Khmer dancers

A Nook of Photos:

Photographer: Leon Busy, Angkor, Cambodia 1918 or 1921.

“Near the moat encircling Angkor Wat are the dancers who perform in the Khmer ballet. They are the living embodiments of Angkor’s apsaras, the exquisite dancing nymphs that are carved on stone pillars and adorn the temple walls. Classical Khmer dance was almost eradicated during the genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge, but the tradition has enjoyed a renaissance in recent years.”

Source: Okuefuna, D., (2008), The Dawn of the Colour Photograph, Albert Kahn’s archives of the Planet, Princeton University Press.