Contemporary dancers will perform at Mã: The Road To Nothingness. Photo courtesy of Lên Ngàn

HÀ NỘI — A multi-disciplinary stage performance will take place at Hồng Hà Theatre featuring traditional tuồng (opera theatre) fused with contemporary dance.

The performance entitled Mã: The Road To Nothingness will blend dance, traditional and contemporary music, and visual arts, guiding the audience to explore the deep connections between the individual and community memory, between reality and myth, between existentialism and belief.

It marks the continuation of the collaboration between Lên Ngàn, the Việt Nam Tuồng Theatre, and choreographer Nguyễn Duy Thành, aiming at uncovering new potential in connecting contemporary performance art with local cultural materials.

Mã is a multi-layered artistic journey that includes research activities on the dance movements of traditional theatrical forms, professional exchange between contemporary dancers and traditional theatre artists, intimate discussions about the potential of dance intertwined with folk performance genres.

Choreographed by Thành and curated by Lên Ngàn, throughout the work, traditional materials intertwine with popular social elements to serve as a frame - a subtle metaphor for customs and conflicts, stripping away scenes, rituals, habits and rules not only about history and heritage but also about the very existence of the individual.

The performance portrays a contemporary Việt Nam torn between material reality and spiritual life, where each body movement is a profound dialogue with memory and personal identity, blending traditional Vietnamese arts like chầu văn (ceremonial singing), tuồng and chèo (popular opera) with contemporary dance, experimental music, jazz, techno and rap.

Traditional sounds are embedded in an experimental electronic space, with the lighting design highlighting inner moments, turning the stage into a place for expressing the metaphorical layers of history, heritage, family and the very existence of being.

Starting with a passion for hip-hop, Thành is the first Vietnamese artist to add an Asian influence, both in the traditional and contemporary sense to the genre, creating an original approach.

He has collaborated with Vietnamese and international artists such as Trần Ly Ly, Arco Renz and Heiner Goebbels. 

Mã will feature dancers Chu Vân, Chu Thoan, Hiểu Khánh accompanied by traditional musicians Xuân Diệu, Anh Quang, cellist Pha Lê and percussionist Long Đinh. 

The performance will begin at 8pm on May 30 - 31 and June 1 at Hồng Hà Theatre, 51A Đường Thành, Hoàn Kiếm District. — VNS