Please join us in welcoming Prumsodun Ok for a program exploring his journey as a Cambodian American from Long Beach, California to becoming the founder of Prumsodun Ok & NATYARASA, Cambodia’s first gay dance troupe. During the talk Prumsodun will share about his role as an artist and educator revitalizing
Khmer classical dance to tell re-interpreted and new stories at the intersection of art and human dignity. He will also speak about new works that look to syncretic Cambodian spiritual beliefs that seek to reorient our relationships to the environment. This session will end with an open ended conversation among the participants and the artist.
Prumsodun Ok’s interdisciplinary performances contemplate the “avant-garde in antiquity,” and are lauded as “Radical Beauty” (The Bangkok Post). His original works have been supported by Hewlett 50 Arts Commissions, Creative Capital, National Dance Project, MAP Fund, Surdna Foundation, and Dance/USA among others. He is the founding artistic director of Prumsodun Ok & NATYARASA, which Channel NewsAsia describes as “one of the most revolutionary dance troupes in Cambodia . . . a dance troupe like no other.” Ok’s
celebrated TED Talk and keynote speech at the 2019 Dance/USA Annual Conference have roused audiences to their feet in ovation.