Cutting Edge

Khmer Apsara dancers are known for their grace and beauty, and also represent an important motif in the stone bas-reliefs of the temples in Cambodia.  They have become an inspiration of Khmer classical dance.  The ballet-like performance art of Cambodia, "Apsara Dance", was created by the Royal Ballet of Cambodia in the mid-20th century under the patronage of Queen Sisowath Kossamak of Cambodia.

The role of the Apsara is played by a woman, wearing tight-fitting traditional dress with gilded jewelries and headdress modeled after Angkor   bas-reliefs, whose graceful, sinuous gestures are codified to narrate classical myths or religious stories.