I was watching a documentary this morning on Angkor in Cambodia and the archeological digs there pre and post the Pol Pot era. One thing which came up (briefly) concerned the temple dancers, the way the artform was suppressed and its current resurgence.

This sparked off an idea for a short story - its fantasy, set in an existing world which has a certain amount of paralells with the above situation.

Does anyone know of any good resources to research this? (Other than Googling it, as I'm doing at the moment.)

Any help gratefully received.

R
 

Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the Discovery Channel, the Learning Channel, A&E, or others of that ilk have done stories and could be websites with resources (not just what they did, but books to recommend, etc).

Even Sesame Street has done stuff (Grover travels the world - some very cool bits have been filmed!). Not that I'm saying you should watch Sesame Street...

Good luck - sounds like a wonderful starting point for a story.

(edited for typos - I am SO tired!)

[This message has been edited by punahougirl84 (edited August 05, 2004).]
 

Are you looking for info on the temple dancers, or on the suppression and resurgence?

Mike
 

As dance would play a major part of the story (the dance being so expressive) I'd need to find out something of the techiques etc. Of course I could just make them up but it would be infinitely better to take something grounded in reality. Plus the fact that I have the grace and elegence of the average brick.

In terms of the supression & resurgence I'm thinking of autobiographical accounts etc and what it means to the dancers and their families.

I've found some items online about the technical and historical aspects. I suppose now what I'm looking for is personal accounts - along the lines of Wild Swans for Maoist China (only shorter - I'm a working & writing mum so reading time is at a premium!)

I found a brief account of two students (aged 13 and 10) of classical dance in Phnom Penh which ended with these rather chilling statistics:

quote:

---

Sina and Sophal’s father, as well as their teachers, suffered enormously under the rule of the Khmer Rouge from 1975-1979. They saw the artistic and cultural heritage of Cambodia nearly wiped out during that time, when close to two million people out of a population of seven or eight million died from starvation, disease, forced labor, and execution. Surviving dancers estimated that perhaps ninety percent of their professional colleagues perished under the harsh conditions imposed by the Khmer Rouge, including Sina and Sophal’s grandfather. Cambodia’s artists have struggled hard to rebuild that heritage over the past twenty-two years. And now their children, and their students, are carrying the myths, stories, and movements on for yet another generation.

---

I guess this is the sort of thing I am looking for, but in more detail.
 

However, the kind of dance that inspired you is something I never studied. So, if you're wanting specific information, I can't help you.
 

The search page is referenced below followed by a few examples of pages it turned up.

Hope this helps and good luck

http://www.altavista.com/web/results?itag=wrx&q=%2B%22Khmer+Rouge%22+%2Bdance&kgs=1&kls=0

http://www.acfnewsource.org/art/cambodian_dance.html

http://www.enigmaterial.com/icsnap/asia-3b.html

http://www.buffalo.edu/reporter/vol32/vol32n8/n9.html

http://vimean-akas.apsara.org/thavro.html
 

I found many links there, including some links to Cambodian dance organizations in the US. It might be worth it to try to contact one or two of those.

This page looked particularly interesting, with lots of ancillary links at the bottom of the page:

http://www.wisdomportal.com/Rodin-CambodianDancers.html