2021 年 15 巻 p. 68-79
The process of imposing a new structure, or more specifically, the rationalization of traditional arts, is associated with fundamental shifts in knowledge and skill development, which cannot always be harmonized with historical practices. This paper focuses on Cambodian Court Dance (robam preah reaj trop) to illuminate the aforementioned dynamics as they unfolded during a 2-year interlude between 1927 and 1929. During this period, the Royal Palace-based residential learning community for court dance was brought under the aegis of the French colonial École des arts Cambodgiens. At the time, dancers and instructors were abruptly moved into a school-based system with an ensuing curriculum and instructional changes. The paper also examines how the “rationalization” of performing arts education maintained the technical educational elements, such as dance techniques and postures, but undercut the socialization that facilitated apprenticeship education (geidoteki totei kyouiku), which had, for centuries, been a key feature of the community and self-identity of the palace dancers. The study contemplated the underestimation of the importance of apprenticeship within a residential dance community as a learning experience that could inform future reorganizations of Cambodian traditional dance, with apprenticeship perpetuating its functions as a critical feature of dance education in Cambodia.
