Princess Buppha Devi's Apsara Dance in 1966

In the 1940s, Queen Sisowath Kossamak Naryrath, King Norodom Suramarit’s wife, was invited to the Sothearath primary school for a performance of classical dance prepared by the school mistress, where the students performed in Apsara attire including mokot (crown), sampot (skirt) and flowers like the ​“celestial dancers” on Angkor or Bayon bas-reliefs.

It is said that this performance inspired the Queen to re-create the Angkorian dance figures, partly kept alive by the Royal Ballet of Cambodia. Queen Kossamak encouraged her first grand-daughter, Princess Norodom Buppha (Bopha) Devi, a daughter of Norodom Sihanouk, to become the first public performer of this new form of ​“Apsara Dance”. The princess, who had started practicing at the age of five, performed for his royal father’s movie.