or the art of Khmer classical dance,

「Robam kbach boran」，

is more than 1,000 years old.

也就是高棉古典舞蹈藝術，

It was developed as a prayer in movement

有超過一千年的歷史。

for rain and fertility,

它被發展出來時，是種動態的祈禱，

and a prosperity that this meant for an agricultural society.

祈求下雨及豐產，

Dancers who were both men and women

以及農業社會的繁榮昌盛。

were offered to temples

舞者，不論男女，

where they served as living bridges between heaven and earth.

被獻給神廟，

Their dancing bodies carried the prayers of the people up to the gods,

在神廟裡，他們是天堂 與地獄之間的活橋樑。

and the will of the deities was delivered back through them

他們跳舞的身體 將人民的祈禱向上帶給神，

to the people and the land.

而諸神的旨意會透過他們

There are a lot of curves in Khmer dance.

被傳回給人民以及大地。

Our backs are arched,

在高棉舞蹈中有許多的曲線。

our knees are bent,

我們的背是弧形的，

our toes are curled,

我們的膝蓋是彎著的，

our elbows are hyperflexed

我們的腳趾是捲曲的，

and our fingers are curved backwards.

我們的手肘是過度屈曲的，

All of these curves create a serpentine impression,

我們的手指是向後彎曲的。

and this is important because before the introduction of major religions,

所有這些曲線， 創造出一種蛇行的印象，

Khmers, and people all over the world practiced animism.

這點很重要，因為在 主要的宗教出現之前，

Serpents were especially important in this belief system

高棉人以及世界其他地方的人 信奉的是獸性主義。

because in their fluid, curvilinear movement,

在這個信仰系統中， 蛇是特別重要的，

they mimicked the flow of water.

因為牠們流暢、曲線式的移動，

So to invoke the serpent in your dancing body then

模仿水的流動。

was to conjure the image of rivers cutting across the earth:

所以，喚醒你舞動身軀裡的蛇，

inspire the flow of life-giving waters.

就是召喚出河流切過地球的景象：

As you can see then,

鼓舞生命之流來供應水。

Khmer classical dance is a transformation of nature,

如各位所見，

of both the physical world around us and of our own internal universe.

高棉古典舞蹈是在轉換大自然，

We have four primary hand gestures that we use.

包括我們身邊的實體世界， 以及我們自己內在的宇宙。

Can we do them together?

我們用的手勢，主要有四種。

Yeah? OK.

我們能一起做嗎？

This is a tree.

好嗎？好。

That tree will grow,

這是一棵樹。

and then it will have leaves.

這棵樹會長大，

After it has leaves,

接著它會長出葉子。

it'll have flowers,

在它長出葉子之後，

and after it has flowers,

它會開花，

it'll have fruit.

在它開花之後，

That fruit will drop

它會結果。

and a new tree will grow.

果實會掉落，

And in those four gestures

然後會長出一棵新的樹。

is the cycle of life.

在這四個手勢當中的，

These four gestures are then used

就是生命的循環。

to create a whole entire language with which dancers express themselves.

這四個手勢接著被用來 創造整個完整的語言，

So for example,

讓舞者能用這語言表達他們自己。

I can say,

比如，

"I."

我可以說，

"I."

「我。」

In dance that would be ...

「我。」

"I."

在舞蹈中就會是……

Or I can say ...

「我。」

"Hey you, come here, come here."

或是我可以說：

In dance ...

「嘿，你，過來這裡，過來這裡。」

"Come here,"

在舞蹈中……

or, "Go, go."

「過來這裡。」

(Laughter)

或：「走開，走開。」

"Go."

（笑聲）

And everything from ...

「走開。」

love ...

而一切，從……

to sadness,

愛……

to --

到悲傷，

(Stomping)

到……

anger

（重踩）

can be expressed through the dance as well.

憤怒，

There's a certain magic

都能透過舞蹈來表現。

in the way that things are filtered, transformed and put together

有一種魔法潛藏在各種事物

to create limitless possibilities in art.

被過濾、轉化、 組合在一起的方式當中，

The Khmer word for art,

在藝術中創造出無限的可能性。

silapak,

在高棉語中，藝術叫做「silapak」，

in fact, at its root, means "magic."

事實上，原始的意思就是「魔法」。

The artist --

藝術家叫做「silapakar」，

the silapakar,

或是「silapakarani」，

or the silapakarani, then,

就是個魔法師。

is nothing short of a magician.

我能很驕傲地說，

I am very proud to say

我隸屬於一個悠久的魔法師家族，

that I belong to a long line of magicians,

從我的老師，索佛琳希姆莎普羅，

from my teacher, Sophiline Cheam Shapiro,

到她那些在皇宮中擔任 明星舞者的老師們，

to her teachers who were stars in the royal palace,

再到吳哥窟的古老舞者，

to the ancient dancers of Angkor

再到原始村民，

and to the primal villagers

賦予這個藝術形式生命的原始村民。

from which the art form originally took life.

但是，

That said,

我們珍惜的遺產 曾一度幾乎全被摧毀。

our cherished heritage was once almost completely destroyed.

如果你戴眼鏡，

If you are wearing glasses,

請站起來。

please stand up.

如果你會說超過一種語言，

If you speak more than one language,

請站起來。

please stand up.

如果你的膚色白皙，

If you have light skin,

請站起來。

please stand up.

你的眼鏡意味著 你負擔得起健康照護。

Your glasses meant that you could afford health care.

會說第二或第三語言， 表示你受過菁英教育。

That second or third language you spoke indicated your elite education.

白皙的膚色意味著 你無須在太陽底下工作。

Your light skin meant you didn't have to work beneath the sun.

在紅色高棉統治下， （註：柬埔寨共產黨及其追隨者）

Under the Khmer Rouge,

紅色高棉在 1975 年到 1979 年間佔領了柬埔寨，

who took over Cambodia from 1975 to 1979,

在他們統治下，我們早就都沒命了，

we would all be dead now,

因為我們繼承的特權而成為目標。

targeted because of our assumed privilege.

你們知道，

You see,

紅色高棉看著柬埔寨時，

the Khmer Rouge looked to Cambodia,

他們看到的是數世紀來 堅固不變的不平等。

and they saw centuries of rigid inequality.

國王，以及他身邊的幾個菁英，

The king and the few elites around him

有世界上所有的樂趣與安逸，

had all the pleasures and comforts of the world

而多數大眾都在做非常辛勞的苦工，

while the mass majority suffered from backbreaking labor

飽受貧困之苦。

and harsh poverty.

你不需要看史書也知道這是真實的。

You don't need a history book to see that this is true.

高棉語中的「我（主詞）」

The Khmer word for "I,"

或「我（受詞）」

for "me,"

是「khnhom」。

is khnhom.

這個字的另一個意思就是「奴隸」，

This very same word can also mean "slave"

而舞者其實被稱為是 「knhom preah robam」，

and dancers were in fact known as knhom preah robam,

意思是「神聖舞蹈的奴隸」。

or "slaves of the sacred dance."

紅色高棉尋求的是 終止柬埔寨的奴隸制度，

The Khmer Rouge sought to end slavery in Cambodia,

但不知怎麼的，他們卻 為此把每個人都變為了奴隸。

yet somehow they turned everyone into slaves to do it.

他們變成了他們想要終止的迫害。

They became the oppression that they sought to end.

他們撤空了首都，

They evacuated the capital

強迫人民去勞改營。

and forced people into labor camps.

他們拆散了家庭，

They tore families apart

把孩童洗腦，讓他們 對抗自己的父母。

and brainwashed children against their own parents.

不論何處都有人死亡、被殺害，

Everywhere, people were dying and being killed,

他們喪命的原因包括疾病、

losing their lives from disease,

工作過度、

overwork,

處決及饑餓。

execution and starvation.

結果是不到四年，

The result of this is that an entire third of Cambodia's population was lost

柬埔寨就減少了三分之一的人口，

in less than four years,

其中包括了 90% 的 高棉舞蹈藝術家。

and in that number were 90 percent of Khmer dance artists.

換言之，

In other words,

就這樣失去了十分之九

nine out of 10 visions for the tradition and future were lost.

對傳統及未來的憧憬和夢想。

Thankfully, however,

然而，謝天謝地，

it was my teacher's teachers,

我老師的老師們，

Chea Samy, Soth Sam On and Chheng Phon,

奇兒塞米、索斯沙姆昂、和臣朋，

who would lead the revival of the art form

她們領導著這個藝術形式，

from the ashes of war and genocide:

從戰爭與大屠殺的灰燼中重生：

one student,

一次一名學生，

one gesture,

一次一個手勢，

one dance at a time.

一次一支舞。

They wrote the love,

他們將愛、

magic,

魔法、

beauty,

美、

history and philosophy of our lineage

歷史以及哲學的血統，

into the bodies of the next generation.

寫入了下一代的身體中。

Nearly 40 years later,

接近四十年後，

Khmer classical dance has been revived to new heights.

高棉古典舞蹈的重生達到了新高點。

Yet somehow it still exists in a vulnerable environment.

但它卻仍然存在於 一個脆弱的環境中。

The disastrous effects of war still haunt Khmer people today.

戰爭的災難性影響 至今仍纏著高棉人。

It is written in our bodies,

它被銘刻在我們的身體中，

manifested in a genetic passage of PTSD

在創傷後壓力症候群的基因傳遞中，

and in families facing cyclical poverty

以及在面對循環式貧困、 巨大文化裂口、

and immense cultural rifts and language barriers.

及語言障礙的家庭中呈現出來。

Yet beauty is a most resilient thing.

但「美」是最有恢復力的。

Beauty has this ability to grow anywhere and everywhere

「美」有能力

at any time.

在任何地方、所有地方、 任何時候都能成長。

Beauty is what connects people through time and place.

「美」穿過時間與空間 將人連結起來。

Beauty is a liberation from suffering.

「美」是苦難中的解放。

As Khmer artists work to revive our culture and country,

當高棉藝術家努力復興 我們的文化與國家時，

we find that there are many paths in which to move forward into the future.

我們發現，有很多條路 可以向未來前進。

And in a tradition where we often don't know the dancer's names,

在傳統中，我們通常 不知道舞者的名字，

who they were,

他們是誰，

what their lives were like,

他們的人生是什麼樣子，

what they felt,

他們感覺到什麼。

let me propose that we move forward honestly and openly from "khnhom."

讓我提議，我們從「khnhom」 開始誠實且開放地向前行。

Khnhom not as in slave,

這裡的 khnhom 不是指奴隸，

but as in conscious service.

而是指有意識的服務。

Khnhom:

khnhom：

"I,"

「我（主詞）。」

"me,"

「我（受詞）。」

"flowering."

「開花。」

My name is Prumsodun Ok.

我的名字叫普朗蘇東奧克。

I am Khmer,

我是高棉人，

and I am American.

我是美國人。

I am the child of refugees,

我是難民的孩子，

a creator, a healer,

我是一名創作者、治療者、

and a builder of bridges.

以及造橋者。

I am my teacher's first male student

我是我老師的第一位男學生，

in a tradition understood by many as female,

許多人認為這是個女性的傳統，

and I founded Cambodia's first gay dance company.

而我成立了柬埔寨的 第一個同志舞團。

I am the incarnation of the beauty, dreams and power

我是前人的美麗、夢想、

of those who came before me.

及力量的化身。

The convergence of past, present and future,

我是過去、現在、及未來的交集，

and of individual and collective.

我是個人，也是集體。

Let me then play that ancient and ageless role

讓我扮演那古老且永恆的角色：

of the artist as messenger,

身為信差的藝術家，

by sharing the words of Chheng Phon

讓我來分享臣朋的話：

"A garden with only one type of flower,

「如果花園中只有一種花，

or flowers of only one color,

或是只有一種顏色的花，

is no good."

就不是好花園。」

This is a reminder that our strength,

這是在提醒我們，我們的力量、

growth,

成長、

survival

生存、

and very existence,

以及特有的存在，

lies in diversity.

都在於多樣性。

It is, however,

然而，它也是個關於勇氣的訊息。

a message of courage as well.

因為一朵花並不需要 任何人的允許才能綻放。

For a flower does not ask for anyone's permission to bloom.

它生出來，就是要將 它自己獻給世界的。

It was born to offer itself to the world.

它的天性就是無懼的愛。

Fearless love is its nature.

謝謝。

Thank you.

（掌聲）

(Applause)