Welcome/Inclusion Activity:

• Invite students to consider their preferred mode of artistic expression – singing, playing instruments, dance, acting, drawing, etc. 
• Ask students: How do they feel when they engage in this activity? How did they learn this activity? Are they still learning and getting better?
• This could be done with partners or in small groups, selecting a few volunteers to share to the whole-class.

Vocabulary Building:

• Teacher should introduce the following vocabulary terms to the class:
  • Apsara: a heavenly spirit, represented by a beautiful female dancer.
  • Diaspora: the populations around the world of people from a specific culture or homeland.
  • Culture: the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group.
  • Refugee: a person who has been forced to leave their country in order to escape war, persecution, or natural disaster.
  • Traditional: passed on from generation to generation.
  • Community: a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristics in common.
• If time permits, provide opportunities for engaging with the vocabulary. Students can create Frayer vocabulary boxes for each term, or look up visual representations for each vocabulary word.

Anticipation Guide: 

• Provide physical/digital copies of the following images. If physical copies of images, post the pictures all around the classroom (similar to a gallery walk). If digital, share the photo/links on an accessible document.
  • Refugee Camp Dance Group: Janet Vanniroth (back row, to the left of dance teacher), 1981, near Chun Buri, Thailand https://hslb.org/jenet-vanniroth-10/
  • Image, Apsara Depiction 2 https://hslb.org/dance/
  • Image, Postcard of Modern Classical Cambodian Dancers https://hslb.org/?s=Postcard+of+Modern+Classical+Cambodian+Dancers+
  • Image, from collection “Rebirth of dance in the camps” https://hslb.org/?s=dance+in+camps
  • Image from collection of Hang Leng https://hslb.org/?s=Hang+Leng
• Have students view all of the photos and jot down initial thoughts: 
  • What do you see?
  • What do you wonder? 
  • What can we learn about history from this photo?
• Have students share their answer to the following question with a peer, then have a whole class discussion.
  • How has the Cambodian community used traditional dance to stay connected to their cultural past?
• Provide students with the lesson background before proceeding to the next part of the lesson.

Shared Learning:

• Have students form groups of four. 
• Use the following resources to engage students in learning about traditional Cambodian dance. Each student in the group will be assigned a particular source to analyze and answer the corresponding questions.
  • Student 1: Needham,S., Andes, J., Rodriguez, B. 2004. Socialization in a Cambodian-American Dance Class. [Paper presented at the 2004 annual meetings of the Southwestern Anthropological Association, CSU Dominguez Hills]. https://ucdavis.box.com/s/10iulj1ljnqmkbmuou6iw1yrmh3s3eui
    • Pages six through nine: These pages connect Cambodian history and culture to the study of traditional dance today. Some questions for discussion might include:
      1. According to the text, why do Cambodians around the world feel that it’s important to keep traditional dance alive?
      2. What are some details about how Sophiline Cheam Shapiro has helped to keep traditional Cambodian dance alive?
      3. Describe the Pin Peat. Does it remind you of any musical groups that you already know about?
  • Student 2: Cambodian-American Heritage Dancers with Chum Ngek Ensemble – Library of Congress  https://youtu.be/onkS06S4UVY?t=4232 (Start at 1:10:32)
    • This clip explains the traditional hand movements in Cambodian dance. Some questions for discussion might include:
      1. How do the hand movements of traditional Cambodian dance tell a story?
      2. What do you notice about what the older woman in dark red is doing with the younger woman in blue and white? Why do you think she is doing this?
  • Student 3: Needham,S., Andes, J., Rodriguez, B. (2004). Socialization in a Cambodian-American Dance Class. [Paper presented at the 2004 annual meetings of the Southwestern Anthropological Association, CSU Dominguez Hills]. https://ucdavis.box.com/s/10iulj1ljnqmkbmuou6iw1yrmh3s3eui
    • Pages 18–22: Alex, a young Cambodian dance student. Some questions for discussion might include:
      1. Why did Alex’s parents enroll her in traditional Cambodian dance lessons?
      2. How did Alex improve her dancing skills over time?
      3. Why do you think it might be important for younger dancers to learn from older dancers? Can you think of other information that is passed down from older people to younger people?
  • Student 4: Guerra, C. 2023, May 3. “Two dance companies turn pandemic survival into evolution.” https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/05/03/angkor-dance-troupe-boston-ballet-pandemic?fbclid=IwAR0lxFZ78MoAqNRS8G5dZQzIg0bWr8nlT-Mzh4QxGsN7oXCymDufqbBYB-Y
    • Some questions for discussion might include:
      1. What is the Angkor Dance Troupe mindset on cultural preservation and its significance?
      2. What is the legacy that Angkor Dance Troupe hopes to achieve and pass onto future generations?
• Once each student has finished reading their source and answering their questions, they will report back to the rest of the students in their group. The questions can be used to guide students in reporting back main ideas and takeaways. 

Class Reflection/Assessment: 

• Teachers will have the following questions posted on bulletin paper. Alternatively, questions can be posted on a digital platform such as Google Slides, or Padlet.
  • How is traditional Cambodian dance connected to Cambodian history?
  • What can we learn about Cambodian culture?
  • What can we learn about Cambodian history?
  • What can we learn about traditional Cambodian dance?
• If the questions are posted on bulletin paper, provide each student with 4 post-it notes. Each student will construct their reflection response to all 4 questions and post it onto the bulletin paper. 
  • If this is completed digitally, each student will have to add their reflection response to the slide/page/section that the question is posted.
• Once all students have finished adding their responses, have students review their peers' comments, noting commonalities or new learnings.
• Have a class discussion about main takeaways from the lesson as it pertains to the questions.