The dancers pictured perform a choreographed scene where the couples flirt with each other, clicking their coconut shells together in rhythm. This photo is taken in an auditorium at Millikan High School in Long Beach, California. (The Long Beach Press-Telegram. Photo take on October 5, 1986. Photographer: Bruce Chambers)
Young Cambodian women and men perform the Coconut Dance at the Golden Sails Hotel in Long Beach on Pacific Coast Highway to commemorate Cambodian New Year. (The Long Beach Press-Telegram, April 14, 1985. Photographer: Kent Henderson)
Members of the California State University, Long Beach United Cambodian Student Association perform a traditional courtship dance called, The Coconut Dance. In the background are the assembled dignitaries. Long Beach Mayor Ernie Kell, the guest of honor, gave a speech at the event. Performed at the dedication of Wat Willow.
This photograph from 1982 or 1983 shows the dance troupe of the United Cambodian Community (UCC) performing a Cambodian folk dance, the “Fishing Dance.” The baskets are fish traps used in the rural areas of Cambodia. The troupe performed all over southern California.
Two Long Beach high school students, Vong York (left) and Ra Chim portray a young couple engaging in playful flirtation in the final scene depicted in the popular folk dance Robam Nesat or “The Fishing Dance.” Ra Chim sits on the ang rut, the bell-shaped fishing trap used to catch larger fish in shallow waters, used by the young men in the dance. She holds the chhneang, braided bamboo baskets that act as strainers, used by young women in the dance. The scene depicts the couple’s courtship and falling in love. (The Long Beach Press-Telegram, October 5, 1985. Photographer: Bruce Chambers)
