Modern and contemporary dance

Classical ballet has developed to a high level in Viet Nam, with leading Vietnamese choreographers creating a large body of distinctive Vietnamese dance works by fusing traditional dance and movements from classical theatre with the techniques of western ballet. The Viet Nam Opera-Ballet Theatre (Nha hat Nhac Vu kich Viet Nam) incorporates a full ballet company and orchestra. A contemporary dance troupe has recently been set up within the company to provide a vehicle for the work of its acclaimed young choreographers’ group.

Ballet and contemporary dance

Though occasionally performed in major cities by touring companies from Europe, western classical ballet made no significant impact on Việt Nam during the French colonial period.

However, a dedicated Việt Nam Song Dance and Music Company (Nhà hát Ca múa nhạc Việt Nam) was set up in the Việt Bắc Resistance Zone in 1951, and in the aftermath of the First Indochina War several young traditional Vietnamese dancers from this company were invited to go and study the techniques of classical ballet in Beijing, People's Republic of China. A number of these returned to set up the Ballet Department of the Việt Nam Dance School (Trường múa Việt Nam, now the Việt Nam College of Dance) and the ballet troupe of the newly-established Việt Nam Opera-Ballet Theatre (Nhà hát Nhạc Vũ kịch Việt Nam) in 1959.

Thereafter Vietnamese choreographers began to create distinctive Vietnamese dance works by fusing traditional dance and movements from classical theatre with the techniques of western ballet, very much in the style of the Chinese revolutionary dance-drama wuju. The earliest examples of this genre were the 1960 ballets Xô Viết Nghệ Tỉnh ('Soviet Nghệ Tỉnh') and Tấm Cám, both set to original Vietnamese music scores and choreographed by Thái Ly in collaboration with an expert from North Korea. Both of these works received a Hồ Chí Minh Award in 2000.

In 1964 the Việt Nam Opera Ballet Theatre was amalgamated with the Việt Nam Symphony Orchestra and Choir to form the new Việt Nam Orchestra, Choir and Ballet Theatre (Nhà hát Giao hưởng, Hợp xướng, Nhạc Vũ kịch Việt Nam). The first major homegrown Vietnamese ballets followed - these were Nguyễn Việt's Phá lao ('Destroying the Prison'), set to music by Đỗ Dũng, and Xuân Đình's Chị Sứ ('Miss Sứ'), set to music by Hoàng Văn. These important works were followed after Reunification by Trần Đình Quỳ's Hồ Gươm ('Sword Lake'), set to music by Cao Việt Bách, Kim Tiến's Mùa hoa lê biên giới ('Pear Blossom Season on the Border'), set to music by Đôn Truyền, Xuân Đình's Mùa hoa đào Kỷ Dậu ('Peach Blossom Season in the Year of the Rooster'), set to music by Đàm Linh, and Đoàn Long's Giai điệu niềm tin ('Melody of Belief'), set to Hoàng Việt's Symphony No 1.

Throughout the 1970s, a further wave of young Vietnamese dancers went to study in the former Soviet Union. After the Việt Nam Opera Ballet Theatre had regained its separate identity in 1978, the Ministry of Culture of the former USSR sent a group of classical ballet specialists to Hà Nội to help the company stage a number of international ballet masterpieces such as Spartacus, Giselle and Swan Lake, thereby raising VNOBT's profile and confirming its status as Việt Nam's premiere dance company.

Meanwhile in the south a number of small private ballet schools were set up in Sài Gòn during the 1960s, mainly to teach expatriate children. However, formal dance training did not commence in Hồ Chí Minh City until 1978, when both traditional Vietnamese dance and classical ballet were introduced into the curriculum of the Hồ Chí Minh City National School of Music (Trường Quốc gia Âm nhạc Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh, now the Hồ Chí Minh City Conservatory of Music). In 1982 northern choreographer Trần Văn Lai founded the October Ballet Company (Đoàn ballet Tháng mười) in the southern capital, generating new interest in classical ballet. Four years later the dedicated Hồ Chí Minh City Dance School (Trường múa Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh) was set up with its own separate Ballet Department.

During the past decade there has been renewed interest in the art of ballet throughout the country, driven by an increase in the number of creative collaborations with foreign choreographers and inspired by several successful performance tours overseas. The belated establishment of the Việt Nam Dancers’ Association (Hội Nghệ sĩ Múa Việt Nam) in 1989 has also given an important boost to the Vietnamese dance sector.

In Hà Nội work from the classical ballet repertoire is now presented on a regular basis by the Việt Nam Opera Ballet Theatre, whilst in the south a company known as the Hồ Chí Minh City Ballet and Symphony Orchestra (HBSO) (Nhà hát Giao hưởng và Vũ kịch Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh) has been operational since 1994, giving regular performances of both international and Vietnamese works. Where funds permit, Trần Văn Lai's Đoàn Ballet Tháng mười (October Ballet Company) is also still active in Hồ Chí Minh City.

Meanwhile Vietnamese choreographers have continued to create new dance works, notably Nguyễn Công Nhạc's Huyền thoại mẹ ('The Legend of Mother'), set to the music of Nguyễn Văn Nam's Symphony No 5, Băng Thịnh's Huyền tích Truờng Sơn ('Truờng Sơn Legend') set to music by Ngô Quốc Tính, and Việt Cường's Lục Vân Tiên - Kiều Nguyệt Nga and Ngọc trai đỏ ('The Red Pearl'), both set to music by Ca Lê Thuần.

Over the past few years the Việt Nam Opera Ballet Theatre has also provided a platform for the development of Vietnamese contemporary dance. In 2000 collaborative programmes such as Dance of the Monsoon, choreographed by Philippe Cohen of the National Conservatory of Dance in Lyon, and Unravelling, choreographed by Australian dance practitioner Cheryl Stock and a group of young Vietnamese choreographers from the Việt Nam Dance School and Việt Nam Opera Ballet Theatre, achieved exciting creative fusions of traditional, classical and modern dance in a multicultural setting. In 2001 the Việt Nam Opera Ballet Theatre presented to critical acclaim a landmark programme of four new works by young French-trained choreographers Nguyễn Hồng Phong, Lê Vũ Long, Bùi Ngọc Quân and Hà Thế Dũng.

Since that time in collaboration with the British Council (2002) Lê Vũ Long has created the hearing-impaired contemporary dance company Together Higher and participated in numerous other international collaborative projects, including New York-based Dance Theatre Workshop's Mekong Project. At the time of going to press VNOBT is planning to establish a dedicated contemporary dance troupe with a view to facilitating the further development of the genre.

Ballroom

During the colonial period ballroom dancing (khiêu vũ quốc tế) became popular amongst the higher echelons of society but few ordinary Vietnamese could afford to participate. In the latter days of French rule dance clubs employed talented Chinese dancers from Shanghai as teachers and employed the services of musical groups such as Myosotis to provide the musical accompaniment to high-society balls.

Ballroom dancing ceased after independence but was revived during the 1970s, largely it is said thanks to cultural exchange activities involving Cuba. Since that time informal schools and clubs have been established all over the country and amateur ballroom dancing has become a favourite national pastime. Việt Nam now has many skilled ballroom dancers but ballroom dancing does not yet feature on the curricula of the two dance schools, neither is it promoted by the country's traditional dance and culture associations. Most importantly, since there is still no official ballroom dancing authority to enforce correct international technique, Việt Nam has yet to take its rightful place in the international world of competitive ballroom dancing. Despite this fact, in August 2003 Vietnamese dance partners Chi Anh and Khánh Thi took second prize at the Amateur Latin America Dance Competition in Paris.

Opera

Western-style operatic singing has been taught hand-in-hand with orchestral and chamber music since the inception of the Việt Nam School of Music (now the Hà Nội Conservatory of Music) in 1956. Accordingly, when the Việt Nam Opera-Ballet Theatre (Nhà hát Nhạc vũ Kịch Việt Nam) was set up in 1959, its opera company and orchestra were the first to be operational. In the years which followed a production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin was staged with Russian assistance, followed by the company's first home-grown piece, an experimental quasi-operatic work entitled Núi rừng hãy lên tiếng ('Let the Mountains and Forests Raise Their Voices') set to words by Đỗ Nhuận and Trọng Bằng, which was realised with the assistance of specialists from North Korea.

In 1964, encouraged by the development of symphonic and choral music since the establishment of the Việt Nam Symphony Orchestra and Việt Nam Opera Ballet Theatre, the Ministry of Culture set up the Việt Nam Orchestra, Choir and Ballet Theatre (Nhà hát Giao hưởng, Hợp xướng, Nhạc Vũ kịch Việt Nam) under Phạm Ngọc Lê to co-ordinate more effectively the development and presentation of orchestral music, opera and ballet.

In the following year this new institution presented the first truly homegrown Vietnamese opera - Cô Sao ('Miss Sao') by composer Đỗ Nhuận marked the first successful attempt to integrate rural Vietnamese folk melodies into the western operatic formula of solo and choral singing and recitatives set to orchestral accompaniment. In addition to performances in Hà Nội, this production toured to Nam Định, Hải Phòng and Quảng Ninh.

As war with the United States escalated during the late 1960s the Việt Nam Orchestra, Choir and Ballet Theatre was split into small groups to take patriotic songs and musical performances to the front lines. It also sent groups of symphony musicians and choristers to Thái Bình, Nam Hà (now Nam Định and Hà Nam), Ninh Bình and Thanh Hóa provinces to train non-specialist art and culture groups responsible for the development of the Tiếng hát át tiếng bom ('The Sound of Singing Drowns the Noise of Bombs') movement.

Despite the hardships of the period, two further homegrown operatic works were composed and premiered in 1968 - Nhật Lai's Bên bờ Krôngpa ('On the Banks of the Krongpa') and Lưu Hữu Phước's Bông Sen ('Lotus'). These were followed in 1971 by Đỗ Nhuận's second full-length opera entitled Người tạc tượng ('The Sculptor'). After Reunification two further Vietnamese operas were written - Đỗ Nhuận's Nguyễn Trãi and Nguyễn Đình Tấn's Tình yêu của em ('My Love').

The Việt Nam Opera-Ballet Theatre regained its separate status in 1978. Since that time it has staged numerous popular works from the international operatic repertoire in collaboration with resident foreign cultural missions, but regrettably lack of resources has severely limited opportunities for the presentation of indigenous Vietnamese works. However, strenuous efforts are now being made to stage the lost Vietnamese operatic masterpieces of the past 40 years. In this connection Đỗ Nhuận's Nguyễn Trãi, which features a symphony orchestra, chorus and traditional musical instruments such as the cồng, chiêng (gong), đàn nguyệt (moon lute) and đàn bầu (monochord), was given a rare performance in October 2000 as part of Hà Nội's 990th anniversary celebrations.

Việt Nam has produced numerous distinguished opera soloists. Foremost amongst these are Trung Kiên (b 1939), Quý Dương (b 1937), Trần Hiếu (b 1937), Lê Dung (1951-2000), Quang Thọ (b 1948) and Anh Đào (b 1942), all of whom have performed widely on the international stage.