen Sisowath Kossomak, to become a dancer when she was only a baby. She toured the world as the principal dancer of the apsara role. (Wikipedia) This video was part of the 2020Cambodia Town Virtual Festival available in its entirety on this channel.