Contemporary dance festival highlighted by Vietnamese and Singapore dancers

HCM CITY — X POSITION ‘O’ 2023, a twenty-year-old international dance festival officially returning to Việt Nam, welcomes the audience for a one-night performance today (November 5) at Hòa Bình Theatre in HCM City.

The Sài Gòn Contemporary & Ballet Dance Company (SCBC) joins with Odyssey Theatre Singapore and the Bông Sen Traditional Music and Dance Theatre to celebrate five decades of diplomatic relations between Việt Nam and Singapore.

A performance night of X POSITION ‘O’ 2023 took place in Hội An City, Quảng Nam Province in September this year. Photo courtesy of the organisers.

Founded in Singapore in 1999, X Position 'O' International Contemporary Dance Festival has united more than 40 international art troupes and 550 artists through international performing tours and cultural exchanges around the world.

As a part of the framework of XPO Fiesta 2023, X POSITION 'O' 2023 included a series of captivating activities of contemporary dance art with four nights of performances taking place in Singapore, Hội An City and HCM City.

One performance night took place in Hội An City, Quảng Nam Province in September this year.

In a one-night performance, the audience is immersed in the art ambience through two performances, Silence of Solitude and Yên Lam (The Peace of Blue).

Two performances flawlessly represent contemporary dance and folk elements of XPO Fiesta 2023.

While Silence of Solitude is a journey into one's inner self through the movement of various frequencies of sound, Yên Lam is a contemporary folk dance that depicts the journey to find original culture and intimate stories circling around family.

Yên Lam recreates the spiritual life and cultural values of Vietnamese people in the South, preserving the traditional values and beliefs of Vietnamese generations.

“The combination of folk elements and contemporary dance is conveyed with live music, especially in the Yên Lam performance,” said choreographer Huỳnh Đoan Trinh, a representative of the Bông Sen theatre.

“The audience can sense movements that intersect between folk and contemporary through the performance of the talented dancers and musicians. I hope the performance conveys a harmonious and profound artistic ambience to the audience.”

Đỗ Hải Anh clinched the position of the first female champion of the Vietnamese dance show 'So You Think You Can Dance' in 2015. Photo courtesy of Đỗ Hải Anh.

X Position 'O' 2023 welcomes the return of SCBC’s choreographer and creative director Đỗ Hải Anh, who was bestowed to Forbes Vietnam Under 30 list in 2022.

The festival also features Danny Tan, founder and artistic director of Odyssey Theatre Singapore.

Besides directing and choreographing more than 150 dance shows, Tan is the director of twelve prominent international dance festivals, including the X POSITION 'O' Contemporary Dance Festival, which was held in Việt Nam in 2019, and the DanzINC International Contemporary Dance Festival.

"This year, X Position 'O' features high-level performances that reflect international cultural exchange between Việt Nam and Singapore, with the participation of renowned dance performers from both countries,” director Đào Minh Vũ with the SCBC said.