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THE REBIRTH OF APSARA is a new experimental shadow dance theatre work created by shadow master Larry Reed and master Cambodian dancer/choreographer Charya Burt. THE REBIRTH OF APSARA explores the notion of memories and how they shape an individual’s experience of life, using traditional Cambodian and modern dance vocabularies as vehicles. Charya spent her impressionable years under the Khmer Rouge regime and her growth into a master dancer was greatly influenced by the few artists who survived the atrocities. Against the backdrop of tumultuous modern Cambodian history, REBIRTH will piece together sensory imprints and fragmented stories unearthed from Charya’s memories in a kaleidoscopic manner achieved by ShadowLight's original shadowcasting technique. |
GENESIS:
THE REBIRTH OF APSARA began with Charya’s desire to pay homage to the resilience and commitment of the master artists who resurrected the classic dance form from near destruction during the Pol Pot era, and to celebrate the long history of the dance. Though this still is one of the project goals, we wanted to keep the project from becoming educational or historical documentation. Then we started to take a deeper look into Charya’s personal experience. From the age of five to eight, she experienced an unspeakable life under the Khmer Rouge regime. The entry point for her was to collect sights, sounds and other sensory imprints that came to her as she looked back. In addition, Charya took two research trips back to Cambodia and interviewed her surviving family members. What emerged was intriguing: some memories were triggered by internal thought process; some by outside cues (such as old photos, sound of radio, and her mother’s recounting of an incident). There are memories that too painful to surface and ones she kept close to her in order to survive. These different forms and qualities of her memories are all in her body and have been morphing and transforming themselves in the context of past, present and future.
MODERN MYTHOLOGY:
We at ShadowLight strive to create a mythological experience for the modern audience by bringing ancient stories from different parts of the world. Mythology takes us on an archetypal journey of how we became who we are collectively. It does so by setting itself apart from daily life by having magical and supernatural attributes. Sometimes these have psychological counterparts in our world and sometimes not. Their function in theater and in ritual is to bring the audience and participants into a sacred state of mind in a way that rejuvenates the soul. With this project, we aim to create a contemporary myth that comes from an extremely specific and personal experience, essentially reversing the process of mythology. It is our hope that we will create a truly moving piece of theater with lasting value that illuminates Charya, her myth-making process, and the beauty and resilience of Cambodian people and culture.
THE REBIRTH OF APSARA began with Charya’s desire to pay homage to the resilience and commitment of the master artists who resurrected the classic dance form from near destruction during the Pol Pot era, and to celebrate the long history of the dance. Though this still is one of the project goals, we wanted to keep the project from becoming educational or historical documentation. Then we started to take a deeper look into Charya’s personal experience. From the age of five to eight, she experienced an unspeakable life under the Khmer Rouge regime. The entry point for her was to collect sights, sounds and other sensory imprints that came to her as she looked back. In addition, Charya took two research trips back to Cambodia and interviewed her surviving family members. What emerged was intriguing: some memories were triggered by internal thought process; some by outside cues (such as old photos, sound of radio, and her mother’s recounting of an incident). There are memories that too painful to surface and ones she kept close to her in order to survive. These different forms and qualities of her memories are all in her body and have been morphing and transforming themselves in the context of past, present and future.
MODERN MYTHOLOGY:
We at ShadowLight strive to create a mythological experience for the modern audience by bringing ancient stories from different parts of the world. Mythology takes us on an archetypal journey of how we became who we are collectively. It does so by setting itself apart from daily life by having magical and supernatural attributes. Sometimes these have psychological counterparts in our world and sometimes not. Their function in theater and in ritual is to bring the audience and participants into a sacred state of mind in a way that rejuvenates the soul. With this project, we aim to create a contemporary myth that comes from an extremely specific and personal experience, essentially reversing the process of mythology. It is our hope that we will create a truly moving piece of theater with lasting value that illuminates Charya, her myth-making process, and the beauty and resilience of Cambodian people and culture.