When Chief-of-State Norodom Sihanouk was deposed in 1970, the government of the new Republic of Cambodia continued to support a number of institutions previously of royal prerogative. One of these was the “Royal Ballet.” As the civil war intensified, and a Khmer Rouge victory appeared increasingly probable, the Ministry of Culture perceived that it was the caretaker of an art form which stood little chance of survival intact, should a communist regime come into power. The Ministry wished to document this embodiment of Khmer culture which it was protecting, but there was little money available, and cooperation with foreign scholars or foundations was made difficult by the ever-tightening circle of war surrounding Phnom Penh. In 1973 I wrote to the Ministry proposing to undertake as comprehensive a study as possible of the classical dance drama and in March of 1974 was invited to do so. That decision was made by Mr. Hang Thun Hak, the most respected authority on the dance drama in Cambodia and at the time a political adviser to President Lon Nol. The war pressure increased, but I was unable to reach Cambodia until January 1975, eleven days after the Khmer Rouge began the siege of Phnom Penh on New Year’s Eve. Rockets falling into the city almost hourly—one injuring a dancer within the palace grounds—had forced the “corps du ballet” into temporary inactivity, but the training classes at the Université des Beaux-Arts continued daily. I was able to watch rehearsals, conduct interviews with the aid of a tri-lingual translator provided by the Ministry, and gather written material—hampered only by the dancers’ understandable distraction. Although advised in writing by the American Embassy on 14 February to depart, I remained in Phnom Penh until the forced military evacuation to Bangkok on 5 April 1975.

In addition to that twelve-week foundation of direct observation in Cambodia, and some five months of less intense, comparative research in Bangkok, this dissertation is a synthesis of all available previous documentation of the classical dance drama in French and English. Chinese sources referring to the early historical period have been re-examined. Relevant Sanskrit and