In August 2006, Cambodian Living Arts held its annual Youth Arts Festival—known in Khmer as a Mahasraop--showcasing different art forms and performances from students throughout Cambodia. A celebration of sharing and learning, the Mahasroap provided a rare occasion for students to learn about art forms beyond their area of specialization from other students, and to meet with fellow students of the arts from all over Cambodia.
Straying from the formula of past years, the Mahasraop 2006 featured many artists and students from partnering organization as well as CLA artists, and was enjoyed by over 300 students and Masters from five different organizations. The festival was held in Battambang at the campus of PHARE, a well-known circus and art school that has received international acclaim from its international tours. Participants stayed on site for the five-day Mahasroap, sleeping in hastily renovated classrooms and eating at a communal kitchen set up outside (and featuring delicious food, according to all those asked).
Three other organizations also participated in the event:
- Epic Arts brought an integrated dance troupe of disabled, deaf, and able students;
- FEDA, a local youth initiative in nearby Ksach Poy village, sent twenty students eager to learn more about the arts;
- The Watkinson School in Connecticut sent a delegation of eight students and teachers who had spent the previous week working with one of CLA’s classes in Siem Reap.
Each day students rose and attended a morning meeting in PHARE’s Big Top Tent, followed by a demonstration--one day it might be pin peat music, another time, folk and classical dance. Afterwards, students participated in a series of workshops, allowing them to share their art forms with one another. For example, dancers attended the visual art school, visual artists learn to dance the tango, and circus performers enjoyed the complexities of the chapei. Each day concluded with a spectacular performance in the Big Top Tent.
I’ll never forget these evening performances. Having lived in Battambang for nearly three years, I’d been to PHARE’s circus many times, but never before have I experienced an atmosphere quite like that of 2006’s Mahasraop. Each evening the tent was absolutely packed with students, musicians, children, and parents from the local communities. In a country not known for being on time, all available seats in the Tent were taken thirty minutes before the start of each show. CLA Project Coordinator Song Seng emceed every evening, whipping the crowd into an enthusiastic frenzy. As the lights went down before each event, children shouted and applauded with excitement. The shows themselves were extraordinary, from PHARE’s latest circus show to an inspiring new piece by Epic Arts, a touching performance of smot, and the rarely seen traditional sbaek thom—or large shadow puppets—performed by firelight under the stars. The Festival ended with a wonderful showcase event in which students performed what they had learnt from the week from each other.
The Festival was a fabulous success due to the incredible dedication and planning of the CLA staff team, led by Phany Tum, as well as the flexibility and energy of our hosts at PHARE. Already, the Mahasraop 2006 will be a model for many more to come.
Click on the first image on the left below for a slideshow of scenes from the Festival.
