Khmer Folk Dances

(Written by Sam-Ang Sam and Chan Moly Sam, 1987)

Written and compiled by ethnomusicologists Sam-Ang Sam and Chan Moly Sam, a Cambodian-American couple who both spent their formative years steeped in their homeland’s art and dance traditions, this meticulously-researched work illuminates the ancient folk dances and songs of their beloved Cambodia. As a teen, Sam-Ang Sam studied at both the Ecole Nacional de Music and the then-newly-formed University of Fine Arts, specializing in these very folk dances. After graduating, Sam-Ang was apprentice to two of the royal palace’s master musicians, performing for tourists and state-sponsored emissaries by day, and learning from village musicians in the art of shadow puppet dramas by night. Later, he received a scholarship to study Western compositions at the University of the Philippines. Chan Moly Sam was schooled at the Royal University of Fine Arts, where she received guidance from dance masters, quickly becoming a master herself in both the male and female roles. It was during this time that she met and married Sam-Ang, and after the couple’s stint in the Phillipines, they were unable to return home due to the Khmer Rouge’s stranglehold, and were forced to move to Philadelphia. Despite finding themselves stateside, the couple never gave up on the Cambodian arts, soon forming the Apsara Ensemble, which not only organizes performances in the US, but acts as a spotlight for up-and-coming dancers in Cambodia. Throughout Cambodia’s tumultuous history, various ruling factions have tried to obliterate these sacred tribal artforms, but the Sams have been steadfast in keeping these traditions alive.