A new identity rooted in antiquity: re-enacting Angkor and the invention of the Apsara dance during Cambodian independence

These configurations in the French métropole had, from our transcultural viewpoint, considerable consequences for the real site back in Cambodia: the aesthetics of folkloric dance spectacles in torch-lit or electric floodlight atmosphere in front of mysterious temple skylines in France were re-imported back to the real site (Cravath 2007, 143). Say Sangvann’s private troupe had gained ‘the monopoly to perform the dance for tourists at Angkor Vat’ (Sasagawa 2005, 429) and her dancers now posed in gestures and costumes even more perfect than the depictions on the ancient bas-reliefs behind them.