Amrita Performing Arts
| Amrita Performing Arts | |
|---|---|
| Type | Arts and culture |
| Focus areas | Cambodian traditional and classical performing arts; contemporary dance and theatre; production management training; international touring |
| Subjects | Dance & Theatre |
| City | Phnom Penh |
| Country | Cambodia |
| Founded | 2003 |
| Operating status | unverified |
Amrita Performing Arts is an international NGO based in Phnom Penh, with United States nonprofit status, founded in 2003 by the American theatre practitioner Fred Frumberg. Its mission is to help revive and preserve Cambodia's traditional performing arts, with an emphasis on national capacity building in production management, and it is recognized in Cambodia as a pioneer of Cambodian contemporary dance. (The Theatre Times, In conversation with Rithisal Kang (2017); Japan Foundation Asia Center, Asia Hundreds: Kang Rithisal (2020); ASEF culture360, Cambodian contemporary dance: Amrita Performing Arts)
History
Frumberg first came to Cambodia in 1997 as a UNESCO performing arts consultant. Amrita opened its office in Cambodia in 2003 and works in cooperation with the Royal University of Fine Arts, the Secondary School of Fine Arts and the Department of Performing Arts of the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, under a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. (Japan Foundation Asia Center, Asia Hundreds: Kang Rithisal (2020))
Its early productions were mainly traditional dance, toured to Australia, London and Bangkok, including the Melbourne International Arts Festival and the Barbican Centre. Several years after its founding its focus shifted toward contemporary theatre and dance. Its first contemporary piece, a collaboration with Thai choreographer Pichet Klunchun, was planned in 2004 and created in 2005. (Japan Foundation Asia Center, Asia Hundreds: Kang Rithisal (2020); The Theatre Times, In conversation with Rithisal Kang (2017))
Programs
Amrita sends young Cambodian artists to workshops, meetings and showcases in Southeast Asia, such as the Surabaya Young Choreographers Workshop and the World Dance Alliance annual meeting. In 2004 it sent Sam Sathya, Hun Pen and Suon Bun Rith to observe the seventh Indonesian Dance Festival, where Hun Pen made her first contemporary solo. It does not produce government events and aims to offer shows to the general public. (Japan Foundation Asia Center, Asia Hundreds: Kang Rithisal (2020); Amrita Performing Arts blog, A contemporary dance platform (2013))
People
People the sources name in connection with Amrita: (Japan Foundation Asia Center, Asia Hundreds: Kang Rithisal (2020); ASEF culture360, Cambodian contemporary dance: Amrita Performing Arts; The Theatre Times, In conversation with Rithisal Kang (2017))
- Fred Frumberg, founder and artistic director (The Theatre Times, In conversation with Rithisal Kang (2017); ASEF culture360, Cambodian contemporary dance: Amrita Performing Arts)
- Rithisal Kang (Kang Rithisal), executive director (The Theatre Times, In conversation with Rithisal Kang (2017); Japan Foundation Asia Center, Asia Hundreds: Kang Rithisal (2020))
- Peter Chin, guest choreographer (ASEF culture360, Cambodian contemporary dance: Amrita Performing Arts)