Brodal Serei

Cambodian boxing dance

Project visual Brodal Serei
Successful
44
Contributions
11/04/2014
End date
€8,201
Out of €8,000
103 %

Supported by

CINEMA GALERIES supports the project Brodal Serei

The publications

<p> <img alt="Dans-brodal-serei-1474395816" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/351398/dans-brodal-serei-1474395816.jpg" /></p>
<p> A beautiful masculinity</p> <div> <p> &nbsp;</p> </div> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> In the cool shadows of a modest theatre three men shuffle, lunge</p> <p> and swerve with hypnotic artistry. The contortion of their bare arms and</p> <p> torsos imitate the &lsquo;physical gestures of Khmer boxing vocabulary&rsquo; in an</p> <p> elegant portrayal of the fighter&rsquo;s psyche and colours of his every day.&nbsp;</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Exquisitely choreographed, &lsquo;<em>Brodal Serei&rsquo;&nbsp;</em>is named after the traditional</p> <p> form of Cambodian freestyle boxing, whose culture and context is paid</p> <p> homage in a performance of beautiful macho-in-slow-motion.</p> <p> Starting with the playful intensity of a training hall, competitors flip and turn</p> <p> truck tyres, step into jump rope regimes, jibe and jump on one another with</p> <p> boisterous fondness.&nbsp;</p> <p> It is an exclusive world characterised by class and a distinctively masculine</p> <p> energy.</p> <p> This contemporary dance is a mirrored reality punctuated by fluid</p> <p> impressions of hocking spit and hiking the waist-band of sports shorts.</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Set against the colloquial narration of a boxer&rsquo;s dream, the show draws</p> <p> meaning from a fighter&rsquo;s visions of his own losses and wins.</p> <p> He speaks of fearlessly throwing punches and pain endured ringside,</p> <p> with fresh gashes stitched sans anaesthetic.&nbsp;</p> <p> The fighter&rsquo;s wife is also given voice. Her account wavers with the weight</p> <p> of concerns about rising costs of city-living and her partner&rsquo;s diminishing</p> <p> stamina in age. She yearns for a livelihood that does not bank on her</p> <p> husband&rsquo;s consciousness or the meagre income of hers&rsquo; alone.</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> <em>Brodal Serei</em>&nbsp;is an honest commentary about an almost-spiritual</p> <p> commitment to the sport and a fighter&rsquo;s shifting loyalties to his competing</p> <p> influencers. The boxing master, competitors and local bookies step on and</p> <p> off the stage with the moving tone of a hushed monologue.&nbsp;</p> <p> Teachings of the fighter&rsquo;s revered master, whose disciplined instruction pull</p> <p> him from a destined gang-life and the hangover of being born poor, is&nbsp;</p> <p> overshadowed by the desperation for money in an expensive city.&nbsp;</p> <p> Urban hunger devours the purity of martial art as the fighter is lured into&nbsp;</p> <p> throwing matches for quick cash.</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> A special portion of the program is also dedicated to spiritual customs and</p> <p> rituals associated with the sport. Set to the trance-like tempo of a traditional</p> <p> instrumental duo, two fighters heave, exhausted and disoriented.</p> <p> Their slight bodies are thrown against opposite walls of the theatre stage.</p> <p> They turn in convincing spells and the lights dim to near black as the magical</p> <p> spirit of&nbsp;<em>Brodal Serei&nbsp;</em>unfurls. Fists clasping chalk, they writhe and skirmish</p> <p> on the floor as if possessed, marking the stage with curly characters of&nbsp;</p> <p> Khmer script. One fighter draws a protective yantra on his right thigh.&nbsp;</p> <p> The prominent shadow of the master, softly chanting prayers for protection&nbsp;</p> <p> and strength, is cast up onto a large hand-painted billboard of two boxers and&nbsp;</p> <p> the sounds of Cambodian flute and drums breathe soul into the protracted,&nbsp;</p> <p> frenetic dance.</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> The ancient Cambodian martial arts of&nbsp;<em>Bokator&nbsp;</em>and&nbsp;<em>Yutakhun Khom</em>,&nbsp;</p> <p> whose almost-lost remnants are enjoying reimagined popularity among&nbsp;</p> <p> modern-day boxers and artists alike, have been done&nbsp;<em>great</em>&nbsp;justice in this&nbsp;</p> <p> latest offering by Amrita Performing Arts and Tomorrow dances asbl. &nbsp;</p> <p> The performance was conceived and choreographed by French-Cambodian&nbsp;</p> <p> Emmanu&eacute;le Phoun, whose recorded interviews with Phnom Penh boxer</p> <p> Him Sarann feature in the narration of the fighter&rsquo;s dream.</p> <p> Pre-show news coverage describes&nbsp;<em>Brodal Serei</em>&nbsp;as a &ldquo;biographical dance based&nbsp;</p> <p> on&hellip; conversations and friendship with Sarann, who Ms. Phoun befriended while&nbsp;</p> <p> observing boxers at Phnom Penh&rsquo;s Old Stadium.&rdquo; (Cambodia Daily, 17 December).&nbsp;</p> <p> The end product is magnetic, raw and real&ndash; rather like Cambodia herself&nbsp;</p> <p> &ndash; with visitors left wanting more; many more rounds of thesometimes dark magical&nbsp;</p> <p> and animated spirits that this performance evokes.</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> It is a strange thing to say about a dance, which weaves dreaming with blood-sports,</p> <p> but I left the theatre of Cambodia&rsquo;s Department of Performing Arts feeling as though</p> <p> I had experienced the rare privilege of deep cultural insight (and all within the space of an hour).</p> <p> I am now resolved to see a real-life&nbsp;<em>Brodal Serei</em>&nbsp;match before leaving Phnom Penh.</p> <p> Fittingly, the next live match will be held on Saturday 26<sup>th</sup>&nbsp;December 2015 &ndash; Boxing Day.</p> <p> To all those who find themselves in Cambodia, I cannot recommend seeing one of</p> <p> Amrita&rsquo;s performances enough. I give this performance more stars than all those a</p> <p> knocked-out fighter sees when coming-to.</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> <em>Brodal Serei</em>&nbsp;was made possible with funds from private donors, and an additional grant from the Asian Cultural Council. The production received in-kind lighting and sound support from the Khmer Arts/Sophiline Arts Ensemble.</p> <p> Read more about Amrita&rsquo;s &lsquo;<em>Brodal</em>&nbsp;<em>Serei&rsquo;:</em></p> <p> &lsquo;<a href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/lifestyle/khmer-boxing-inspires-contemporary-dance-show">Khmer boxing inspires contemporary dance show</a>&rsquo;, 17 December, 2015 (Phnom Penh Post)</p> <p> &lsquo;<a href="https://www.cambodiadaily.com/culture/choreographer-adopts-cambodian-boxing-to-new-stage-103257/">Choreographer adapts Cambodian boxing to new stage</a>&rsquo;, 17 December, 2015 (Cambodia Daily)</p> <p> &lsquo;<a href="https://www.cambodiadaily.com/archives/choreographers-new-dance-borrows-from-boxing-77401/">Choreographer&rsquo;s new dance borrows from boxing</a>&rsquo;, 5 February, 2015 (Cambodia Daily)</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Read more about Khmer martial arts:</p> <p> &lsquo;<a href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/post-weekend/back-ring-and-fighting-be-remembered">Back in the ring and fighting to be remembered</a>&rsquo;, 5 September, 2015 (Phnom Penh Post)</p> <p> &lsquo;<a href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/sport/cambodia%E2%80%99s-bokator-resurrected">Cambodia&rsquo;s Bokator resurrected</a>&rsquo;, 23 September, 2009 (Phnom Penh Post)</p> <p> &lsquo;<a href="http://www.phnompenhpost.com/siem-reap-insider/ancient-khmer-art-bokator">The ancient art of Khmer Bokator</a>&rsquo;, 16 October, 2009 (Phnom Penh Post)</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Also check out photographer John Vink&rsquo;s photo series that documents Khmer boxing in the book&nbsp;<a href="http://johnvink.com/story.php?title=Book_Poids_Mouche"><em>Poids Mouche</em></a><em>.</em></p> <div> &nbsp;</div>
<p> <img alt="Brodalsereiflyercoloursimage_page_1-1450324500" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/261292/BrodalSereiFlyerColoursImage_Page_1-1450324500.jpg" /></p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Dear you,</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> I have left you without news for quite a long time&hellip;</p> <p> That is because it took some time to find the means to be where we are today: at the eve of the first of two performances of Brodal Serei in Phnom Penh, at the department of Performing Arts.</p> <p> It is still a work in progress from a production standpoint, but we will perform on a real stage with a real audience. A producer is coming from Singapore to eventually present it next year, and a videographer will work today and tomorrow on filming the piece.</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Yeay, wish us luck!</p> <p> Again and always, thank you to you who have been there for us from the start!</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Manou</p>
<p> Sorry! for John Vink website</p> <p> <a href="http:// johnvink.com/news/" target="_blank">http:// johnvink.com/news/</a></p>
<p> &nbsp;</p> <p> <img alt="Vij2015003h0358-1423675002" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/161370/VIJ2015003H0358-1423675002.jpg" /></p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Dear kisskissbankers,</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> I am back in Belgium and can say with pride that 80% of the piece is done: I am missing an ending, and the final phase of production which entails the intervention of other creative people, such as lighting and sound designers.</p> <p> We ended five weeks of rehearsals with an open rehearsal. I do think we have something good in hand. We filmed what we had, and we are now trying to produce the show in November, in a circus tent or in one of the three theaters in Phnom Penh.</p> <p> So here I am again looking for funds! Except this time I have been lucky and am starting with a quarter of what is needed, and the people who came to watch were enthusiastic and promised to help. I therefore feel pretty good about the future.</p> <p> I will try to send you an extract of the the filmed rehearsal as soon as I will receive it so I can &nbsp;share with you the atmosphere of this new piece.</p> <p> Until then I urge you to re-visit John Vink website&nbsp;<a href="http://© John Vink / Magnum Photos" target="_blank">http://&copy; John Vink / Magnum Photos</a>&nbsp; and if you click on News and scroll down, you will find a few entries on Brodal Serei with magnificent pictures. He is really doing me a huge favor!</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> With all my gratitude,</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Manou</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> &nbsp;</p>
<p> Take time to admire these amazing photographs of our rehearsals.</p> <p> see under the title dancers are boxing</p> <p> <a href="http://johnvink.com/news/" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;">http://johnvink.com/news/</a></p>
<p> Dear friends</p> <p> First let me wish you the best for the new year, I wish you many discoveries!</p> <p> My own wishes are granted: I am back in Cambodia working on Brodal Serei.</p> <p> First day after a year apart, we did some catching up, we worked and we laughed although the boxer tries not to, because he has lost two teeth in a combat...</p> <p> So we have a lot of work ahead of us, and also a few visits to the dentist.</p> <p> I will keep you in touch with my Cambodian adventures, and in the near future you can expect postcards and short videos in your real and virtual mailboxes!</p> <p> We are all very excited,</p> <p> warm regards from Phnom Penh</p> <p> Manou</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> &nbsp;</p>
<p> Dear you who have supported me,</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> For now I need to work on your perks, please give me a little time.</p> <p> I will keep you in touch as we go along. I just arranged with the dancers and the dramaturge to start rehearsals on Jan 5th, 2015 and end on Feb 6th. We are all so excited and eager to start,and we will get in touch with you again beginning of the year for more news.</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> With all our gratitude,</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Manou Tou Mo Rady</p>
<p> <img alt="Chronique_pascal-1413046250" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/127298/Chronique_Pascal-1413046250.jpg" /></p>
<p> &quot;The excerpt of Brodal Serei I saw last night is</p> <p> a story about boxing</p> <p> a story about man, combat, tension, of restraint of the body and dazzling speed</p> <p> a story about precision, rhythm, breath and emotion</p> <p> a dance story</p> <p> admirably interpreted by Tou, the cambodian dancer.</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> Thank you Manou for this beautiful moment.</p> <p> I am eager to see the finished project.</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <p> &nbsp;</p> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"> &nbsp;</div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"> &nbsp;</div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"> &nbsp;</div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"> &nbsp;</div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Calibri; font-size: 16px;"> &nbsp;</div>
<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"> &nbsp;</div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"> &nbsp;</div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"> &nbsp;</div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"> <img alt="Tou_monkey-1410590144" src="https://d3v4jsc54141g1.cloudfront.net/uploads/project_image/image/119184/Tou_monkey-1410590144.jpg" style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;" /></div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"> &nbsp;</div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"> &nbsp;</div> <div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 14px;"> <div> <div> One of the dancers of Brodal Serei has just arrived in Brussels. Taking advantage of this, please join us this&nbsp;<b>Thursday Sept 18th at the cinema des Galeries, 26 Galerie de la Reine at 7:00 PM.</b></div> <div> We will show you excerpts of our past project and you will be able to meet Tou and see dance (a little bit&hellip;)</div> <div> Please let me know if you plan on coming, it would be a real pleasure to see you!</div> </div> </div> <p> &nbsp;</p>