While many Khmer dances tell different stories, many dances use similar hand gestures. Dancers regularly form different hand gestures, each signifying something very specific.

There are hundreds of gestures -- each has a meaning like sign language.

Khmer dancers communicate through movement and gestures which are strictly defined, most importantly through the intricacy of hand positions.

Dancers from a very young age perform exercises to make the joints in their hands very flexible. Watch how they curve their fingers when watching Cambodian classical dances.

Dancers make these gestures for hours and hours. It's part of what makes classical dance so special and unique and difficult to perform.

The main hand gestures found in khmer court dances are the following.

The following five basic hand gestures are commonly used in many khmer dances.

Watch as Master Teacher Proeung Chhieng, former Dean of Fine Arts at the Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) in Phnon Penh, Cambodia explains the progression of one hand gesture into another in the first part of the video . . .