Khmeropédies III is a new work choreographed by Cambodian-French choreographer, Emanuèle Phuon.

“Khmeropédies III is the continuation of a project that wants to develop a specifically Cambodian contemporary language in dance, based on Cambodian cultural elements and Cambodian Classical dance. It is the encounter of a contemporary dancer, myself, with Cambodian dancers. In this process everyone learns from each other.

Khmeropédies III takes its source in the study of monkeys, as did the old masters in the tradition of the monkey role. We follow the same path, adding modern resources such as video footage and scientific studies of primates.

Eric J. Sargis, Professor of Biological Anthropology at Yale University, acted as the Scientific Advisor for this piece.  Dr. Sargis’ expertise was especially useful when explaining how different primates move, stand, and sit (he is a specialist in functional morphology and positional behavior).  He also helped in the construction of the different characters, providing the many details that make a character come alive such as attitudes, calls, motivations, etc.”

Emmanuèle Phuon

Khmeropedies III was presented at the Guggenheim Museum as part of the Season of Cambodia festival in New York, in April 2013 and at the da:ns Festival in October 2013 in Singapore.

Watch this piece here: bit.ly/KhmeropediesIII
See all press for KIII here. Press review book courtesy of Chih Yu Lin.

Original creation of this work was funded by Un Monde Par Tous and La Fondation La Ferthé.

Emmanuèle Phuon (Choreographer) is French-Cambodian and lives in Brussels, Belgium. She started her training with the Royal Ballet of Cambodia at age 5. In 1975, she moved to Bangkok with her mother where she lived until age 16. At that time, she decided to become a dancer and left for Avignon (France) where she studied and graduated from the Conservatoire National de Danse in 1986. In 1987, she went to New York. She has performed with the Elisa Monte Dance Company from 1989 till 1994, the Baryshnikov White Oak Dance Project from 1995 till 2001 and has worked with Martha Clarke, Joachim Schloemer, Meg Stuart among others. She is a 2009 Asian Cultural Council grantee and is currently part of the Raindears, the informal company that performs the works of Yvonne Rainer.