Apsara dancing

This picture shows some apsara dancers. Apsara dancing is traditional Cambodian dancing and is beautiful to watch. It goes way back in the history of Cambodia and the different dances depict religious and country side stories.Men and women(usually boys and girls) take part. The clothes are very colourful and usually made of silk. The steps are slow and graceful and the dancers keep a very straight face whilst they dance.I read somewhere that not smiling is part of the apsara tradition.One of the most outstanding features of this style of dance is the way in which the dancers bend their fingers back wards till they almost reach the arms. Apparently Cambodian girls who want to be dancers spend hours every day stretching their fingers back to improve the flexibility. The body movements are very controlled and each movement represents something eg happiness or the sun rising. The dancing is usually accompanied by a traditional orchestra( a different blip I think!). However the most remarkable thing about the apsara dancing is that it exista at all. Dancers and musicians were tortured and executed by the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s and by the time the regime was overthrown there were only 1 or 2 left in the whole country.It has taken a while to regenerate the ancient tradition but is once again thriving Performances are very often given by children from orphanages. The performance in the picture was at the Hotel de Paix in Siem Reap , a remarkable venue to watch a remarkable performance