Ballet Kiều staged by the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera won an excellence award at the National Dance and Music Festival held in Đắk Lắk Province in 2022. Photo courtesy of HBSO

BÌNH DƯƠNG — The southern province of Bình Dương will host the 2024 National Dance and Music Festival from September 29 to October 15.

The festival is organised by the Performing Arts Department under the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, in collaboration with the province’s People’s Committee and relevant organisations.

According to the organisers, the festival creates a platform for troupes and artists to meet and share experiences to improve their professional skills.

It is also an opportunity for cultural management agencies and art troupes to discover young talents.

The event will have the participation of more than 1,000 musicians, singers and dancers from 24 professional art troupes across Việt Nam such as the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO), the Bông Sen Traditional Music and Dance Theatre, and the Bình Dương Culture and Art Centre.

The troupes can perform different performing arts such as folk or contemporary music and dance, classical music, ballet, musicals, and traditional theatrical dramas.

Each performance runs between 60 and 110 minutes.

The organisers will give prizes to best performance, director, choreographer, musician, lead vocalist, lead dancer, and more.

At the last National Dance and Music Festival held in the Tây Nguyên (Central Highlands) province of Đắk Lắk in 2022, the organisers granted excellence awards for Ballet Kiều staged by HBSO, the ballet Hàm Lệ Minh Châu by Việt Nam National Ballet and Opera, and the musical Người Cầm Lái (The Leader) by the Public Security Theatre.

Ballet Kiều is based on Truyện Kiều (The Tale of Kiều), the 18th-century poetic masterpiece by great poet Nguyễn Du (1765-1820), while Hàm Lệ Minh Châu tells a tragic love story of Princess Mỵ Châu of the Âu Lạc Kingdom (now Việt Nam) and Trọng Thủy, son of the lord of a rival state.

Người Cầm Lái portrays President Hồ Chí Minh and his 30-year journey seeking national salvation.

The 2024 National Dance and Music Festival will take place at the Bình Dương Convention and Exhibition Centre in Thủ Dầu Một City. — VNS