Khmer / French choreographer Emmanuèle Phuon has created a work based on the master / disciple relationship, incorporating elements of classical court dance as taught by the master, with contemporary movements as imagined by her young students; exploring how and where the two worlds meet. The work is accompanied by a range of music from traditional Cambodian court music to Yves Montand, Einsturzende Neubauten and Cambodian hip hop.

An early work in progress of Khmeropédies II was presented in Phnom Penh in March 2009 and later in India, Singapore and Hong Kong. The full completed work of Khmeropédies I & II premiered at the Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven, Connecticut in June 2011 with subsequent performances at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York, the Singapore Esplanade Studio Theater, Podium Mozaiek in Amsterdam and the Spoleto Festival in the US state of S. Carolina.

Deborah Jowitt of the NY Village Voice wrote of Khmeropédies that “the remarkable event is no eclectic hybrid, with arabesques and the like grafted onto Cambodian steps. Utilizing postmodern strategies, (Khmeropedies) enlightens us about the style, while investigating how private emotions and more relaxed contemporary customs might take it in new directions”.