When she was 13 years old, Sophear began attending Master Ieng Sithul’s dance class. At 19, she recalls struggling with the precise hand postures of traditional Khmer dances and developing the patience to master them. Now, despite her small build, she flows through the rigorous practice with apparent ease, her expression beaming the emotions with each choreographed gesture. She stands out among her peers, and sometimes advises younger classmates.
Ieng Sithul’s students study Cambodian folk music and dance as well as classical Apsara dances. When asked why she dances, Sophear explained that art runs in the family. Her father and grandfather are both musicians. They are proud of her work, and for herself she says, “It is important to me to carry on the traditions.” Although he is the band leader for the National Circus, her father earns only $50 per month. He is the sole breadwinner in her family, so the average $30 per month that Sophear earns performing with Master Ieng Sithul’s troupe helps make ends meet.
She lives in a one room apartment with her parents and two siblings in a slum of Phnom Penh along the Tonle Bassac River. In the 1980’s, the government invited artists to settle there, but the land was sold a few years ago to a developer who announced that it would force residents to relocate, prompting a fight over local property rights. Without warning, on January 24, 2009, bulldozers began demolishing residences in her neighborhood. Her apartment is in one of two buildings that were spared, for now.
Safe for the moment, she attends class, laughing with the other students in the airy studio at the nearby CLA Center. She hopes to enter college this fall at the Royal University of Fine Arts to continue developing her skills in Khmer dance and singing. After college, she hopes to carry on her father’s artistic legacy and to teach as many students as she can in public schools and art associations.
