Apsara Dance is one of two major forms of Khmer dance and incorporates parts of the other, much older, traditional or popular dance, which has its roots in animism and primitive magic, with Hindu forms introduced during the time of Indian influence beginning in the 1st century; the dance in turn drew its inspiration from the mythological court of the gods and from its celestial dancers, the Apsaras. The dance took on its own unique form adding movements and meaning, during the reigns of Jayavarman IIJayavarman VII as well as in the Angkor era. By the 13th century, the dance received a Khmer identity rather than Indian, unlike any other dance form in the world. It melded soft movement with loud, traditional Khmer music during its performance. In that era, Apsara dance was performed solely for the benefit of the upper class, and particularly for the king. and
Estimates suggest that there were 3,000 apsara dancers in the 12th Century court of King Jayavarman VII. Between the 12th and the 15th centuries, Apsara dance flourished, until the Thais sacked Angkor in the 15th century; the invaders, not immune to the allure of the dance tradition, are reputed to have taken a troupe of aspara dancers back home with them. While this was a setback to the tradition of Khmer Classical Dance, the Apsara tradition was nonetheless set in stone, as represented in the bas-reliefs of the Angkorian temples in Cambodia.
For centuries the dance was seemingly never performed again in public, yet it seems to have been maintained as an unbroken tradition in the courts of the Angkorian monarchs. Dance nonetheless remained culturally important in the Angkor era such as Siem Reap, Surin Province (now in Thailand) but with different styles due to uncertain knowledge for the original dance which Surin people performs apsara dance in a little fast movement and sustain with Thai-Laos musical.
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