Everyday Music: Exploring Sounds and Cultures

Yani Rose Keo: Cambodian Music and Dance, Houston

Yani Rose Keo Cambodian Music and Dance, Houston Hundreds of people crowd into the Cambodian New Year’s celebration at J. B.’s Entertainment Center at 3730 Scott Street in Houston’s Third Ward. Nationally known for the blues and jazz artists who have performed there, J. B.’s is an unlikely place for the Cambodian community to gather, but as Yani Rose Keo, vice chairperson of the program committee, explains, “The reason we at J. B.’s, the temple wouldn’t hold that many Cambodians. More than seven thousand Cambodians in Houston. We need a big hall, you know, and that’s why we rent that hall. I know the father of the owner of J. B.’s and he charges us 50 percent less than other groups because we are a refugee group. That hall can hold seven hundred, but not only from Houston tonight—we have Dallas, Austin, even Louisiana .” Inside J. B.’s, long rows of tables point toward the stage. Every seat is occupied. Latecomers stand in the back of the sprawling room, leaning against the walls or milling among the tables. Some sit in the aisles on the floor. 1985 is the Year of the Ox, and after welcoming remarks by the president of the Cambodian Association, the eight-piece Neak Poon Musical Group begins to play. Dancers in traditional costumes take the stage for the Adoration Dance, followed by the Parasol Dance, Parrot Dance, Ken Dance, and “Escape to Freedom ,” a dramatic recreation of the brutal onslaught of the Khmer Rouge. “Escape to Freedom” unfolds in a burst of action. Fog machines puff out a hazy glow as a group of refugees weaves in and out of what appears to be jungle bushes and vines. The sounds of drums echo through the room; a lone male makes his way to the center of the stage and falls to his knees, agitated and distraught , breaking down into a blood-curdling scream that silences the audience. Tears run down his cheeks. Everyone in the room feels his pain. Driving to Houston, November 12, 2010 118 / Yani Rose Keo Y ANI ROSE KEO came to Houston on October 13, 1975, to reunite with her husband, whom she thought had been killed by the Khmer Rouge. “We left Cambodia together with our youngest son on a private plane to Bangkok two weeks before Pol Pot took over,” she recalls, “but once we got there my husband said he must go back. He said he did not do anything wrong. He cannot leave his job. He was the director of the railroad. And I said, ‘Okay, you can go back.’ And I left with my son for Paris, where my three other children were already in school. That was in April, and then I heard nothing from my husband for more than five months. But I knew what happened in Cambodia. Many, many people were killed. I thought my husband was dead. I was so angry. I don’t have money. I hate the world. Finally, in Paris, I got a job as a pediatric nurse, and one day, my boss told me I have a phone call. I don’t want any phone calls. It was so hard for me. My boss said, ‘Please sit down and listen to this call.’ I heard this Cambodian voice. He said his name and he told me the date of our marriage and the children’s ages and names. And it clicked in my mind, ‘Who know my root?’ The last thing he said was he missed the plane when he was supposed to go back. They took him to Bus Stop in front of the Alliance for Multicultural Services, 6440 Hillcroft Avenue, Houston, Texas, where Yani Rose Keo works. November 12, 2010 Yani Rose Keo at her desk at the Alliance for Multicultural Services, Houston, Texas, November 12, 2010 Yani Rose Keo in her office at the Alliance for Multicultural Services, Houston, Texas, November 12, 2010 120 / Yani Rose Keo a refugee camp in Bangkok, and he stuck in the camp like a slave, not enough food to eat until the Catholic charities sponsor him out. That’s when he come to Houston.” The day after Keo arrived in Houston, she started working as a volunteer to help Cambodian refugees, first with the United Way, the Red Cross, and Catholic Charities and then in the Houston Independent...