A Celebration of Beauty

We have promised ourselves that on our last evening, we will go to the Apsara Theatre to see the traditional Cambodian dance it is named after.In fact we see more - there is the joyous dance of the coconuts, the atmospheric battle between good and evil which is the Mekhela, the coquetry of the fisherman's dance, in which a cheeky young lad woes an almost criminally coy young woman, and the feast of the senses that is the re-enactment of the key battle f the Ramayana. But by far the most beautiful is the first dance, the Apsaras.

We are given food, wine and a beautiful setting. And then we are given the dancers.

Elegant and graceful, full of light and colour and yet also imbued with a kind of magical stillness, the dancers glide across the floor. They are, in their rich fabrics, with their shining black hair beneath golden head dresses, and the calm, modest yet almost beatific expression on their faces, every bit as ethereal and beautiful as the original unearthly creatures the dance is derived from.

And as I watch, transfixed, it occurs to me that the very story, the ancient myth behind the Apsara story out of which grew the dance, and out of which in turn, grew these dancers, holds a very real poignancy for modern Cambodia.

The Gods and Demons were at war. They had been at war for decades, fighting with bloody fervour, over grievances long forgotten or grown obsolete. Tired of watching this slaughter, both sides being so powerful that no one, in this race, could actually win it, Vishnu encouraged the two sides to cease fighting and instead, to cooperate. If they were to churn the sea of milk, he told them, they could produce the nectar of immortality. But they would have to work together. Eternal life was a prize more worthy of effort than the causes of the original war and accordingly both sides set to work. With the help of mountains, dragon and turtles, they churned the sea of milk for hundred of years. The fight, however, was fixed. Vishnu told the gods that he would arrange at the end, that they alone would have the previous nectar. He advised both sides to use a huge snake to do the churning but let the demons take the head portion. The result was that the demons were poisoned slowly by noxious fumes emitted by the snake, while the gods remained safe at the tail. All the same, both gods and demons continued to churn.

The churning process caused a number of goddesses to emerge from the ocean, among them the Apsaras. Amid the sweat and toil the Apsaras were visions of divine beauty, dancing with sublime grace against the sky. It is these who are carved on ancient temples, and whose dance is reimagined in traditional Cambodian dance. 

In the end the divine liquid is finally produced and, after a series of small skirmishes, dished out to the gods - and one cunning don't who disguises himself as a God - and gets lucky.

What I focus on, and what Cambodian dance focused on - is not the immortality or the struggle itself, but the vision of beauty arising from struggle - and which can only be awakened when fighting ceases and both sides work together. 

I think of the Phare Cambodian circus, breathing breathtaking beauty out of breathtaking hardship.

I think of the Khmer Rouge, promising peace after years of fighting and the long years of suffering during its control. I think if the continuing war, the landmines left even once it was over, still waging a war on civilians too young to take sides.

I want beauty to grow from Cambodia's struggles - I want this peace to become a striving for better. I think of Dr Beat Richner, working to save the lives of the next generation, to implement an entire hospital staffed by individuals each of whom earn a fair wage - and reject bribery. 

I think of the Trail Blazer foundation, working to provide schooling and vocational training for poor communities.

I think of N, building clinics from empty bottles.

There is beauty emerging from Cambodia's hardship. If only it was as simple as churning an ocean. If only we could be sure that the right side would earn the elixir, or that the work would be done diligently, and done by both sides. 

But perhaps we should remember that in the original story, the beauty emerged as a result of the process - and not of the victory. 

There is a long way to go to heal Cambodia's poverty - but there is plenty of beauty in the journey.