The all-male dance troupe Prumsodum Ok & Natyarasa is trying to alter perceptions of the LGBT community in Cambodia
Gold jewellery glistening, six male dancers from Cambodia’s first gay “Apsara” troupe swirl in unison on a dimly lit stage, their production a radical shake-up of a ballet form peformed by women for more than a thousand years.

“Some people say LGBTQ people are born abnormal,” 23-year-old dancer Chan Sory tells AFP during a rehearsal in Phnom Penh.

“So our goal is to use art to change their mindset.”
The gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community in Cambodia is still plagued by prejudice
He is part of Prumsodum Ok & Natyarasa, an all-male Apsara company trying to alter perceptions of the gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community in Cambodia — which is still plagued by prejudice.

Bare-chested men wearing crowns and traditional sarongs glide through the slow, graceful movements of the Khmer dance, arching their hands back in poses normally performed by young women in golden dresses.
Men wearing crowns and traditional sarongs glide through the slow, graceful movements of the Khmer dance
The soulful pop of Britain’s Sam Smith, who recently came out as non-binary, is interwoven with traditional Khmer melodies.

Apsara is a celebrated part of Khmer culture — dancers are engraved on the walls of the Angkorian empire’s surviving temples in Siem Reap — and founder Prumsodum Ok says some people are angry he is breaking with convention.


More details below:

https://www.afriupdate.com/culture/cambodias-first-gay-dance-troupe-upends-centuries-of-tradition/