Features
- Cover Type: Hard Cover with 514 pages
- Published by: DatASIA, Inc.
- Edition: 1st Edition May 30, 2008
- Written in: English
- ISBN 10 Number: 1934431281
- ISBN 13 Number: 978-1934431283
-
Book Dimensions:
10.2 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
- Weighs: 3.2 pounds
Product Description
"A wartime twist of fate resulted in a rare eyewitness account of Southeast Asia's most esoteric female performers: the dancers of the ancient Cambodian ballet. More than thirty years after the Khmer Rouge genocide their intriguing story will be published as Earth in Flower." Mystical Origins Since the dawn of recorded history, Khmer royalty nurtured a dance style unique to their Asian kingdom, yet instantly recognizable throughout the world. Spiritually, the graceful dancers embody the essence and strength of the Khmer race.
Analysis of a Hidden Art Earth in Flower thoroughly covers choreography, musicology, costuming and stagecraft. The surprise is learning how these women profoundly affected Asian history for a millennium, as living goddesses, priestesses, queens, concubines, hostages and diplomats.
Extraordinary Access A twist of fate gave the author rare access to the formerly sequestered troupe of royal dancers, teachers, theater and archives.
Earth in Flower offers new insights into this gorgeous art, its long-hidden history, and how the dancers balance the Khmer relationship between heaven and earth.
A Wartime Twist of Fate In 1970, a military coup deposed King Sihanouk and seized control of the royal dancers. Surrounded by war, scholars sought to document this cultural treasure by engaging researcher Paul Cravath. He arrived as a circle of war gripped the capital city, becoming one of the only Westerners in history to gain firsthand access to the dancers.
Lost Heritage Restored In April 1975 Phnom Penh fell to the Khmer Rouge, initiating one of the worst genocides in human history. Cravath escaped Phnom Penh only ten days earlier, with his research intact. The archives he accessed were destroyed. Most of the dancers perished in the Killing Fields.
Earth in Flower is his historic account of their Cambodian legacy.
Publisher Description
"Spiritually, the graceful dancers profiled in
Earth in Flower embody the essence and strength of the Khmer race. Returning this lost history to the Cambodian people and the world is a rare and humbling privilege."
Kent Davis - DatASIA
Reader ReviewsKent Davis is a force of nature. A Floridian of unstoppable energy, he stormed into Thailand in the 1990s, learned to speak Thai, and soaked in the culture there before drifting into Cambodia like a wayward typhoon. That he fell in love with apsaras carved in the stone of Angkor's wall was, perhaps, inevitable. What is truly amazing is that he unearthed Paul Cravath's classic but little-known thesis on the apsaras and Cambodian dance and then had it printed as a gift to the world at large. Congratulations to Cravath, to Davis, and others involved directly and peripherally in this project. They have done huge favors, selflessly, for Cambodia. Roger Warner, author of books on Cambodia and Laos Surviving the Killing Fields: Cambodian Odyssey [[ASIN:1883642361 Shooting at the Moon: The Story of America's Clandestine War in Laos]]
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