AsiaLIFE

Contemporary dance is still in its infancy in Cambodia, yet dancer and choreographer Yon Davy is determined to help it grow. Words by Nora Lindstrom.

In a country still trying to re-instate its ‘true’ Khmer identity following years of war and domination, traditional and classical dance, such as the omnipresent Apsara dance, is still valued highly. Contemporary dance on the other hand, is often frowned upon or even viewed with hostility.

Dancer and choreographer Yon Davy (25) doesn’t care. “In classical and traditional dance you need to keep the form,” she says. “I like to find something new from the outside, and show my own ideas.” Contemporary dance allows her to do this.

A folk dance graduate from the Royal University of Fine Arts, Davy learned about contemporary dance through joining workshops held by visitors to Cambodia, as well as through a short residency in Indonesia. Without foreign influences facilitated by institutions such as Amrita Performing Arts, Davy says she would most likely never have developed an interest in this new form of dance. One of her foreign mentors is Dutch theatre director Bob Ruijzendaal. Bob directed and produced Movin’, a new piece combining classical and modern dance that premiered at Sovanna Phum early last month. As part of The New Cambodian Artists group that created the piece Davy not only performed in it, but contributed to its choreography, as well as worked as the director’sassistant.

“I’ve known Bob for two years now,” says Davy. “I understand him, and he loves my talent.”

Davy is well aware of the difficulties facing those trying to create home-grown contemporary dance. She describes some of her compatriot’s reaction as thinking of her dance as “crazy”, while others accuse her of destroying Khmer culture.

For Davy contemporary dance is resolutely based in traditional and classical dance. “When we do contemporary dance, we need to know ourselves and our history first,” she says. “If I do contemporary dance without Khmer traditions, there’s is no meaning.”

What makes her dance contemporary is then not the rejection of the past, but breaking away from the codified, limiting elements of traditional movements. “In classical and traditional dance you don’t need so much feeling,” she says. Contemporary dance on the other hand allows the dancer to express him or herself to the audience. “We just do it by our feeling,” she says, describing how in contemporary dance there are no limits to the movements of the body. “When I dance I feel like flying. My steps on the stage are not on the stage.”

Translating one’s feeling to a local audience unfamiliar with contemporary dance can be difficult. Davy explains how she may create a piece that is intensely personal, but the audience might understand its message something completely different. “Because contemporary dance is really new - how do you show the personal?” she asks.

Working with others, such as in the piece Movin’ can also pose problems. “The other person needs to understand your meaning too,” Davy says. She adds that the development of contemporary dance in Cambodia not only hinges on getting the audiences interested, but other dancers too.

In a country where traditional dance remains highly revered, she is walking uphill. Nevertheless, Davy is determined to continue working with foreign visitors as well as local dancers to develop the scene in Cambodia. “I want to be a dancer and choreographer, and give what I have to others,” she says. “I don’t want to dance when I’m old.”