Xoe dance of Thai ethnic people - Illustrative image (Source: VNA) The seminar titled “From ethnic minority dancing to professional dance” also looked into changes in ethnic dancing.
Prof. Ngoc Canh highlighted the fact that many of Vietnam’s notable dances over the past five decades have their aspiration from ethnic groups’ traditional dances.
He cited as examples choreographer Hoang Chau’s work titled “Tay Bac vui tuoi” (Delight Tay Bac), based on Thai ethnic dance and Le Ngoc Canh’s “Hung nang” (Catching sunshine), featuring Tay people’s dance, to name just a few.
Artist Hoang Hai said that traditional dances are frequently performed in public stage and villages, however, they are hard to find in professional stage, with low quality.
He noted that Vietnam’s temporary dance should use ethnic groups’ traditional dance as materials and themes, as they are the soul of Vietnamese culture.
Many participants agreed that it is not easy to integrate traditional materials in temporary works and emphasised the importance of understanding Vietnam’s cultural values and the essence of traditional dance.-VNA
