Moni Mekhala and Ream Eyso (The Goddess And The Giant)

“There is a Cambodian legend that, once, a long time ago, there lived a goddess and a giant who were studying with the same teacher. A wise and powerful hermit who lived deep in the forest, the teacher possessed a magic ball, which he wanted to present to one of his devoted students. However, it was difficult for him to judge which of his star pupils, the goddess Moni Mekhala or the giant Ream Eyso, both of whom were just completing their studies with him, was more deserving of the ball. He decided to offer his pupils a challenge: The two were told to collect the morning dew. The first of them to present the hermit with a glassful of this liquid would be the winner. And the winner would receive the magic ball.”

-As retold by Toni Shapiro from The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies Website

So a few weeks ago the Art’s Council of Long Beach asked The Coral Youth Institute to produce a commercial for use as a promotional tool for The Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach, CA. The commercial is being made in an attempt to encourage Cambodian youth, both male and female, throughout the Southern California region to learn more about their culture and tradition through the long standing art of Cambodian Classical Dance. At the same time, several of the parents from KAA wanted me to capture some portraits for them after the commercial filming was done since that was one of the few times outside of a performance in which the kids would be dressed up in full costume. And just as an FYI, it takes multiple dressers an average of an hour to literally sew one dancer into one of the costumes that you’ll typically see on my blog, gallery, and site in general. And when I mean sew, the dressers actually do sew the dancers into costume just as it has been done since the very beginning of Cambodian Classical Dance during the Angkor period. So since getting the girls dressed up for the shoot was a major undertaking, it only makes sense to kill two birds with one stone as the old saying goes. But that’s enough from me for now so enjoy the photos!

Oh and one last thing before you go. If you’re interested in reading more about the story of Moni Mekhala and Ream Eyso you can visit The Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies Website here for a rendition as retold by Toni Shapiro. And for more pictures of the actual dance shot live during a performance by Khmer Arts Academy you can visit my Moni Mekhala and Ream Eyso gallery here.