The girls slipped off their Crocs and sneakers and fuzzy slides to stand in their stocking feet. They wrapped pink or purple or maroon skirts around their waists. They chatted and laughed as they took their places.

All Sokheoun Sok had to do was clap.

Every girl focused her attention on her instructor. Sok stood at the front of the room with her shoulders back and her smile kind. Each time she brought her hands together, the girls shifted into the next stretch of the warmup.

Sok teaches Cambodian classical dance at Khmer Maine, and these girls spend every Sunday morning learning this art form that was once at risk of extinction. They will perform this Saturday in Westbrook’s Riverbank Park at SEAFEST, a celebration of Southeast Asian heritage in conjunction with the Khmer New Year Festival.

“The way she dances is so elegant,” Thyda Kimball, 16, said of her instructor. “I want to look like that when I dance, and I bet all the girls do.”

Classical dance is a tradition that dates back more than 1,000 years in Cambodia. For years, dancers performed only in temples and for royalty. The traditional knowledge was nearly lost in the devastating genocide by the Khmer Rouge between 1975 and 1979. The regime killed two million people, including many artists and intellectuals. But survivors fought to save the ancient practice. One important supporter of this effort was Princess Norodom Buppha Devi, who danced in the Cambodian Royal Ballet and served as the country’s culture minister between 1999 and 2004.

Sok was born in Phnom Penh in 1979. Her aunt taught dance, and her young niece would tag along to her classes and copy the older students’ moves. Sok was 9 years old when she began her own training at the Royal University of Fine Arts. She came to the United States in her early 20s and has been teaching dance for 20 years.

“The Khmer traditional dances, we don’t really have written,” Sok said in an interview through an interpreter. “We just pass it on by teaching people.”

In 1986, Cambodian refugees in Massachusetts started the Angkor Dance Troupe not only to preserve Khmer performing arts but to find healing. That group has trained more than 7,000 students and performed worldwide. In 2022, Khmer Maine invited the celebrated troupe to Mayo Street Arts in Portland.

“That really got our youth excited,” Marpheen Chann, the nonprofit’s executive director, said. “They were seeing other young people taking an interest in their culture.”

So Khmer Maine launched the dance class as a pilot program in 2023. The first class was so popular that the nonprofit has capped it at 15 participants to be more manageable. Recently, Khmer Maine started offering two sessions every year. The class is based out of the Equality Community Center in Portland (Khmer Maine is spearheading the effort to build an Asian American Community Center in Westbrook). Chann said Khmer Maine pays Sok as the instructor but does not charge a fee to the students.

“You can guess what the impact is on the elders who survived the genocide to see their culture still preserved through their grandchildren, in a generation that probably hasn’t even touched foot in Cambodia,” Chann said. “That in itself has a healing effect on the previous generations who have experienced displacement and trauma and survival.”

Sok, who is now a U.S. citizen and lives in Westbrook, shares her knowledge as her aunt did. She described the movements as soft and gentle — but not weak.

“Each movement or hand gesture would have its own meaning,” she said. “The art itself is really to describe the way of life of Cambodian people.”

The steps are rooted in stories. On a chilly Sunday in March, Sok led the class in the Robam Choun Por (the Blessing Dance). This dance has spiritual importance and is often performed at ceremonies such as weddings. The dancers balanced ornate gold cups as they stepped through the precise movements. Sok demonstrated the precise shape of her hands and called out instructions over the music.

“Heel up,” she said, and they balanced on one foot. “Turn around,” she said, and they stepped into a graceful pivot.

The balance was the hardest part for Kimball to learn when she started dancing three years ago. She had seen dances at the temple or on TV with her grandma when she was growing up, and she loved the intricate movements and the pretty costumes. She jumped at the chance to learn, but she was nervous about fitting in with the other girls. Her mom is Cambodian, but her dad is not. But she quickly fell into step. She travels from Springvale to Portland every week for practice.

“It brought me closer to my culture,” she said.

Sitha Kimball said she has been proud to see her daughter grow in confidence in the group, and now her niece has joined the class as well. During practice, she helped the girls adjust the precise folds of their skirts and took videos on her cell phone. She and other parents chatted about performance logistics. She is learning too.

“This is something that I wasn’t exposed to as a kid,” she said. “They didn’t have it available. It’s been really nice for me too to learn about the customs and the heritage and the clothes.”

Kimball took a break from class on a couch next to July Kim, the instructor’s daughter. They adjusted their practice costumes (they’ll wear more elaborate outfits and headpieces for their festival performance) and talked about an upcoming concert. Kim, 17, said she didn’t always appreciate her mom’s skill when she was younger. But her experience in the class has shown her that this art form is prestigious.

“I feel like we’re preserving our heritage,” Kim said.

Sok said she was surprised when her daughter expressed an interest in the class. Now she tears up with excitement when her teenager takes the stage.

“Dance has brought us closer than ever,” she said. “Watching her perform traditional Khmer dance and carry on our heritage fills me with immense pride and joy.”

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IF YOU GO

WHAT: SEAFEST 2025

WHERE: Riverbank Park in Westbrook

WHEN: April 26 from 2 to 9 p.m.

HOW MUCH: Free

INFO: SEAFEST is a collaborative effort among Maine’s Khmer, Thai, Filipino and Vietnamese communities. The festival will include art, music, dance and food. Visitors will also be able to learn more about efforts to build an Asian American Community Center in Westbrook. For more information, visit seafest2025.com or follow Khmer Maine on Facebook and Instagram.

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