Moni Mekhala And Ream Eyso

Moni Mekhala and Ream Eyso retells the sacred drama of the same name, a tale in which rivaling students of a powerful hermit bring life to lightning, thunder, and rain. Weaving together interviews, essays, photographs, and illustrations, the book uses the story to explore the evolution of the Khmer classical dance tradition, the passage of leadership within artistic tradition nearly destroyed by genocide, and the circumstances of today's women. Additional contributors include award-winning choreographer Sophiline Cheam Shapiro, cultural anthropologist Toni Shapiro-Phim, and visual artist Brian Mendez. "[An] enlightening and engaging exploration of one of the most important works in the Cambodian dance drama repertory... A love letter to the character of Moni Mekhala and all of the women who have safeguarded this exquisite art form for generations, this book is a testament to the power of myth in our everyday lives." Cecily Cook Senior Program Officer, Asian Cultural Council - New York "This book is profoundly artist-centered and thus offers an utterly unique and intimate account of Khmer classical dance. This is the first book to acknowledge how gender and sexuality can be interrogated through Khmer dance, whether in the distant Cambodian past, in a post-genocide present, or in Long Beach, California." Dr. Deborah Wong Professor of Music, University of California - Riverside President of Board of Directors, Alliance for California Traditional Arts "Lovingly conceived... Moni Mekhala and Ream Eyso captures the essence of a woman's strength and resilience in the midst of raging violence. It is a book I would want to get as a gift to all the girls and women in the various circles of my life." Chivy Sok Cambodian American human rights advocate and co-founder of Devata Giving Circle

With nearly 400 pages, Out of the Shadows of Angkor: Cambodian Poetry, Prose, and Performance through the Ages is an outstanding collection of classic and contemporary writing. The volume emerges from the thirty-year effort of a community to gather Cambodian literary and cultural works. In doing so, they not only translated rare works into English for the first time, but also helped to rescue writing lost during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975–1979). Readers will find the following and more: –Cambodian writing ranging over fourteen hundred years, from the seventh century to the present; –translations of classical texts;selections of modern Cambodian poetry, prose, and folk theater; –contemporary writings by Cambodian refugees and children of the diaspora living in countries from Australia to the United States, Canada, and Europe; –visual art, including oil paintings by Theanly Chov and excerpts from a graphic novel by Tian Veasna. “The work included in Out of the Shadows of Angkor is just a part of the vast, diverse repertoire of Cambodian literature created by those born in Cambodia, in the camps, and in new lands. Soth Polin once told me, ‘What we have lost is indescribable . . . what we have lost is not reconstructable. An epoch is finished. So when we have literature again, it will be a new literature.’ We hope this book brings out of the shadows some of the lost, hidden, and emerging gems of Cambodian literature—past, present, and moving into the future.” —From the overview essay by guest editor Sharon May

Updated for 2012 and part of the Britannica Learning Library Series, hear about the exciting magical tales that have entertained us for centuries, taught us right from wrong, and explained the mysteries of the world.

Aimed at parents, teachers and Forest School leaders, this new book from Jane Worroll & Peter Houghton is packed full of fantastic new Forest School activities. It has a special focus on the elements and on making children feel connected to the natural world through imagination and storytelling. The ultimate antidote to screen time – outdoor play with your kids! Whether you are a parent, a teacher, a Forest School leader or anyone else looking after children, this invaluable guide to nature-based play is full of ideas to get kids outdoors, learning about and connecting with nature, developing new skills and having fun. These new Forest School crafts, games and survival activities are all themed around the elements of earth, air, fire and water, with an underlying message of sustainability and wonder at the amazing web of life. For earth, make a mud slide, try Bogolan mud painting on cloth, or hurl mud missiles at a moving target. For air, make a bullroarer or a whistle, build a kite and fly it, or predict the weather by reading the clouds. For fire, dig a Dakota fire pit, make a bug-repellent torch or learn how to navigate using a shadow stick. For water, mix natural dyes, build and test a rainproof den, or drink foraged birch twig tea from a crafted log cup. There are also four magical stories to tell the children – one for each of the elements –guaranteed to spark their imagination.

The South China Sea has a rich and turbulent history. Today territorial disputes in the region including China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines and Indonesia make it potentially one of the most dangerous points of conflict in Asia and millions of people have crossed its waters in search of safer shores. This new book reveals the ways in which the peoples of the South China Sea region have used dance as a means of contending with the immense political, economic and cultural rifts that have affected their lives. Drawing on the stories of indigenous dancers in southern China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, it offers unique insights into the ways in which people have used creative movement as a means of understanding the divisions and alienation that conflict, diaspora and globalization have brought and as a first step towards reclaiming their identities and their worlds."

A new story for every single day of the year! Each book contains a special story for each month.These entertaining stories are short enough to be read just before bedtime or to take a break anytime of the day.With popular as well as never-heard-of tales from around the world and great illustrations, every book in this series is a must have.

This comprehensive compilation of entries documents the origins, transmissions, and transformations of Asian American folklore and folklife. Equally instructive and intriguing, the Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife provides an illuminating overview of Asian American folklore as a way of life. Surveying the histories, peoples, and cultures of numerous Asian American ethnic and cultural groups, the work covers everything from ancient Asian folklore, folktales, and folk practices that have been transmitted and transformed in America to new expressions of Asian American folklore and folktales unique to the Asian American historical and contemporary experiences. The encyclopedia's three comprehensive volumes cover an extraordinarily wide range of Asian American cultural and ethnic groups, as well as mixed-race and mixed-heritage Asian Americans. Each group section is introduced by a historical overview essay followed by short entries on topics such as ghosts and spirits, clothes and jewelry, arts and crafts, home decorations, family and community, religious practices, rituals, holidays, music, foodways, literature, traditional healing and medicine, and much, much more. Topics and theories are examined from crosscultural and interdisciplinary perspectives to add to the value of the work.

The present study is concerned with examining dance and the multi-dimensional war in and for Cambodia. It explores the logic of loss that invites a need to replace and regain, and the logic of chaos that invites a need to establish appropriate or distinctive order, through ritual and through dance.