Dance contest seeks talented choreographers

Contestants will demonstrate their dances and choreography skills during selective rounds. In the final round, they can choose to perform or use other dancers to perform their choreographed works. 

Traditional dance and Vietnamese music will be encouraged to performed in the six-day contest. 

Veteran dancers and choreographers such as Viet Cuong and Viet Hung are on the jury. 

The contest also aims to help dance schools develop new ideas for their curriculum and business, as well as improve management skills. 

Since 2006, the Vietnam Dancers Association has worked with dance schools, including leading schools such as Vietnam Dance College in Hanoi and Army Culture Art University to preserve and develop Vietnamese dance. 

People’s Artist and choreographer Viet Cuong of HCM City Television believes dance schools must improve training and management to meet demand. 

"One of our key problems is how to create more opportunities for choreographers and dancers, particularly young talents, to create and perform new works based on traditional dance on stage," he said. 

Cuong and his colleagues have offered short-term courses in dance creation for young people for the past four years. 

He said better training and management would play an important role in improving the country’s dance profession. 

The curriculum for their courses includes 13 subjects, including ballet, music for dance, the language of folk dance, and choreography. 

Cultural researchers and theatre experts, such as Tran Huu Ta, Ngo Hong Khanh and Le Tien Tho, have developed the curricula. 

“Our courses include fact-finding tours to landscapes, historical sites and museums to help students learn more about traditional folk dance skills,” Cuong said. 

Dance performances in Vietnam are often of low quality and give audiences a poor impression of the art of dance. 

“A key reason is that we have very few skilled choreographers,” he said. 

In HCM City, nearly 30 dance troupes, including leading troupes like Bong Sen Traditional Singing, Dance and Music Troupe and Kim Quy Troupe, are facing a shortage of dancers, while artists such as Cuong, Hung, Vuong Linh, Vu Long and Hoang Chau are nearing the end of their careers. 

“Most concert choreographers are former dancers and have no training. They have turned to choreography now that demand has increased. Many dance groups now have no choreographer,” said Lam Vinh Hai, a leader of M&T Dance Group, and 2012 winner of the TV dance show Thu Thach Cung Buoc Nhay, a version of the US show So You Think You Can Dance. 

"We hope cultural authorities will support both State-owned and private dance troupes so they can cope with financial difficulties and improve dance skills," he said.