A Chau Folk Arts Theatre is expected to have its official debut at Khanh Hoa Provincial Children's House (62 Thai Nguyen Street, Nha Trang City) on September 20.
A Chau Folk Arts Theatre is expected to have its official debut at Khanh Hoa Provincial Children’s House (62 Thai Nguyen Street, Nha Trang City) on September 20.
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| Theatre’s actresses practicing lotus dance. |
The theatre is established basing on the idea of Le Xuan Thom, General Director of Hai Dang Group. Working in the tourism section, Thom has travelled to a lot of countries over the world. He was surprised that Vietnam’s folk dances are performed by many art groups in Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, etc. Since then, he wanted to form an art group to introduce the unique traditional culture of Vietnam to the tourists as well as preserve these traditional cultural features through the young artists.
Early 2016, Hai Dang Group hired a hall of the provincial Children’s House to set up the stage and theatrical equipment for A Chau Folk Arts Theatre with the total investment of nearly VND40 billion.
Hai Dang Group also invited Meritorious Artist Hoang Minh Tam, former Principal of Nha Trang College of Culture, Arts and Tourism, to work as the theatre’s Director. After that, Tam recruited artists and actors from the art schools and groups across the country. Until now, there have been 34 dancers, 12 actors and tens of instrumentalists recruited. Besides, famous artists and choreographers in and outside Vietnam have been invited to train the artists and actors of the theatre.
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| “Thousand-arm Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva” dance. |
According to Hoang Minh Tam, the items arranged and performed in the theatre’s debut will bear the unique cultural features of the ethnic groups and regional areas, such as performances of dan bau (monochord), đan tranh (16-chord zither), dan nhi (2-chord fiddle), dan da (lithophone), T’rung, and bamboo flute; dances of the people in the north-east, north, Hue Royal Palace, and Cham dance.
Additionally, Thom has cooperated with many units to help A Chau Folk Arts Theatre to become a tourism destination for tourists in Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa. “In the future, the theatre will attach special importance to staging the performances featuring the culture of the people living along Truong Son Mountain, highlands, and coastal areas to assert the nation’s sovereignty”, said Thom.
Reportedly, A Chau Folk Arts Theatre will have one show time per day at 7pm in the first month of opening; from two to three show times per day afterwards. Basing on the country where the tourists are from, the theatre will perform some special items. Especially, Nha Trang’s people will be offered a 50-percent discount on ticket.
Nam Phong
Translated by H.N
