Choreographer Ngô Thanh Phương, a graduate of Folkwang University of the Arts, will present a contemporary dance called 1936 today on YouTube. File photo from facebook.com/throughthedoorthen/

HCM CITY — A new contemporary dance performance called 1936 will premiere on YouTube today (Oct 30).

The production is choreographed and directed by Ngô Thanh Phương, a graduate of Folkwang University of the Arts in Germany.

The 40-minute show includes semantic and somatic exchanges between two characters taking place simultaneously in a realm where time warps and space bends.

The performance will feature Trần Diễm Phương, a student at the Vocational Ballet School of HCM City, and Nguyễn Hạ Xuân Nguyên, a freelance dancer from Hội An.

Filmmaker and visual artist Nguyễn Hải Yến, aka Red, is the producer, while the curator Linh Lê is its dramaturge.

1936 is the second chapter of Phương’s collective project called “Through the Door then…” about the expression of the body and human connection in different spaces and realities.

The first chapter called Mình Mình Thì… (I I shall…) premiered in July, featuring dancers Thư‌ơng Lê and Hoàng Anh.

After graduating in 2008, Phương worked at the Arabesque Dance Company as one of the key choreographers. She has co-created and choreographed Vietnamese popular dance shows À Ố Show, The Mist and Teh Dar.

In 2012, she founded the Open Stage Project, aiming to close the gender gap in backstage and off-screen careers.

She received the Best Choreography Award at Korea International Modern Dance Competition and a grant from the Danish Cultural Development and Exchange Fund (CDEF) for her experimental work Erasable in the same year.

She has received fellowships and artist-in-residencies from institutions and organisations, such as the Cleveland Foundation, Asian Cultural Council, and American Dance Festival.

In 2020, Phương founded the MORUA arts residency project in Hội An, and presented the X-PROJECT contemporary dance.

The 1936 dance performance will be streamed on Morua Arts Residency Project’s YouTube channel at 4pm. It will include English subtitles. — VNS