Chea Samy (1919 – 1994) was a

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

n dancer. She is credited with the preservation and revival of '' robam kbach boran'' (classical Cambodian dance) following the

Cambodian genocide The Cambodian genocide was the systematic persecution and killing of Cambodian citizens by the Khmer Rouge under the leadership of Pol Pot. It resulted in the deaths of 1.5 to 2 million people from 1975 to 1979, nearly 25% of Cambodia's populati ...

by the

Khmer Rouge The Khmer Rouge is the name that was popularly given to members of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and by extension to Democratic Kampuchea, which ruled Cambodia between 1975 and 1979. The name was coined in the 1960s by Norodom Sihano ...

. She was the sister-in-law of

Pol Pot Pol Pot (born Saloth Sâr; 19 May 1925 – 15 April 1998) was a Cambodian politician, revolutionary, and dictator who ruled the communist state of Democratic Kampuchea from 1976 until Cambodian–Vietnamese War, his overthrow in 1979. During ...

, leader of the Khmer Rouge. Chea Samy was born in 1919 in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia to a family of farmers. In 1925, at the age of 5 or 6, she joined the royal dance troupe at the palace of King Sisowath in

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Cambodia, most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since 1865 and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its political, economic, industr ...

, which was under the charge of Princess Soumphady. After Sisowath's death in 1927, under his son King Monivong the troupe was led by Luk Khun Meak, a dancer and Monivong's mistress. Chea Samy became the leading dancer of Monivog's court, and her roles included Moni Mekhala in the '' Robam Moni Mekhala.Shapiro-Phim, Toni. "Chea Samy." ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre and Performance.'' : Oxford University Press, 2005'' Chea Samy married Loth Suong, a palace clerk and cousin of Luk Khun Meak. She and her husband helped raise Loth Suong's younger brother, Saloth Sâr, the future Pol Pot. She recalled "He was a very good boy. In all the years he lived with me, he never gave me any trouble at all." Chea Samy and her husband relocated to the countryside when the Khmer Rouge forcibly evacuated Cambodian cities, and they were forced to hide their identities as those with royal connections were persecuted. She did not learn of the identity of Pol Pot until 1979, when his photo was posted in the communal kitchen where she worked. Following the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the new government immediately attempted to save Cambodian culture before it was lost. Almost all the other practitioners of Cambodian classical dance, including Luk Khum Meak, had died in the Cambodian genocide, and the government turned to Chea Samy as nearly the sole surviving expert in the art form. She trained new generations of dancers, preserving Cambodian dance. She also choreographed new pieces, such as ''Priep Santepheap'' (''Doves of Peace'').'''' Chea Samy's story is told in the documentary ''Pol Pot Dancing'' by Enrique Sánchez Lansch, which will premiere in July 2024 at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chea, Samy Created via preloaddraft 1919 births 1994 deaths Cambodian dancers