Hun Pen

Hun Pen
Roles	Master practitioner; Scholar; Educator
Based in	Cambodia
Website	https://www.hunpen.art/
Subjects	Dance & Theatre; History & Remembrance

Cambodian classical dancer in the neang (female) role, choreographer and researcher of the post-1979 dance revival.

Hun Pen is a Cambodian classical dancer who specializes in the neang (female) role, a choreographer of classical and contemporary work, and a researcher of the revival of classical dance after 1979. She is Deputy Director of the Department of Performing Arts at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts. (Hun Pen, official site; Center for Khmer Studies, Archive and documentation of Cambodian dance panel; Cambodian Living Arts, 2014-2015 annual report)

Training

She first danced with Master Chea Samy and began formal training in classical dance at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh in 1990, specializing in the neang role. She studied dance, theater and music at Wesleyan University in 2002 and 2003 on an Asian Cultural Council fellowship, completed a bachelor's degree in choreography at the Royal University of Fine Arts in 2003, and in 2008 received a master's degree in Southeast Asian Studies from Chulalongkorn University. (Chulalongkorn University, Hun Pen, The Revival of Cambodian Classical Dance after 1979 (2008); Center for Khmer Studies, Archive and documentation of Cambodian dance panel; Asian Cultural Council, Hun Pen grants; Hun Pen, official site)

A seven-minute solo inspired by the Garuda, her first contemporary work, made at the Indonesian Dance Festival choreography workshop in 2004 and presented at the festival (Amrita Performing Arts blog, A contemporary dance platform (2013))
The Krud Dance (Garuda), choreography dated 2015, which debuted on Cambodia's Got Talent (Hun Pen, official site; Campuccino #91 (2025))
The Revival of Cambodian Classical Dance after 1979, her master's thesis at Chulalongkorn University (2008) (Chulalongkorn University, Hun Pen, The Revival of Cambodian Classical Dance after 1979 (2008))
The One Voice Project (សំឡេងខ្មែរតែមួយ), an arts peace movement she founded in 2021 (Hun Pen, official site)

Dancer in the 2001 United States tour Dance: the Spirit of Cambodia, including Robam Apsara; see Royal University of Fine Arts (Asia Society, Dance: the Spirit of Cambodia program notes (2001))
Co-director of the Living Arts Festival Project at Cambodian Living Arts in 2004 and 2005, while teaching art history and dance part time at the Royal University of Fine Arts (Chulalongkorn University, Hun Pen, The Revival of Cambodian Classical Dance after 1979 (2008))
Choreographer and dancer with the Gallota Company in Grenoble in 2005 (Chulalongkorn University, Hun Pen, The Revival of Cambodian Classical Dance after 1979 (2008))
Coordinator of the Royal Ballet Project for the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and UNESCO from 2006, and Deputy Chief of the Choreographic Department from 2007 (Chulalongkorn University, Hun Pen, The Revival of Cambodian Classical Dance after 1979 (2008))
Deputy Director of the Department of Performing Arts (Center for Khmer Studies, Archive and documentation of Cambodian dance panel; Campuccino #91 (2025); Hun Pen, official site)

Most Outstanding Dancer and Student award from the Royal University of Fine Arts, and the title of Cultural Ambassador from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports in 2000 (Chulalongkorn University, Hun Pen, The Revival of Cambodian Classical Dance after 1979 (2008))
Asian Cultural Council grants for study at Wesleyan University and Chulalongkorn University (Asian Cultural Council, Hun Pen grants)