Look & Listen: Cambodian Art and Dance of the Divine Serpent

#LookandListen
Look & Listen: Cambodian Art and Dance of the Divine Serpent, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, dancer/choreographer, with curator Emma Natalya Stein

Explore the symbolism of the legendary serpent deity, the naga, as it has long been expressed in art across South and Southeast Asia and in Cambodian classical dance. See how the naga is depicted in sculptures, royal adornment, and ritual objects representing the serpent’s many positive roles as a bridge connecting the human and divine worlds. Watch classical Khmer (Cambodian) dance that embodies the aesthetic of the serpent and tells stories of the naga’s actions in the world, accompanied by Khmer court music.

Our guides will be dancer and choreographer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro and curator Emma Natalya Stein.

Sophiline Cheam Shapiro is founding director of the Khmer Arts Academy and was awarded a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (the United States’ highest honor in the traditional arts). She has both studied and taught at Cambodia’s Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh. Cheam Shapiro is also a graduate of UCLA’s World Arts and Cultures Program and has expanded the possibilities of her dance form to address modern themes. Her many original choreographies have been performed at Muziektheater in Amsterdam, China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, The Joyce Theater in New York, Dans Festival in Singapore, and Schönbrunn Palace Theater in Vienna. She last appeared at the Freer and Sackler in 2019.

Emma Natalya Stein is assistant curator of South and Southeast Asian art at the Freer and Sackler. Her recent exhibitions include Power in Southeast Asia and Prehistoric Spirals: Earthenware from Thailand.

Photo courtesy of Sophiline Arts Ensemble