The dance drama "Samritechak (Othello)" by the Royal University of Fine Arts from Cambodia gave Asian artists a constructive way of preserving their traditional arts.

Staged at the Hong Kong Arts Center from March 1 to 3, the dance drama retold Shakespeare's "Othello" in the language of another media and culture.

For Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, adaptor and choreographer of "Samritechak," there are three ways of preserving traditional Cambodian dance: teaching, making documents, and creating new works. She regards the third method as the most important.

"Preserving classical dance through the expansion of its repertory keeps the dance relevant in its contemporary context and prevents it from becoming just a museum piece," said Sophiline. "My intention is to use this tale as an artistic bridge between Cambodia and the West."

When "Samritechak" was performed in Cambodia in 2000, the Cambodian audience learned about a Western story through a familiar art form. For Westerners and other audiences who know "Othello," the performance offered an opportunity to appreciate traditional Cambodian arts through a familiar story.

Coincidentally, Cambodian audiences might also experience the story as familiar, for in Cambodian mythology the story "Reamker" is quite similar to "Othello." In both stories, the heroines fall victim to their husbands' jealousy and foolishness.

"Whether leader of the society or a family, they are responsible for their actions, because their actions will effect other people, and sometimes may even cause devastations," said Sophiline.

Overseas experience

A graduate of the School of Fine Arts, now the Royal University of Fine Arts of Cambodia, Sophiline was a member of the school's classical dance faculty from 1988 to 1991. As a performer with the Classical Dance Company of Cambodia, she toured India, the former Soviet Union, the United States and Viet Nam.

Since moving to the United States in 1991, she has taken undergraduate and graduate studies in dance ethnology at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she has also taught in the World Arts and Cultures Department.

In addition, she has been active lecturing, conducting master/apprentice workshops and performing at dance festivals, universities and museums with the ensemble that she founded.

"In any performance I see in the West I try to find ideas that can help Cambodian dance," said Sophiline, "For me, adapting 'Othello' is a way by which I test how much I know about Cambodian dance."

In "Samritechak (meaning "dark prince") Sophiline changed all the names of the characters of "Othello" to Cambodian names.

General Samritechak, who is a Nuguah (half man/half demon), married beautiful Khanitha Devi. Samritechak's ensign Virul is a spiteful trickster monkey.

Looking to make trouble, Virul coaxes the general's faithful lieutenant Romnea to drink too much so that he gets involved in a brawl. Romnea was fired by Samritechak and advised by Virul to approach Khanitha Devi to regain favor with the general.

Virul fooled Samritechak into believing that Khanitha Devi was having an affair with Romnea.

When Khanitha Devi asked Samritechak to forgive his former lieutenant, Samritechak flew into a rage and used magic powers to kill her.

When he found out the truth, Samritechak was filled with grief and used the same magic to commit suicide.

Cambodian surrounding

Cambodian classical dance tells the stories of mythological gods, demons, and animals rather than realistic characters, Sophiline said.

Set at a Cambodian stone temple, "Samritechak" chronicles the relationships among a Nguah (half man/half demon), a monkey and human beings.

"Virul" (Iago in "Othello") is represented as a monkey because in Cambodian classical dance and mythology, monkeys are tricksters.

"It is the trickster aspect I'm emphasizing with Virul," she said, "He is the character who instigates all the trouble."

The stylized, intricate hand gestures and slow, meditative movements of traditional Cambodian dance created a more poetic atmosphere compared to the drama "Othello," though not as dramatic as the latter.

The wedding was a dance ritual that came from the greeting in the traditional Cambodian dance form "Choun Po," according to Sophiline.

The elaborate costumes and the accompaniment of Cambodian musical instruments such as Roneat Ek (xylophone), Sralai (oboe-like wind instrument) and Sampho (double-headed drum) made "Samritechak" a comprehensive work of Cambodian arts.

However, "Samritechak" is not a pure traditional Cambodian dance drama.

While preserving the performing form of classical Cambodian dance, Sophiline created new language to reflect complicated psychological movements.

When Romnea was fired by Samritechak, he felt that his life had lost its meaning. Walking with a sad posture, he suddenly looked forward and posed heroically, as if he had regained confidence after a mental struggle. However, he soon fell back into depression as his hope disappeared. Such a contrast was something unusual in the repertory of traditional Cambodian dance.

Classical Cambodian dance dramas always end happily, for it is considered bad luck for a character to die on stage.

To solve the problem, Sophiline had Samritechak and Khanitha Devi resurrect in the end, although they were fixed in time like sculpture while the rest of the characters moved ahead into the future.

Sophiline's next choreographic project is a solo piece exploring the emotional plight of Cambodian women, which will premiere at the Los Angeles Theater Center in June.

(China Daily March 20, 2002)