justin imidge

khmer tra­di­tional dance. shows greater affin­ity with thai court dance than neigh­bour­ing viet­namese tra­di­tions. this troupe were all local siem reap (mostly chil­dren) per­form­ers, whose liveli­hood is depen­dent on the munif­i­cence of tourists. pretty, if not tech­ni­cally accom­plished, these kids did their best, but sit­ting there in the knowl­edge that the rela­tion­ship between us — tourist and spec­ta­cle — can never be equi­table, makes for at best an ambigu­ous plea­sure in a coun­try which is the poor­est in a poor region.