របាំព្រះរាជទ្រព្យ

The Royal Ballet of Cambodia (Khmer: របាំព្រះរាជទ្រព្យ, Robam Preah Reach Troap, lit. 'Dance of Royal Wealth') is a classical Khmer dance known for its intricate hand movements and elaborate costumes. Historically linked to the Khmer court, it has been performed at various royal ceremonies such as coronations, weddings, funerals, and Khmer holidays. The repertoire includes various ancient Khmer legends. The ballet faced near extinction during the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970s but continues to be a significant element of Cambodian cultural heritage. It has been inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists since 2003. ¹

Western names for this dance tradition, such as Cambodian court dance, often make reference to the royal court, as the tradition was performed and maintained by attendants of the royal palaces. As a performing art, it is formally referred to as the Royal Ballet of Cambodia (le Ballet royal du Cambodge in French) by UNESCO, Cravath, Brandon, and others in the academic field, although this term may also refer to the National Dance Company of Cambodia. The term Khmer classical dance is also used alongside "Royal Ballet of Cambodia" in publications by UNESCO and the above-mentioned authors. In Khmer, it is formally known as Robam Preah Reach Trop (របាំព្រះរាជទ្រព្យ), lit. "dances of royal wealth") or Lakhon Preah Reach Trop (ល្ខោនព្រះរាជទ្រព្យ), lit. "theatre of royal wealth"). It is also referred to as Lakhon Luong (ល្ខោនហ្លួង, lit. "the king's theatre"). During the Lon Nol regime of Cambodia, the dance tradition was referred to as Lakhon Kbach Boran Khmer (ល្ខោនក្បាច់បូរាណខ្មែរ), lit. "Khmer theatre of the ancient style"), a term alienating it from its royal legacy. Khmer classical dancers, as a whole, are frequently referred to as apsara dancers by laymen; this usage would be incorrect with the modern form of the dance, as the apsara is just one type of character among others in the repertoire. Regardless, the tradition's romanticized affiliation with the apsaras and devatas of the ruins of Angkor still persists. ¹

One of the earliest records of dance in Cambodia is from the 7th century, where performances were used as a funeral rite for kings. Ancient stone inscriptions describe thousands of apsara dancers assigned to temples and performing divine rites as well as for the public. There are five different pre-Angkor inscriptions mentioning dancers. The oldest known inscription in the Khmer language (K.600) is dated 611 on a temple where a god named with the suffix -isvara (Shiva) had merged with another with a name that denotes a tree. The offerings to the temple of one Antar include seven female dancers (jmah ge ram), six of whom are named. Save for two, all names musicians and dancers are in Sanskrit. George Cœdès dated the inscription known as K.51 to the late sixth-early seventh century (although stylistically there's a likeness with fifth century Funan inscriptions). An itemization of gifts from one Indradatta to a temple's deity, there are four legible names of female dancers (called rapam) offered: Ata, Tittaru, Ngarngor, and Kandin. The inscription of K. 138 indicates that four dancers(ram), two female and two male, were offered to a Shiva temple on a waning moon's first day. Inscription K. 155, dated to the late seventh or early eighth century, details one Chief of Granaries offerings that include nine named female dancers (rpam) and then an additional three named female dancers (rpam). Evidence for a literary basis for dance during Funana/Chenla era are found in a sixth century inscription near the Laos border by Veal Kantel, a Cambodian village. King Bhavavarman's brother-in-law offered copies of the Ramayana and Mahabharata to a temple dedicated to Shiva. ¹

During the Angkor period, dance was ritually performed at temples. ¹

The tradition of temple dancers declined when the Angkor era came to an end. Scholar Xenia Zarina wrote that dance came to Thailand through the Khmer Empire, and when the Thai conquered Angkor, "among the 90,000 prisoners of war were artists and artisans" including dancers, which the Thai "especially loved and cultivated." Thai author and former Director General of the Fine Arts Department Dhanit Yupho says the Khmers may have introduced masked dance-drama to Siam as the Thai word Khon, first appearing in Ayutthaya after Khmer artists were brought to the court, comes from the Khmer word Khol. Scholar Paul Cravath wrote that, whereas dancers were marched off to Ayutthaya when the Siamese captured Angkor, all the evidence points to some of the dancers managing to follow the Khmer king to the new capital - view also held by contemporary Cambodian dance teachers. Portuguese historian Diogo do Couto described a lake with several boats "gathering the rice with merry energy, dances and musical contests” at Angkor in the late 1580s. Monsieur de la Loubere gave a 1688 account of "the rabam" (from the Khmer word robam for dance) in Siamese court dance at Ayutthaya and noted it was performed at funerals, implying Siam retained the ritualistic nature of Khmer robam at least during that period, though later losing its Khmer "ritual function" in favor of the Siamese/Thai dramatic dance. In the mid 19th century, King Ang Duong spent much of his childhood in Bangkok, where the Siamese King later held the three eldest of Duong's sons captive, and ruled Cambodia as a vassal of Siam. According to one account, the court of Bangkok provided dancers to Ang Duong's court due to declining numbers of ballet dancers in Cambodia, though this claim has been contested. ¹

Cambodia became a French protectorate in 1863. Since then, dancers began performing for foreign dignitaries and for the public on the monarch's birthday. Dance was thereby, promoted as national identity. ¹

King Norodom was crowned in 1864, four years after the death of Duong (his father). Three dance troupes, including male dancers, existed in the palace, controlled by Norodom's wives and other royal women. Nuon, the "star ballerina" under Ang Duong, continued on after Duong's death and became Norodom's first wife. Called Khun Than and later bestowed Preah Moneang Socheat Bopha, she controlled one troupe as well as theater. There were many troupes and dancers in Cambodia during this time. "Tall" Khmer dancer Neang Sok, who played mostly male neay rong roles, married Frenchman Paul Le Faucheur who worked on the Royal Palace. Teen girls named Neang Nhiv and Neang Nhoeng displayed a talent for climbing trees and were sent to join the Battambang governor’s dance troupe. A dance hall, or rong ram (រោងរាំ), was erected at the palace. French explorer Louis Delaporte was among those invited by King Norodom to a royal dance performance in the rong ram. Delaporte would sketch an illustration, the first "pictorialization of Khmer dancers" ever documented by a European. ¹

Princess (later Queen) Sisowath Kossamak became a patron of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia. ¹

The text above is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Royal Ballet of Cambodia”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. ¹

Royal Ballet of Cambodia is Cambodian dance company, according to the structured record cited below. This entry was generated automatically from that record and has not yet been reviewed by a person familiar with the tradition. ²

The source record links this tradition to 2 external registers, which can be verified through the citation. ²