Two Kingdoms, One Stage: "Dance Through Time" at Chaktomuk Theatre
A French king dressed as the sun. Apsaras stepping out of the bas-reliefs of Angkor. Then a Madison, just like at a Phnom Penh wedding. On October 30, the Princess Buppha Devi Dance School stages more than three centuries of steps traded between France and Cambodia. A good moment to follow the thread back.
The programme raises an eyebrow. On one side, Khmer classical dance, with its curled fingers, raised foot and costumes sewn onto the body. On the other, the wig and red heels of a French monarch. In between, fifteen dancers from the Cambodian Dancesport Federation, there for the waltz and the tango.
The show is called "La Danse au Fil du Temps", or "Dance Through Time". It runs for an hour and a half and brings 75 artists on stage. Prince Sisowath Tesso, the school's director, built it in two movements. The first brings together the Dance of the God Vishnu, the Dance of the Apsaras and a dance for Louis XIV. The second leaves the palace for the ballroom and the street: waltz, tango, roamvong, cha-cha-cha, Madison, rock'n'roll, hip hop.
The pairing looks bold. Much less so once you look at the history.
Louis XIV, the king who danced
February 1653. Louis XIV is fourteen. He appears on stage in the Ballet royal de la Nuit. In the final scene he plays the rising sun, covered in gold. The nickname never left him. At the time, the young king danced in public, as did the nobles of his court. In 1661 he founded the Académie royale de danse. Western classical ballet, with its five positions and its French vocabulary, largely grew out of it.
Khmer classical dance followed a similar path. For centuries it remained a court art, tied to the palace and to royal ritual. Until the mid-20th century, its repertoire was reserved for women. The two traditions the show places side by side were born in the same place: around a throne.
1906: Rodin follows the dancers to Marseille
The first real encounter dates from 1906. King Sisowath travels to France, a first for a Cambodian sovereign. His dancers go with him for the Colonial Exhibition in Marseille. In July the troupe performs in Paris, at the Pré-Catelan theatre. Auguste Rodin, aged 66, is in the audience.
The sculptor never quite recovers. When the dancers head back to Marseille, he follows them, without even taking his drawing materials, according to an often-repeated account. In a few days he produces around 150 drawings and watercolours. The Musée Rodin in Paris holds them today.
Princess Buppha Devi never forgot the episode. In 2017 her show "Memories in Motion", also staged at Chaktomuk, took audiences back to King Sisowath's court and his journey to France.
The princess and the apsara
The school bears the name of Norodom Buppha Devi (1943-2019). In 1962 her grandmother, Queen Kossamak, choreographed a piece for her inspired by the bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat: the Apsara Dance. The princess was its first performer. The piece became the image of Cambodian dance around the world. It is on the programme for October 30.
A detail often forgotten: strictly speaking, "apsara" refers to this particular dance, not to every Khmer classical dancer.
After the princess died in 2019, Prince Sisowath Tesso took over the school at the request of her children. He had been her assistant at the Royal Ballet for ten years. Classes are free and open to students from all backgrounds. Many will not make dance their career. Some see themselves as lawyers, police officers or soldiers.
A king who taught dance in Paris
The October 30 gala marks the 22nd anniversary of King Norodom Sihamoni's reign. The theme is no accident. The king was himself a dancer. Sent to Prague in 1962, at the age of nine, he studied dance and music there until graduating from the Academy of Musical Arts in 1975. Based in Paris from 1981, he taught classical dance and founded his own company, Ballet Deva.
From 1993 to 2004 he represented Cambodia at UNESCO, where he pushed for Khmer classical dance to be recognised as intangible heritage of humanity. A king trained in European ballet, who argued in Paris for the dance of his own court: hard to find a better dedicatee for this show.
From roamvong to Madison
The second half heads down to the dance halls. In 1960s Phnom Penh, restaurants and ballrooms moved to "modern music". People danced the roamvong and roam kbach in a circle, the saravann in couples. Then came the Madison, a line dance born in the United States in the late 1950s.
The Madison never left. It is still danced at weddings and during Khmer New Year. In 2012 nearly a thousand young people danced it in Phnom Penh and took the world record from France. In 2023, in Siem Reap, 2,015 participants reclaimed the title. The cha-cha-cha and the tango took the same road into banquet halls. Hip hop belongs to the students' own generation.
A troupe just back from Alsace
On stage: 60 artists from the school and 15 from the Cambodian Dancesport Federation. Classical dance is in the hands of teachers Duk Sytha and Florian Tilly. Miwako Fujiwara handles musical direction. Princess Jenna Norodom is part of the cast.
Several students have just come back from France. In September, three young dancers went with Prince Tesso to Strasbourg and Colmar for the twinning of the Alliances françaises of Siem Reap and Strasbourg. For 16-year-old Soeng Nearyrathanak, it was her first trip outside Cambodia, Le Petit Journal reported.
The school's costume designer and stage manager, Chhoeut Chansokha, put it plainly to the same outlet: Cambodians love K-pop and show it openly. Classical dance, in his view, gets far less visibility with local audiences. Putting the apsara and hip hop on the same bill is also a way of reaching that audience.
Opening a Francophone month
The timing matters. From November 14 to 16, Phnom Penh hosts the 20th Francophonie Summit, the first held in Cambodia. The show comes two weeks earlier. In December 2024 the school devoted its gala to Zhou Daguan, the Chinese traveller who described Angkor at the end of the 13th century. This year, France joins the dance.
Practical information
Gala evening: Friday, October 30, 2026, Chaktomuk Theatre, Phnom Penh.
Public performances: Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1, 2026, 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM, Chaktomuk Theatre.
Prices: Zone A (centre), USD 12.50; Zone B (sides), USD 5.
Tickets: on the ABA Mobile app, via this link: https://billzone.ababank.com/abamobile/?type=storefront&vendor_id=1015&deeplink=
Tickets are non-refundable and valid only for a specific date and show. They are scanned at the entrance.
Throughout the year, the school also offers an introduction to Khmer classical dance every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in Phnom Penh.
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