Organization

Charya Burt Cambodian Dance


Charya Burt Cambodian Dance is a Cambodian classical dance company in the San Francisco North Bay, California, founded in 1993.[1][2] Its founding artistic director is Charya Burt, a master dancer, choreographer, singer and teacher of classical Cambodian dance.[1][3][4] The company teaches, performs and makes new work rooted in the classical tradition, and it keeps the gestures and dances of the classical repertory alive for Cambodian communities in California and beyond.[2][5]

History

Charya Burt began training in 1982 at the School of Dance of the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, under dance masters who had survived the Khmer Rouge period.[6] The Pol Pot regime banned classical dance, its teaching and religion, and the company puts the share of Cambodian artists who died between 1975 and 1979 at 90 percent.[7] Burt is one of a small number of dancers who studied directly under the master Soth Sam On (spelled Soth Som Onn by ACTA), and she says she trained with the surviving masters for more than ten years.[6][8][5]

She received a teaching certificate in 1990 and joined the dance faculty of the Royal University of Fine Arts. As a member of Cambodia's Royal Dance Troupe she toured in Cambodia and abroad, and in 1991 she was one of about twelve dancers chosen to go with the Cambodian prince on his first mission overseas after the royal family returned from exile.[6][3] Burt names the former minister of culture Chheng Phon as the strongest inspiration for her work to help traditional Cambodian arts flourish.[3]

In 1993 she moved to the United States and settled in Windsor, California, and founded the company in Northern California that year with help from Rob Burt.[9][2][10] She has taught and performed in Santa Rosa and around the Bay Area ever since, and first appeared at the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival in 1995 at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre.[6][7] For many years she performed across the United States with the choreographer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro of the Sophiline Arts Ensemble, formerly Khmer Arts Ensemble.[11][3]

Between 2002 and 2005 she taught 13 students at the Santa Rosa Cambodian Community Cultural Center, with support from the Fund for Folk Culture and a 2004 California Arts Council Multicultural Impact Grant. She also taught 60 students at a Santa Rosa high school in November 2004, led a dance exchange for Asian Pacific Islander youth in Oakland from October 2004 to January 2005, and taught at six Long Beach public schools in March 2005 through the Carpenter Performing Arts Center.[6]

Repertory

Burt has performed and documented dances of the classical repertory over more than 30 years.[11] They include Robam Apsara, based on the carvings of Angkor Wat, in which Mera dances in a garden with her maids, carrying golden flowers; the prayer dance Robam Chun Por, in which petals are tossed to bless the audience; and Robam Tep Monorom ("Heavenly Bliss").[11][7] Two ritual prayer dances, Robam Buong Suong Tayay and Robam Buong Suong Pream, ask the heavens for protection, peace and prosperity. Robam Monosenchetna tells of a prince and princess who fall in love in a garden and must part, and Robam Chhouy Chhay is a solo praising a young princess's beauty.[11] The repertory also includes Robam Chhouy Chhay Chhmar and a scene from the Reamker, the Khmer version of the Ramayana, in which Hanuman tries to build a bridge to Lanka while the mermaid Sovann Maccha carries off the stones, until he wins her as an ally.[11] The company performed Robam Apsara for the 30th anniversary of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival in 2008.[7]

Works

  • The Rebirth of Apsara: Artistic Lineage, Cultural Resilience and the Resurrection of Cambodian Arts from the Ashes of Genocide, a 2021 Hewlett 50 Arts Commission that premiered in 2024 at Sonoma State University's Green Music Center, in partnership with New Performance Traditions[1][12]
  • The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide (2025), premiered at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center for the 50th anniversary of the Cambodian genocide and toured four cities in California, Massachusetts and Illinois[1]
  • The Rebirth of Apsara in Phnom Penh, an 80-minute version with professional dancers and more Khmer language and music, self-produced at Chenla Theatre on December 20, 2025, to close Cambodia's 50th-anniversary commemoration[1][12][8]
  • The Rebirth of Apsara: Khmer Dance as Cultural Identity, a 45-minute program of video, live dance and talk for schools and community spaces[1]
  • Beautiful Dark (2024), with Mosaic America, on colorism and ideas of beauty[1][3]
  • Silenced (2018), a full-length dance and theater piece premiered at CSU Long Beach with Khmer Arts Academy, about the Golden Age of the 1960s[3]
  • Of Spirits Intertwined (2018), Children of the Refugees (2017), Heavenly Garden (2016) and Blossoming Antiquities: Rodin's Encounter with the Celestial Dancers of Cambodia (2013)[3]
  • Pha Kolab Keiv (Blue Roses), premiered at the 29th San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival in June 2007[6]
  • Princesses and Peacocks: An Exploration of Cambodian Classical and Folk Dance (2007), with Khmer Arts Academy of Long Beach[2]
  • The Magic Peacocks (2002 to 2003) and Forever My Ancestors (Santa Rosa Cambodian Community Cultural Center, April 2005)[6]

The Rebirth of Apsara

Charya and Rob Burt developed The Rebirth of Apsara with American and Khmer artists, and much of the work was made in Phnom Penh in 2022 and 2023.[12] It follows the Apsaras from the Churning of the Sea of Milk to the rebirth of Cambodian arts after the genocide, and combines dance, theater, music, video and personal stories. The story is by Rob and Charya Burt with text by Kalean Ung, and the score by the composer Chinary Ung joins traditional pin peat music and the electronic Marimba Lumina.[1][12] For the 2025 version Burt held residencies in Oakland, Long Beach, Stockton, Chicago and Lowell, Massachusetts, cities with large Khmer communities, and each touring city brought local Cambodian dancers into the show.[12][1][8]

In Phnom Penh the production was first invited to the Secondary School of Fine Arts. One scene cast a male dancer, Chakra Sokhomsan, in movement traditionally performed by women, and the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts denied permission to perform at Chaktomuk Conference Hall or any venue tied to the ministry. The Burts kept their casting and produced the work themselves at Chenla Theatre on December 20, 2025, before an audience that included master teachers, elders and students of Lakhon Khol Youth of Cambodia and New Generation of Classical Dance.[12] The cast of two American and five Khmer dancers included Phirom Sao, Chakra Sokhomsan, Srey Leak Rin, Rady Nget, Molyta Pum, Hannah Chea and Chantheary Long.[12]

Teaching

Burt has trained thousands of dance students in California and has been artist in residence at Cambodian cultural programs in Stockton, San Jose, Long Beach and Chicago.[1] The company gives performances, workshops at schools and colleges across the United States, and lecture-demonstrations on Cambodian traditions and dance.[1][6] In 2008 an ACTA grant supported a year-round residency by Burt with the apprentice dancers of Khmer Arts Academy.[13]

A 2021 ACTA Living Cultures grant funded the Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Digital Library, with classical dances, Burt's new works, and teaching videos on dance and costuming, along with lessons for different ages and abilities for Cambodian dance communities in California. In 2022 a Dance/USA archiving fellowship carried the library forward.[2][3] Its teaching videos were made in December 2019 in a studio outside Phnom Penh with the master teachers Sokhuon Pen and Yom Penh, who taught the costuming of the neang (female) and neayrong (male) characters with Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, and with the dancers Molyta Pum, Srey Leak Rin and Phirom Sao. Dances in the library include Robam Bopha Lokai and Robam Phuong Neary.[14] The Walter and Elise Haas Fund, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Grants for the Arts and the California Endowment were partners in the ACTA grant.[14]

As an ACTA master artist, Burt has kept up the tradition of master and apprentice, training these apprentices:[6][5]

  • Sameun Hin (2001)
  • Prumsodun Ok (2007)
  • Reaksmey Lath (2011), later founder of Modern Apsara Company[15]
  • Ryan Rithea Boun (2017), in the male and giant roles
  • Victoria Ung (2021), in the female role, the classical pieces Preah Thung and Tep Monorom and Burt's own Heavenly Garden and Of Spirits Intertwined

Performances and recognition

Burt has performed at the Getty Museum, the Kennedy Center and the San Francisco Opera House, and many times at the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. Her works have been presented by Jacob's Pillow, World Arts West, CounterPULSE, the San Francisco Asian Art Museum and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.[3][9]

  • Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Individual Performance (2000 to 2001)[6]
  • Inaugural Dance/USA Fellow (2019 to 2020)[3]
  • Hewlett 50 Arts Commission (2021)[1]
  • Americans for the Arts Johnson Fellow for Artists Transforming Communities (2022)[3]
  • Five-time ACTA master artist awardee[3]
  • Grants from the Center for Cultural Innovation and the Creative Work Fund[1]

Coverage includes KQED Arts and PBS NewsHour (2015), Dance/USA (2020), the Phnom Penh Post (2025) and Dancers' Group (2026).[16][9][8][12]

People

  • Charya Burt, founding artistic director[1]
  • Rob Burt, who helped establish the company in 1993; co-developer of The Rebirth of Apsara and director of its Phnom Penh production[10][12]
  • Sotheary Au, costume dresser, formerly with the Khmer Arts Ensemble in Takhmao[16]
  • Chinary Ung, composer of the score for The Rebirth of Apsara, performed by the musical director Joel Davel and the Royal University of Fine Arts lecturer Dorivan Keo[12][8]
  • Kalean Ung, writer of the text for The Rebirth of Apsara[1]
  • Van-Anh Vo, composer and collaborator[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 Charya Burt Cambodian Dance, official site
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Charya Burt Cambodian Dance Company profile
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 Charya Burt Cambodian Dance, Biography
  4. ↑ Charya Burt, Vimeo channel
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Charya Burt Cambodian Dance, Artist statement
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Charya Cheam Burt profile (2021)
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Charya Burt Cambodian Dance, Brief history of Cambodian dance
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 The Star and Phnom Penh Post, Rebirth of Apsara returns home (December 22, 2025)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Dance/USA, Community Builders: Transmission and legacies of immigrant American artists (September 24, 2020)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Oakland Asian Cultural Center, The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide (2025)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 Charya Burt Cambodian Dance, Classical repertory
  12. ↑ 12.00 12.01 12.02 12.03 12.04 12.05 12.06 12.07 12.08 12.09 Dancers' Group, The Rebirth of Apsara (April 16, 2026)
  13. ↑ Alliance for California Traditional Arts, Khmer Arts Academy profile
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Charya Burt Cambodian Dance, Digital Library
  15. ↑ Modern Apsara Company, MAC Krus
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 PBS NewsHour and KQED, the 1,000-year-old dance tradition (2015)
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This page was last edited on 26 September 2026, at 23:16.