HCM CITY— The 3rd International Contemporary Dance Festival 2016 (ICDF) opens on Friday (September 30) at the HCM City Opera House.

The two-day event will feature dancers and choreographers from the US, Canada, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and the host country Việt Nam.

Featured artists include dancer and choreographer Tấn Lộc of HCM City, choreographer Sabra Johnson, winner of the third season of American TV show So You Think You Can Dance, and choreographer Kim Sung Young of Korea.  

The event will also include workshops and forums on dance hosted by Vietnamese and foreign specialists.

The organisers, the Arabesque Dance Group and HCM City Centre of Arts Performance and Cinematography, said the festival would offer opportunities for Vietnamese artists to improve their art form.

“We hope the third festival will be a success following the one in 2014, which attracted many young people and students from 40 universities and colleges around the city,” said dancer and choreographer Lộc, founder of the Arabesque Dance Group.

The Arabesque group formed in 2009 and became a leading private dance troupe in the region. It has 18 dancers, including talents such as Tố Như, Thanh Phong and Văn Thịnh, who studied dance in Russia, Japan and Hong Kong.

Arabesque dancers have participated in several dance contests and festivals at home and abroad.

In 2012, three artists of the Arabesque won top prizes at the Korea International Modern Dance Competition in Seoul, for dancers between 14 and 34 years old.    

While Nguyễn Hữu Thuận and Đỗ Thị Hải Anh won silver awards for male and female senior dancers after three rounds, Ngô Thanh Phương received the only Choreography Award for her dance staged by Thuận.

The artists will launch new dances at the ICDF this weekend.

The festival will take place from 7.30pm to 9pm on September 30 and October 1 at the Opera House at 7 Lam Sơn Square in District 1.

Workshops and forums will be offered for free at the Youth Cultural House at 4 Phạm Ngọc Thạch Street in District 1. — VNS