Angkor Dance Troupe

Located in Lowell, Angkor Dance Troupe (ADT) was founded in 1986 by Cambodian refugee Tim Thou with the purpose “to revive a culture once almost lost.” Today, it is nationally and internationally recognized and has provided a creative and community home for masters of Cambodian dance in the Lowell region, which holds the second largest population of Cambodians outside of Cambodia. For more than 35 years, ADT has played many roles in response to community need, beginning with helping survivors of the Cambodian genocide both celebrate their survival and mourn all they had lost, and to help keep their children off the streets and out of gangs. Most recently, ADT provides means to build understanding between American-born children and their refugee parents and grandparents, who not only speak different languages, but whose life experiences have been worlds apart. ADT is renowned for its willingness to push back against assumptions about what traditional Khmer dance is supposed to be, and for its recognition that the artform continues to evolve and develop as it is practiced among the Cambodian diaspora.