Cambodian Dancers Make Stand for Peace : Culture: Details for a Los Angeles Festival performance still hinge on obtaining the State Department OK for a visa.

Proeung Chhieng, the artistic director of the Cambodian dance company that is hoping to dance here in September’s Los Angeles Festival, has a simple--yet compelling--argument to make.

“We would like to dance for peace,” he says.

“For the troupe to come here would be to contribute to the efforts of our people (toward) having peace in our country, because right now Cambodian people in all the world want peace, and we pray every day that we will have peace in our country and for all Cambodians.”

Proeung Chhieng was in Los Angeles last week for three days of meetings with L.A. Festival officials to discuss the technical details of the company’s proposed performances. He is only the third Cambodian under the current regime to be granted a visitor’s visa. (The U.S. government does not recognize Cambodia or its Vietnamese-installed leader, Hun Sen.) The company’s appearance hinges on approval from the State Department.

“The reason I am here is to save classical dance (in Cambodia) . . . and to show people in the United States that it is still alive after all these years,” said the 41-year-old former dancer, who visited several American cities in 1971--the last time Cambodian dancers appeared in the United States. “I hope that the dancers will come here to show that. . . . If they come, we will be able to show people from all over the world that our troupe has begun to live and thrive again.”

Those involved with the delicate negotiations to gain State Department approval for the dancers’ visit have speculated that Proeung Chhieng’s visa--as well as those granted to two monks from Phnom Penh whom Chhieng is accompanying to a Buddhist conference this week in Berkeley--may be a sign that the U.S. is now willing to more freely grant visas for cultural reasons.

But according to State Department spokeswoman Francis Jones, just because Proeung Chhieng was let in does not mean individual student-dancers can come too. “I don’t think that it follows,” Jones said. “Every visa application is judged on its own merits. The individual dancers might be ineligible under our law.”

Nevertheless, L.A. Festival officials say they are “encouraged” and are going ahead with the dancers’ visa applications, which they expect to submit to the State Department next week. They hope to hear back from the State Department by mid-July.

Although noting that the repertory for the proposed Los Angeles appearances had not yet been finalized, Proeung Chhieng said his company was preparing both popular and classical pieces, including dances that tell traditional stories, and works utilizing shadows and masks. He hopes to bring 35 company members--including 25 dancers, five musicians, three costumers, the company’s technical director and himself.

He said the dance company slated for Los Angeles is actually the Dance Troupe of the University of Fine Arts (in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh), not the National Dance Company of Cambodia, as was previously thought by festival officials. But, he noted, the two companies are “practically the same,” with the only difference being that members of the national company--who are graduates of the university company--are older than his dancers, who range in age from 20 to 25.

The artistic director noted that he could not “tell the future” and had no insight as to whether his dancers’ visas would be approved. But if the OK is given, he said, his dancers will be ready.

“They’re happy about coming,” said Proeung Chhieng.

Because of the dance company’s government ties, members of the local Cambodian community here have been divided as to whether the dancers visas should be granted. Some have claimed that to do so might legitimize the Communist Hun Sen regime, and the leader of the Long Beach-based United Cambodian Community has said that problems--and perhaps even violence--could result if the dancers do arrive here in September.

Proeung Chhieng, however, said that he met with a few artists from the local Cambodian community during his stay, and believed that they were supportive of his company’s proposed visit.

“I hope that dance is (a positive thing) for all the Cambodians,” he said. “It’s a symbol of the Cambodian nation, which all Cambodians love and respect.”

Shawn Pogatchnik in Washington contributed to this article.