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CULTURAL RENAISSANCE Classic Khmer dance, as ancient as the stone temples that draw most visitors to the country, is tiptoeing back from the brink of extinction, proof of Cambodia's cultural resurgence. Regular shows are staged in Phnom Penh at the Sovanna Phum cultural arts center, where viewers can enjoy the stylized sweeping hand and finger gestures of dancers outfitted in shiny silk sarongs that really fit: dancers are sewn into them before each performance.

The Khmer Rouge did their best to snuff out the 1,000-year-old dance form, murdering an estimated 80% of its masters during their 1975-79 pogrom against artists and intellectuals. Those who survived spent the 1980s and 1990s teaching the art to a younger generation and recording it for posterity on video and paper. You can observe dance classes at the Royal University of Fine Arts' North Campus Monday through Saturday from 7:30 to 10:30 in the morning. Or, to see the finished product for $5, get dates and showtimes from Sovanna Phum by e-mailing sovannaphum@netrec.net.