Performing Arts School

Specialities

General
Information

  • Graphic design / Design layout, graphics, corporate identity, illustration.
  • Animation / Traditional and digital 2D
  • Visual arts
    • Image: drawing / painting / photography / video
    • Object: volume / sculpture / design
    • Space: installation / scenography / multi-media

Circus

Chills Artist
The Circus Department at Phare Ponleu Selpak began in 1998. Today, the Battambang circus school is an open space where any child from the surrounding communities can come to study the circus arts. Our most advanced students can complete the vocational training to enter the market as professional artists.

Each of our performances combine Cambodian folklore with modern day issues. Since the first professional performance in 2002, Phare Ponleu Selpak’s circus troupes have toured every year in Cambodia and around the world.

The circus school curriculum focuses on the major disciplines of juggling, acrobatics, aerial acts, clowning, and balance. The school is divided into three levels: Leisure, Preparatory, and Secondary. Classes are taught by local Cambodian teachers and foreign volunteers.

LeisureCambodia Circus Handstand

  • 7 to 8 years-old
  • 1 or 2 hours/week
  • Students train mostly with games and focus on the basics of flexibility, physical exercise and acrobatics.

Preparatory

  • 9 to 11 years-old
  • 2 hours/day, 2 days/week
  • There are three years in the preparatory class, 1st year for exploratory, 2nd and 3rd year for development.
  • Students train across the disciplines of acrobatics, balance, flexibility, and physical exercise. In this level, the students need to learn other support skills in theatre, dance and music.

Secondary (Vocational Training)

  • 12 to 17+ years-old
  • 5 days/week
  • Students must choose two skills for their professional training. Additionally, they must practice acrobatics, flexibility, and physical exercise to support their selected skills.
  • Students take other additional courses in theatre, music, dance, technical work, general education, and soft skills.
  • After graduation from this level, circus students must tour France three times before they become professional artists.

Catch one of our Battambang circus shows here under the Big Top! We have at least two shows a week, often more. Check the schedule to find out when you can see a PPSA Circus performance!

Dance

Cambodian Traditional Dance

Photo: Jean-Michel Gallet


The Performing Arts School introduced dance to the curriculum at the end of 2013.

The lessons begin with traditional Cambodian dance and build from there. Advanced classes introduce students to modern influences. The dance program aims at developing choreographies that students can perform on stage. Today, dance is part of the foundational curriculum of Performing Arts.

The curriculum is divided into three levels: leisure, preparatory, and secondary.

Theatre
classes

sihanouke play
Theatre classes began as a part of the circus curriculum in 2001. In 2014 theatre was included as a compulsory class for Performing Arts students.

Since 2001, Phare students have been performing ‘awareness plays’ across Cambodia. These awareness shows teach Cambodians about a variety of topics, such as AIDS, human trafficking, or domestic violence. The students perform in schools, hospitals, markets, trains or factories; and often in very remote parts of the country.

In 2011 and 2013, a group went to France and Portugal to perform “The Terrible but Unfinished Story of Sihanouk, King of Cambodia” a play from Helene Cixous that addresses the recent history of Cambodia. The performance was highly-acclaimed by the public and critics alike.

Leisure

dance class

Photo: Jordi Lafon

  • 8 to 12 years-old
  • Students focus on traditional Cambodian dance and rhythm.

Preparatory

  • 13 years-old
  • 2 hours/day, 2 days/week
  • Students train on basic dance gesture and traditional Cambodian dance.

Secondary

  • 14 to 17 years-old
  • Students focus on basic and fundamental gestures, dances and create new dances.
  • Students learn other additional courses in theatre, circus, dance, technical work, general education, and soft skills.

Today, dance students perform before each evening circus performance on the PPSA campus and during festivals throughout the year. Check out the schedule to see our talented dance students in action!

 

APSARA traditional dance

Photo: Caroline Hosey

Theatre Curriculum

The theatre curriculum is divided into three levels: leisure, preparatory, and secondary.

 

phare theatreLeisure

  • 8 to 12 years-old
  • 1 or 2 hours/week
  • Students train mostly with games. Classes focus on the basics of character, improvisation, and story creation using Child to Child method.

Preparatory

  • 13 years-old
  • 2 hours/day, 2 days/week
  • Students train on stage awareness, character, vocals & breath, feeling & emotion, movement, focus, improvisation, and theatre vocabulary.

Secondary

  • 14 to 17 years-old
  • Students learn about the advance of character, physical movement, feeling/emotion, vocal & breath, improvisation, yoga, tableau, and stage management.
  • Students study additional courses in circus, music, dance, technical work, general education, and soft skills.

Music

Created in 1996, the Music Department was the first department of the Performing Arts School. The department teaches both traditional Cambodian music and modern music. In the final years of the program, students blend the two into a uniquely Cambodian sound.

Students receive high quality instruction in a variety of instruments including korn vong thom, roneat ek, and the takel. The curriculum is divided into three levels: leisure, preparatory, and secondary.

Leisure

  • 8 to 12 years-old
  • 1 or 2 hours/week
  • Students learn some children’s songs with instruments.

Preparatory

  • 13 years-old
  • 2 hours/day, 2 days/week
  • Students learn music notes, music notation, rhythm, songs, and sound balance.

Secondary

  • 14 to 17 years-old
  • Students must choose one of two music skills for their specialization: classical/traditional music or modern music.
  • During the course, students will have exposure to both forms of music. At the end of the course students mix modern and traditional styles together to create new contemporary songs/music.
  • Students take additional courses in theatre, circus, dance, technical work, general education, and soft skills.

Today, the Music Department collaborates closely with the Circus Department to provide live music during the circus shows here in Battambang. Played by PPSA music students, these performances bring together a broad spectrum of styles and genres.

The PPSA campus also houses a recording studio which allows the musicians to make professional quality recordings of their work.

Check out our music students during a circus performance here at the PPSA campus in Battambang. Check the schedule to find out when they perform next!