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Date:
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Time:
Part I: 9am-12pm
Cultural Ceremony Blessing by Buddhist Monks for Happiness, Peace and Prosperity
Part II: 3pm-8:30pm
Khmer traditional foods, and various forms of entertainment, including speakers, traditional Khmer dance and music performances, modeling and presentations of Khmer textiles and fashions, and displays of Khmer art and handicrafts
Place:
Central Union Church, The Parish Hall
1660 South Beretania Street
Honolulu, Hawai'i 96826 Google Map| Direction
 Hidden Treasures-Southeast Asian Americans in Hawai'i:
There are relatively few Khmer (Cambodians), Laotians, and Burmese in Hawai'i compared to other states, such as California, whose populations of these groups number in the tens of thousands, and thus, their narratives have remained hidden within the expanse of Hawai'i's multicultural landscape. While many may have learned about Asian American immigrant history of some groups through schooling or experience--Japanese Americans, Korean Americans, Chinese Americans, and Filipino Americans, for example--they may be less familiar with mainland Southeast Asian Americans. They are likely unaware of the atrocities committed in Cambodia in the 1970s and the resultant out flux of Cambodians to the United States; the assistance of ethnic Hmong to the American government in Laos during the Vietnam War and their unique history in the U.S. as refugees; or the brutal regime currently in power in Myanmar (Burma), the fear of which affects the family members of hundreds of Burmese Americans. It is important to learn about these groups and their histories, however, for all students: individuals who become health professionals will certainly have to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder, common to refugee populations; students of the arts and dance miss an extraordinary opportunity if they do not learn about the classical dances immortalized on the temple walls of the Angkor Wat complex; students of international politics can better understand what a dictatorship truly is if they talk to those personally affected by one.
Khmer New Year is observed by Cambodians at the end of the harvest season. Held in the month of April, the Khmer New Year celebration is perhaps the most important celebration for Cambodian people, and is a tradition Cambodians in Hawai'i have struggled to keep alive. The celebration is a two-part activity that includes a morning Buddhist ritual ceremony and evening cultural presentations, film showings, storytelling and traditional games, and dance and folk music performances. Because of the loss of artisans during the genocide of the 1970s, and because of the small nature of the community, it is extremely important to Cambodians in Hawai'i to recreate this celebration here. In fact, the community plans to bring in several cultural experts (e.g., dancers) from out of state to take part in the Hawai'i New Year celebration, simply because there are no persons residing here full-time that have the knowledge necessary to recreate the essential dances. Those who survived are true cultural treasures, with knowledge no longer documented in written or visual form (books were burned, as were photographs and films). There are, fortunately, a few folk musicians living in Hawai'i, and they can play to accompany the dancers. Specific projects for this event will include:
1) invitation of three classically-trained dancers to perform the dances for the New Year;
2) special interactive session by Khmer dancers/musicians to teach university and community members the meanings of the dances;
3) a special performance by Cambodian-American rapper Prach Ly;
4) free cultural/historical film showings;
5) special guest speakers leading up to and at the event explaining various aspects of the festival.
By learning about the circumstances affecting Southeast Asians in Hawai'i, the greater community will hopefully take an interest in and become involved with these groups, which have some of the lowest incomes in the state (and in the country), with high rates of drug use and physical and mental health challenges. These concerns are currently significantly unmet, as unfortunately, the communities are often overlooked and underserved by state programs. Our program initiative can serve as a first step toward long-term impact on enhancing diversity in Hawai'i.
It is our intention that our Khmer New Year celebration will provide learning opportunities for the general public to learn about our "hidden treasures" here in the islands, and how the issues they face are national and global-not just regional-issues. The specific projects described above will initiate dialogue about diversity, fairness, and equity by ensuring that all populations are represented equally throughout the Hawai'i community.
Best wishes to all of you and your families for a
Happy New Year! We hope to see you on the 12th.
New Year Traditions/Games, click here.
To read "The Legend of Cambodian New Year," click here.
Cambodian Dance:
Khmer music and dance can be divided into three broad categories:
1) classical
or court ensembles, which were traditionally performed for royalty,
2) folk or village ensembles, performed for local celebrations or ceremonies, and
3) vernacular or social ensembles which are danced at social events.
Below are some of the dances that will be performed during our Khmer New Year 2008. We are fortunated to have dancers from California and Washington State to perform for us this year.
Classical Dance:
Blessing or Wishing Dance (Robam Choun Por):
A traditional dance, performed at the beginning of a ceremony to welcome
and bless the audience, originally performed only for the King and other members of the Royal Family, the leaders of the country and their official guests.
Heavenly Gods and Goddesses for Happiness (Robam Tep Monorom):
This dance depicting Gods and Goddesses dressed in the finest regalia having a wonderful time dancing or performing in heaven. Robam Tep Monorom is a very typical dance because it shows the dance (courting) gestures between the gods and goddesses in heaven. This dance repertoire is found through most classical court dance gestures in courting scenes where the hero meets his lover and they display the traditional affections that is often expressed in the Khmer style of love. The costumes also reflect the what the Khmer kings and queens would have worn. A wonderful spectacle to watch as well as the most often performed dance.
Folk dance:
Flower of the World (Robam Bopha Lokei):
The words in the song accompanying this dance
are translated as follows: "Usually everybody
wants flowers - For decoration or to decorate the
body - The sweet scent of the flowers bring
prosperity - The beauty of the flowers is like
the beauty of the girls - Everybody admires the
flowers - Even the bees surrounding the flowers
want pollen - Flowers fully bloomed make you want
to pick them and turn them into flower garlands."
Robam Kuos Tralork (Coconut Shell Dance):
The coconut dance is a routine that Cambodian people traditionally perform
after working hard in the fields and on occasions such as Khmer New Year
and sometimes at weddings. This dance, originally from Svay Rieng
province, stages a ritual harvest celebration, when all the rice paddies
are cut. It is highly rhythmical and punctuated with shouts and the rapping
of coconuts.
Lady in Line (Robam Neary Chea Chuor):
A traditional Khmer dance of young Cambodian women wearing colorful and elegant costumes. The dance reminds the Khmer people of the rich culture that has been nourished through generations, and it is well known among the neighboring countries of South-East Asia
Vernacular dance:
New Year in April (Kai Chet Jol Chhnam):
Cambodian Textiles - Seven Colors for Seven Days:
Seven beautiful Cambodian ladies dressed in vibrant color pamoung for seven days of the week:
Sunday - Red,
Monday - Yellow-Orange,
Tuesday - Purple,
Wednesday - Mustard-Green,
Thursday - Green,
Friday - Blue,
Saturday - Burgundy
For special occasion, Cambodians believe that choosing the right color of clothes in accordance with its color chart will bring good luck and happiness.
Degree Without Love (Jeab Bakdub Job Snaeh):
Cambodian-American Rapper: Prach Ly
praCh, born in the farmland of Cambodia but raise on the mean streets of America. He received international attention with his first album 'DALAMA..."the end'n is just the beginnin". His highly anticipated follow-up album 'DALAMA.."the lost chapter." catapults his status into raps elites. Through masterful lyrics of powerful rap music, his music educates young and old about the Cambodian genocide and the life in the Cambodian community. His music/lyrics has been publish by Manoa, for the book " In the shadow of Angkor"; which is being use for south east Asians studies in colleges and universities, he is also working on film documentary and has collaborated with many other movies productions. Newsweek proclaim him as the "pioneer of Khmer Rap" and "the first Cambodian rap star." He's also the CEO of Mujestic Records, youngest coordinator of the Cambodian New Year for 2002, in 2003 he release Dalama..."the lost chapter." which independently sold 100,000 plus, and in 2004 he went on a 23 states tour across the United States. In January 2005 he return for the first time to his home land Cambodia and his extrodinary journey was documented by NHK to be air this summer. He as also tour many Collage campus and University such as CSLB, CSF, UCLA, Columbia , Hawaii, Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Brown, UC Berkly, NYC, and the Smithsonian in DC and also the University in Cambodia. He is currrently working on his last Dalama album which is titled; Dalama..."Memoirs of the Invisible War". And on April 16th, 2006 he was the GRAND MARSHAL at the 2nd Anual Cambodian New Year Parade. He has been feature and been written up by Cambodia Daily, Phnom Penh Post, Newsweek, Times Magazine, ABC, CBS, CNN, NBC, FOX, PBS, Press-Telegram, LA Times, Hmong Times, OC Weekly, 562 Magazine, Asia Week, Khmerconnection.com and many more. a highly recognized and respected community figure. praCh resides in Long Beach California/ Jacksonville Florida. For more information, click here.
Volunteers:
Mahalo to all the volunteers!!
Year of the Rat:
TBD
Performers:
* CCH, CSAloha, & CSBYUH members
Special Guest Appearance:
* Prach Ly (Long Beach, CA | Jacksonville, FL)
* Soknara Buth (Seattle, WA)
* Sinoun & Angel Buth (San Jose, CA)
Mahalo to all of our participants for all of their hard work.
Guest & Keynote Speakers:
TBA
Demonstration of martial arts of Bokator, Khmer kick boxing (Pradal Serey)
During the Angkorean period, Boxkator was practiced by Khmer kings and generals.
'Boxkator' actually has two meanings. Originally labok katou, the first element, labok, means 'to wield a wooden stick' and the second, katou, 'lion.' Thus, boxkator also means 'wielding a wooden stick to fight lions.' Bokator will be featured on History Channel's "Human weapon".
Make a Donation:
Admission to our New Year Event is free, but donations are welcome and appreciated.
Donations are used to help offset the expenses for this event and future events. You can donate by check, payable to:
Cambodian
Community of Hawaii (CCH)
P.O. Box 23023
Honolulu, HI 96823
Thank you for your support and generosity!
Sponsorship:
We would like to ask for your support in monetary sponsorship to help offset the expenses for the event, so that we can make this event affordable to our community members. In return we will provide advertisement in our program booklet. We can print your business card, or help you to design an ad.
To place an ad, please email us for more information.
Sponsoring/Participating Groups:
with partial funding provided by the
Student Equity, Excellence and Diversity (SEED) - University of Hawaii at Manoa
Student Activity and Program Fee Board (SAPFB) - University of Hawaii at Manoa
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