The Royal Ballet of Cambodia is returning to Southern California for the first time since 2001.

Designated in 2003 by UNESCO as an “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity,” the troupe will perform at 8 p.m. this Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center. Tickets range from $29 to $49.

“Cambodian classical dance is transmitted orally with years of training for the dancers,” said Prince Sisowath Tesso, cousin and assistant to choreographer Princess Norodom Buppha Devi. “The audience will see some of the best dancers in the royal troupe thanks to the personal training given to them by the princess.”

The show is called “The Stars of the Royal Ballet of Cambodia” and it was inspired by Devi’s grandmother, Queen Kossamak Nearyrath. The dance form was established in the early Cambodian royal courts for the purpose of entertainment and ceremony. It includes dances of tribute or invocation and the enactment of traditional stories and epic poems. Dancers were considered messengers to the gods and ancestors.

“The work and the main purpose of the princess is to try and revive and preserve this art to delegate it to our collective international memory and patrimony,” Tesso said.

The actual dances themselves are known for exquisite grace and austere beauty, officials said, and the focus is on hand gestures (possibly totaling in the thousands) and stunning costumes with slower movements than many other dance types.

“Students must be physically graceful and slim, and even if girls are small, they must be well proportioned,” Tesso said. “For sure, the body must be flexible and she must train every day. Even if the student has all those qualities, her face must also be correctly proportioned to look good with the big and heavy crowns she must wear while performing.”

Overall, there are four types of dancers: Neang the woman, Neayrong the man, Yeak the giant and Sva the monkey. There also is an orchestra and a female chorus that provides a running commentary of the plot.

Organizers said the Royal Ballet was almost eliminated three decades ago by the Khmer Rouge regime, but it has been resourceful and has seen a resurgence since the 2003 special designation.

They also said they recognize the importance of Long Beach and the region’s Cambodian population.

“We know that Cambodians living in LA are very attached to their culture and they are also active to preserve it outside their native country,” Tesso said. “During Cambodian New Year, many cultural associations gathered to present all kinds of arts and traditions. For the Royal Ballet, to be here is like to be part of that because Princess Buppha Devi also.....

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