Cambodian lion dancers cling to craft amid Covid-19 pandemic

Lion dancers perform ahead of the Lunar New Year celebrations at Aeon Mall Sen Sok in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Jan 30, 2022. - Reuters

PHNOM PENH, Jan 31 (Reuters): Cambodian dragon and lion dancer Gnuon Virak huddles his troupe together in a circle, before they let out a team cheer and get to work rehearsing for their a Lunar New Year performance - their only one of the pandemic-stricken year.

Gnuon, 28, has loved dancing since he was a child, and grew up near a Chinese-style temple in the capital Phnom Penh. Seven years ago, he asked a master to teach him to dance and joined a troupe, known as the Bodhi Tree Troupe. Eventually he became a team leader.