Organization

Angkor Dance Troupe


Angkor Dance Troupe (ADT) is a Cambodian American classical and folk dance company in Lowell, Massachusetts, founded by Cambodian refugees in 1986.[1][2] A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, it teaches and performs Cambodian classical, folk and popular dance and music through performances, residencies and youth programs.[3][4] Lowell has one of the largest Cambodian communities in the United States.[2] The troupe takes its name from the Angkor civilization, which its program dates from 802 to 1432.[5]

History

Tim Chan Thou endured forced labor camps and lost his parents and four siblings. His grandmother had been a master classical dancer and teacher. He trained in Cambodian folk dance and was certified as an instructor at the Kao-I-Dang refugee camp on the Thai-Cambodian border before he was sponsored to come to the United States at 21.[1] In 1986 he and other Cambodian refugees with performing arts backgrounds founded ADT in Lowell. They set out to preserve Khmer performing arts and to use them for community healing, resilience and cultural continuity.[1][6] The troupe's own program notes that artists were deliberately targeted during the Khmer Rouge years and that more than 90 percent of Cambodia's tradition bearers died.[5]

Several founding members had learned Cambodian classical dance in refugee camps along the Thai-Cambodian border. In Lowell they set a regular rehearsal schedule to teach and keep correct postures and movements.[7] The troupe began as a small group practicing in cramped apartments.[1] In the 1990s, Cambodian artists who had left Cambodia and those who had stayed renewed contact, and ADT has brought master dance teachers from Cambodia to Lowell for residencies.[6]

In 1997 Tim Thou received the Local Hero Award from Community Teamwork Inc. for his contributions to Lowell.[2] In 1999 the troupe received the Coming Up Taller Award from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities for excellence in youth arts and cultural heritage, and it performed at the White House for President Bill Clinton.[2][1][8] In March 2000 Lowell Mayor Brian J. Martin honored ADT with a Mayor's Citation for helping more than 200 Cambodian elders gain U.S. citizenship.[2]

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the troupe was already struggling with money and had no full-time executive director, and its budget was under $100,000. The pandemic closed its in-person classes, and some classes moved to Zoom.[8] In its recovery it received more than $300,000 in grants and donations, including $100,000 over three years from the Barr Foundation, which chose ADT in 2021 for its Powering Cultural Futures initiative for BIPOC-led arts groups in Massachusetts, and a $25,000 grant from the Parker Foundation.[8][2] For its 35th anniversary the troupe performed at the Clark Art Institute and Boarding House Park, with works including "Rodin's Drawings of Cambodian Dancers," "Reamker" and "Pailin Peacock."[9]

Bora Chiemruom came to Lowell as a young refugee in 1987. She became executive director in the summer of 2022, aiming for new work and a stronger place in the city's arts scene.[10][8] In 2023 the troupe rented space at Western Avenue Studios, near the heart of Lowell's Cambodian community, for its costume department, cultural displays and public workshops.[8][11] That year it was in its third generation of dancers, as children of dancers from the 1980s joined the classes.[8] In 2023 it received a City of Lowell Mayor's Citation, in August, and the Newell Flather Legacy Fund Award from the Greater Lowell Community Foundation, with support from the Theodore Edson Parker Foundation, for its work with youth.[2] In 2024 it performed at the Massachusetts Humanities Governor's Awards at the John F. Kennedy Library. In May 2025 Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kimberley Driscoll gave it a Governor's Citation for its artistic contributions to Massachusetts.[2]

In 2025 the troupe performed at the Lowell Folk Festival to mark 50 years since the Khmer Rouge period, and on July 23 it appeared on the Henry J. Leir Stage at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.[7][12]

A Khmer Swan Lake

ADT marked its 40th anniversary in 2026 with the world premiere of A Khmer Swan Lake, a full-length work that retells Tchaikovsky's ballet through Cambodian classical dance and Khmer mythology.[3][10] Chiemruom proposed the idea to the Merrimack Repertory Theatre two years before the premiere, and the two produced it together. It ran at the theater in Lowell from April 8 to 26, 2026.[10] The dance form is Robam Kenor, a style of Cambodian classical dance rooted in Indian Hinduism and Buddhism. The white swan, Odette Devi, is modeled on Kenorei, a half-human, half-bird figure of Angkorian lore.[10]

The creative team traveled to Cambodia to work with ten dance masters and ten musicians, and it asked Cambodian masters for permission and blessings to perform sacred repertoire outside Cambodia. The original score was recorded in Cambodia. It joins Khmer instruments and traditional pieces with parts of Tchaikovsky's swan theme.[10] The team kept the traditional movements but changed formations and positions so the story and music would line up. The blessing ritual of the Gold and Silver Flower Dance and the Chu Chhay solo appear almost intact.[10] A rotating cast of 35 performers, chosen through open national auditions, danced the roles; 97 percent of them were born in the United States.[10] Peter Veth, who has danced with the troupe and often given artistic direction, was creative director, and Chummeng Soun was program director.[10]

The anniversary year also brought the 40th Anniversary Impact Campaign, and the 40th Anniversary Gala is set for October 17, 2026.[3]

Programs

ADT teaches Cambodian classical and folk dance, traditional music and cultural storytelling to young people and adults, year-round, from age six.[4] Its programs stress cultural transmission, discipline, mentorship across generations and youth leadership, and its instructors are of Cambodian descent, many of them genocide survivors.[2] It offers weekend classes, school residencies, youth jobs and public performances.[2] In the Classical Dance Program, based on Cambodian royal traditions, students learn detailed gestures and movements from master artists; they may begin at age six. The Folk Dance Program teaches village dances of daily life, courtship and ritual, with their music, costumes and choreography.[4] Classes include classical Apsara dance.[2] The troupe has also taught Khmer language classes.[6] Its dancers perform throughout New England and beyond.[2]

In the Traditional Music Program, young people learn Cambodian classical instruments such as the roneat, skor and khloy, and they train in pinpeat and mahori ensembles.[4] The musicians who accompany the troupe come from Massachusetts and Maryland and are led by master musicians including Chum Ngek, who received a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship in 2004.[7]

With Lowell Public Schools, ADT runs a residency for middle school students with in-school classes and performances in Khmer arts. It gives workshops at schools, universities and community centers, hosts visiting master artists from Cambodia and tours abroad.[4] In March 2023 it returned to Butler Middle School two days a week to prepare for Cambodian New Year.[11] Students also train as leaders through peer mentoring, public speaking and organizing community events. The troupe records oral histories and keeps multimedia archives.[4]

Enrollment figures differ. ADT counts more than 200 students a year across three skill levels; in 2026 its instructors taught 150 to 200 students a year, with 25 more on a waiting list.[2][10] By 2026 the troupe had three employees and 25 instructors.[10] It has trained more than 7,000 students and given more than 400 public performances in the United States and abroad.[3][7] The longtime dancer Stephanie Seng performs on stage with her three children.[3]

Repertoire

Before a performance, the dancers bow to their teacher and to an altar with offerings such as apples and incense.[8] The troupe's original works, which reflect the diaspora experience, include Rain and Life and Proleung Khmer Dance.[2] Rain and Life shows Cambodian farming and the lives of Khmer farmers who depend on seasonal rain, and it played in Lowell to an audience of more than 400 people.[11] Preah Thoung Neang Neak, a classical dance work drawn from a Cambodian folktale about the origin of Cambodian wedding traditions, premiered as a residency performance at the Cyrus W. Irish Auditorium at Lowell High School. It includes the classical dance Robam Tep Monorom.[5] In 2023 the troupe performed the Blessing dance and the Moonlight dance at the opening of the Association for Asian Studies conference, and it staged a seven-minute piece drawn from Cambodian stories of the country's origins.[11][8] The program director Chummeng Soun wrote and directed the documentary My Dance, Children.[11]

Press

  • Asian American Life, CUNY TV[3]
  • WBUR and WCVB Channel 5 Boston; WCVB interviewed the co-founder Tim Thou and the executive director Bora Chiemruom[2][11]
  • Monkey Dance (documentary)[2]

Archive

The UMass Lowell Center for Lowell History holds the Angkor Dance Troupe, Inc. Collection, 1991 to 2017. It fills 17 document cases and one oversize folder, about 0.2 cubic meters (7.25 cubic feet). The collection holds financial and board records, correspondence, program files and dance curricula, newspaper clippings, photographs, posters and student records, as well as publications in English and Khmer collected by the troupe.[6]

Team (2024)

Staff, instructors and board listed by the troupe in 2024.[13]

Staff
  • Bora Chiemruom, executive director
  • Sophy Pich, development manager
  • Lokru Tim Chan Thou, founder and operations director
  • Lok Kru Curtis "Chad" Mai, youth program coordinator
  • Lokru Chummeng Soun, program director
Artistic staff
  • Neakru Phousita Huy, artistic director and master of Khmer classical dance; trained at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh and moved to Lowell in 1996[10]
  • Neakru Channa Sath, assistant artistic director, senior instructor and principal dancer
  • Neakru Hieng Nayto, master of Khmer classical dance
  • Neakru Kuntheary Pich, master of Khmer classical dance
  • Neakru Sophea Nop, master of Khmer classical dance
  • Lokru Kimhan Meas, master of Khmer classical and folk dance and music
  • Neakru Sovann-Thida Loeung, senior instructor
  • Neakru Stephanie Seng, senior instructor and principal dancer
  • Neakru Virginia Prak, senior instructor and principal dancer
  • Lokru Peter Chea, instructor and principal dancer
  • Lokru Vituu Touch, instructor and principal dancer
  • Neakru Kristina Heng, instructor and principal dancer
  • Neakru Victoria Phan, instructor and principal dancer
  • Neakru Theresa Tha, instructor and principal dancer
  • Khana Desens, junior instructor
  • Madison Eng, junior instructor
Board of directors
  • Sue J. Kim, Ph.D., president
  • Sokny Long, clerk
  • Carol Keirstead, Ph.D.
  • Cherry Lim
  • Angel Brunelle
  • Vichtcha (Vee) Kong
  • Stéphanie Khoury, Ph.D.
Advisory board
  • Celeste Bernardo, Joe Hungler, Felicia Sulliva, Michael Conway, Jay Lee, Sophy Theam, Nancy Donahue, Sheila Kirschbaum, Robert Forrant, Karen McManimon, Michael Gallagher and Linda Sou

An earlier program booklet names Dahvy Tran as executive director and Michael Conway as board president.[5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Angkor Dance Troupe, About Us
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 Mosaic Lowell, Angkor Dance Troupe, Inc. - Creative Directory (2026-09-18)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Angkor Dance Troupe, home page
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Angkor Dance Troupe, Our Mission and Vision
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Angkor Dance Troupe, Preah Thoung Neang Neak program booklet
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 UMass Lowell Center for Lowell History, Angkor Dance Troupe, Inc. Collection, 1991-2017
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Lowell Folk Festival, ANGKOR DANCE TROUPE (2025-06-04)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 WBUR, Two dance companies turn pandemic survival into evolution (May 2023)
  9. ↑ Angkor Dance Troupe, News & Media - Angkor Dance Troupe (2023-03-27)
  10. ↑ 10.00 10.01 10.02 10.03 10.04 10.05 10.06 10.07 10.08 10.09 10.10 WBUR, Angkor Dance Troupe's 'Swan Lake,' the Khmer way - WBUR News (2026-04-08)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Angkor Dance Troupe, Demos and Workshops
  12. ↑ Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Angkor Dance Troupe (2025)
  13. ↑ Angkor Dance Troupe, Our Team (2024)
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This page was last edited on 26 September 2026, at 23:18.