Maine apprenticeship preserves Cambodian dance amid ICE activity and funding threats

An apprenticeship program in Portland, Maine, led by teacher Sokhoeun Sok, is continuing to teach traditional Khmer dance despite recent threats to federal arts funding and an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in the state this month, the report says. Sok, who immigrated in 2005 and is known in the community as “Neakru,” brings silk and gold jewelry from visits to Cambodia and teaches precise traditional technique in a basement gym and at festivals across New England.

She learned Khmer dance at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, works locally at a nail salon and a lab, and says, “Classical dance is not easygoing, it’s not easy,” adding, “It’s like sound that you are never familiar with before.” The Maine Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, begun in 1990 to preserve art practices, has expanded from Indigenous basket weavers to mentor artists from immigrant communities.

The program is largely supported by federal money from the National Endowment for the Arts, which provides about half of Maine’s roughly $2 million annual arts budget; those funds are disbursed by the Maine Arts Commission and apprenticeship mentors can receive up to $3,000 for teaching fees, supplies or travel.

“They pass their skills on to the next generation,” Kathleen Mundell said, “and in doing so, an entire community’s sense of continuity and connection is renewed.” Most of Sok’s students were born in the United States and juggle modern interests with cultural learning.

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