Biography
Charya Burt is a graduate and former dance faculty member of the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Her training began in 1982 under the direction of the foremost dance masters of Cambodia. As a member of Cambodia’s royal dance troupe, Charya toured nationally and internationally. After immigrating to Northern California in 1993, Charya performed throughout the United States, including the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, the Jacob’s Pillow Festival at U.C.L.A., the AsiaFest Monoa in Honolulu, the opening of the new Getty Center in Los Angeles, and eleven times as a featured performer at the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. Charya has also conducted dance workshops at several colleges and universities around the country including the California State University Summer Arts Program at California State University, Long Beach. She received a B. A., Cum Laude, in Liberal Studies from Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California. As teacher, performer, and choreographer, Charya has been awarded numerous grants including ones from the Irvine Dance in California Program, (3 times), the Fund for Folk Culture, the Alliance for California Traditional Arts, the Creative Work Fund, and the CCI Investing in Artist Grant. She is also a recipient of the Isadora Duncan Award for Outstanding Achievement in Individual Performance. Currently, Charya is the artist-in-residence for the Khmer Arts Academy in Long Beach and the artistic director of Charya Burt Cambodian Dance, based in Windsor, California
Image on left: Charya backstage getting ready for a performance. Photo Credit: Patricia Bashford.