Original Works

Charya’s original works have been presented across the United States from the Jacob’s  Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Her original works includes:

The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide (World Premiere at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, California, 2025)

The Rebirth of Apsara: Beyond Genocide premiered on April 19, 2025 at the Oakland Asian Cultural Center. This full-length multi-media dance/theatre production is created to observe the 50th Anniversary of the beginning of the Khmer Rouge Genocide and to honor its survivors, the resilience of the Cambodian spirit, and to celebrate how Khmer arts has been and continues to be transmitted from generation to generation. It is an adaptation of The Rebirth of Apsara, a Hewlett 50 Arts Commission that premiered at Sonoma State University’s Green Music Center in Rohnert Park, CA on February 1, 2024. Through a story created by Rob and Charya Burt, the production investigates the relationship between art and war exploring how Cambodian arts and in particular Apsaras, fabled female celestial beings, have embodied the essence of Cambodian culture from ancient mythology to its post genocide resurrection. Mirroring her own life’s journey as an artist to explore the impact Apsara has had on both Khmer civilization and Cambodian artists of today, Charya Burt sets her re-imagined classical dance gestures to music by renowned Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung and traditional Khmer pin-peat all tied together by a soundscape performed live by Marimba Lumina virtuoso Joel Davel and an engaging video backdrop designed by Hsuan-Kuang Hsieh. The text is written by Cambodian-American theatre artist Kalean Ung with additional text by Charya Burt developed to make this adaptation of the original more personal. Joining lead performer Charya Burt is dancer Chakravartin Sokhomsan and community dancers from the Bay Area. The work is designed to include dancers from the Khmer community where the production will be presented. The premiere production was co-produced by Charya Burt Cambodian Dance and Oakland Asian Cultural Center as part of their “Celebrating Our HeART-filled Heritage” performance series.

Beautiful Dark (World Premiere at the Mexican Heritage Plaza Theatre, San Jose, 2024)

Beautiful Dark, Created by Charya Burt, is a collaborative dance and music production with poetry exploring the relationship between colorism and perceptions of beauty set to an original score by Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ. Presented by Mosaic America, Beautiful Dark premiered on May 18th, 2024 at the Mexican Heritage Plaza Theatre in San Jose. It was made possible in part by a grant from The Creative Work Fund, a program of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund that is also supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

https://creativeworkfund.org/news/creative-work-fund-announces-1-1-million-in-grants-to-25-projects

Beautiful Dark explores colorism’s impact on identity through Cambodian and Indian dance, and poetry and music, all set to an original musical score highlighting the sounds of traditional Vietnamese instruments telling the story of cultural beauty standards and self-worth through personal narratives.

The Rebirth of Apsara (World Premiere at Weill Hall, Green Music Center, Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, 2024 co-produced with New Performance Traditions and Paul Dresher Ensemble.)

The Rebirth of Apsara is a full-length dance/theatre work that investigates the relationship between art and war and how Cambodian arts have embodied the essence of the Khmer culture from ancient mythology to its post-genocide resurrection. Mirroring her own life’s journey, choreographer Charya Burt has created re-imagined classical dances set to new music by Cambodian-American composer Chinary Ung. The story is by Rob and Charya Burt with text written by Kalean Ung. Preeminent dancers from Cambodia’s Ministry of Culture who share Charya Burt’s passion for resurrecting the dance joined Charya and her international company of dancers for the premiere performances to explore the impact artistic lineage has had on the rebirth of Cambodian classical dance.

Of Spirits Intertwined (World Premiere at the San Francisco Opera House as part of the 40th Annual San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, 2018)

Of Spirits Intertwined explores the ways devotion and reverence is extended to ancestral spirits. The dancers ask the spirits for their continued blessing and guidance by offering beautiful movements and gestures.

Silenced (World Premiere at California State University Studio Theatre, 2018)

Silenced is a dance theatre piece honoring the life of one of Cambodia’s most iconic singers, Ros Sereysothea, who perished at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. It was created to connect past to the present in ways that celebrate ancient Khmer beauty while helping to reconcile Cambodia’s recent tragic past. The piece joins a variety of musical forms including pin peat and traditional Khmer music to represent Sothea’s musical and cultural foundations, Cambodian pop music from the 1960’s both recorded and sung live to evoke the vibrancy of her life during the Golden Age of Cambodian pop music and original compositions for guitar used to symbolize her shattered life under the Khmer Rouge.

Cinnabar Heart (World Premiere at San Diego State University Experimental Theatre, 2017)

Charya choreographed a dreamlike dance for Ung Chinary’s magical composition Cinnabar Heart where Charya drifts through time and space in an abstract, spiritual world.

Heavenly Garden (World Premiere at the Palace of Fine Arts as part of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, 2016)

Heavenly Garden is a classical dance piece that brings to life the ancient concept of heavenly perfection. Set in an idyllic garden, the piece depicts the journey of a princess and her maids in search of eternal beauty and how they embrace the majestic yet peaceful nature that surrounds them.

Blossoming Antiquities: Rodin’s Encounter with Celestial Dancers of Cambodia (World Premiere at San Francisco’s Palace of the Legion of Honor Theatre, 2013)

A remarkable conversation about form and grace began in 1906, when the centuries-old Cambodian Royal Ballet performed in Paris and captivated the sculptor Auguste Rodin. Charya responds to Rodin’s numerous sketches—and converses with dancers in her own lineage—performing graceful traditional Khmer dance in full traditional attire. Composer Alexis Alrich, cellist Ruth Lane, a Cambodian Pin Peat orchestra, and visual artist Mario Uribe join the conversation.

The Rebirth of Apsara (A Work-In-Progress presented at SomArts Cultural Center Theatre, San Francisco, 2013)

The Rebirth of Apsara explores the notion of memories and how they shape an individual’s experience of life, using traditional Cambodian and modern dance vocabularies as vehicles. Against the backdrop of tumultuous modern Cambodian history, Rebirth pieces together sensory imprints and fragmented stories unearthed from Charya’s memories in a kaleidoscopic manner achieved by Larry Reed’s one-of-a-kind shadowcasting technique.

Caressing Nostalgia (World Premiere at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Novellus, Theatre as part of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, 2011)

Caressing Nostalgia is a new Cambodian dance piece that pushes the boundaries of tradition by transforming classical gestures and movements. A live cello plays original Western classical music as Charya sings Khmer poetry. It depicts an artist’s sentimental yearning for a treasured past.

Intersections Through Time (World Premiere at the Palace of Fine Arts as part of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, 2010)

Intersections Through Time explores Charya’s transformation from the isolation she felt for her art when she first arrived in the United States to the newfound artistic possibilities upon which she now embarks.

Of Spirits Intertwined: Three Cultures (World Premiere presented at SomArts Cultural Center Theatre, San Francisco, 2009)

Of Spirits Intertwined is a collaborative work exploring cultural connections with classical Indian and Japanese dance. The piece is drawn from their traditional dance vocabularies: Cambodian Classical dance, Classical Indian Odissi, and Classical Japanese dance, exploring different rituals of how dancers make offerings to their spiritual ancestors.

Blue Roses (Commissioned by World Arts West, the piece had its World Premiere at the Palace of Fine Arts as part of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, 2007)

Inspired by The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams, Blue Roses explores the life of a Khmer princess who lives in her own imaginary world. To mask her unhappiness, she surrounds herself with things that are familiar. When she tries to experience a new life, she becomes frightened by the unknown eventually retreating back into her safe, familiar world.

Forever My Ancestors (World Premiere at the Palace of Fine Arts as part of the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, 2006)

Forever My Ancestors was created as an ode to Charya’s Khmer ancestors. The dance is an offering and tribute to the dance ancestors who carefully preserved and passed down the precious Khmer tradition of classical Cambodian dance.

The Magic Peacocks (World Premiere at The Elsie Allen Burt Theatre, Santa Rosa, 2003)

Inspired by Cambodian folk tradition, The Magic Peacocks, explores love and loss in nature.