Cambodian Flutes and Printing Pressers
The Cambodian of “The Magic Flute” was a job well done, bringing such an ancient form of dancing to a western play. My favorite part about “The Magic Flute” was the live music, having the musicians in the back covered in a single piece of cloth that changed colors was a great touch. I saw myself watching the xylophone player than the dancers themselves. However, I got a bit bored with it to be honest during the middle. The dancing was top notch but it got a bit repetitive, especially when trying to tell the story. I was personally glad it was no more than an hour and a half, I didn’t think I could last it.
It was great however, to know that it could be done, have a traditional and ancient dance go along with a modern idea. Having dances that were meant strictly for the royal Cambodian palaces being shown in a western show was a great concept, really pushing these dancers to stretch themselves in terms of dancing for a different reason. I just wonder if it went against any traditional codes, or if it was disrespectful in Cambodian culture to have these dances done to a western show.
Our trip to the Met was fun, due to Nadine Orenstein’s knowledge of art preservation and her showing us all of those ink-pressed artworks. The best part about it was seeing the transformation every time an ink-press was done, seeing the deterioration of quality. I believe Ms. Orenstein and Sophilne preserve art in a very similar way. Though Ms. Orenstein is just preserving the art and showing it off by buying and selling, she is still having the art out there for the public to see and appreciate. Sophiline is doing the same thing, practicing with these girls diligently and showing it off to the public, rekindling her art. They even spread their form to a western show, totally breaking boundaries. They are both passionate about showing the world what they love, and why it should be loved.
October 15th, 2007 at 12:01 am
With regards to your wondering if the adoption of Western aspects was in a sense disrespectful to the Cambodian tradition, I felt the same way. I thought that the show stuck to tradition as much as possible, but the stories were usually related to religious concepts (weren’t they?) I kind of also felt that if they were “disrespecting” the dance, the newer generation of dancers was not as in tune with the deeper meaning behind the dancers (like we saw from the video; even the best student wasn’t 100% into it).