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The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide premiered on April 19, 2025 at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center and was mounted again June 6 and 7 at the Middlesex Community College Academic Arts Center. This full-length multi-media dance/theatre production is created to observe the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide and to honor its survivors, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit, and to celebrate how Khmer arts has been and continues to be transmitted from generation to generation. It is an adaptation of The Rebirth of Apsara, a Hewlett 50 Arts Commission that premiered at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center in Rohnert Park, CA on February 1, 2024. Through a story created by Rob and Charya Burt, the production investigates the relationship between art and war exploring how Cambodian arts and in particular Apsaras, fabled female celestial beings, have embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post genocide resurrection. Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat all tied together by a soundscape performed live by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh. The text is written by Cambodian-American theatre artist Kalean Ung with additional text by Charya Burt developed to make this adaptation of the original more personal. Joining lead performer Charya Burt is dancer/soloist Chakravartin Sokhomsan, dancer Hannah Chea, and community dancers from the Cambodian Classical Dance Tep Nimmit Dance Troupe.
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