HÀ NỘI — The best dance performances by Vietnamese and international artists won gold medals at the closing ceremony of the International Dance Festival in the northern province of Ninh Bình last Friday. 

The winners were Chinese Henan Art Troupe, Russian Vezelitsa Dance Troupe, Malaysian Ask Dance Troupe and Singaporean Chinese Dance Theatre, as well as Colombian Periferia Dance Troupe, South Korean K-Arts Traditional Dance Troupe and dance troupes of the host country.

Vietnamese dancers pocketed four out of a total of 10 gold medals. The winners were Military Culture and Arts College, Việt Nam National Opera and Ballet (VNOB), northern mountainous Hà Giang Art Troupe and Sao Biển Folk Dance and Sing Theatre.

"Through the festival, we saw choreographers make good use of folk material to stage the dances," Phạm Anh Phương, head of the jury panel, said.

"It is a good sign that a combination of folk and modern dance is being promoted. Jurors highly appreciated the quality of each dance performed at the festival. The dances do not only make an impression on the audience, but they also promote creativity of the form."

"The jurors also recognised the development of Vietnamese dancers, who contributed to the recognition and preservation of folk dance," Phương said. 

In addition, the six-member panel awarded 20 silver medals and three best dancer titles to the dancers. The best dancers were Filipino Nicole Barroso, Chinese Lu Peng and Vietnamese Nguyễn Văn Nam.

Dancer Barroso of the Philippines Ballet Manila won the jurors’ hearts with his role in Don Quixote grand pas de Deux, while the dance Snow forest earned Lu Peng from Henan Art Troupe a gold medal. 

VNOB’s Nam grabbed the gold medal for his role in The rite of spring by Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. The performance depicts a pagan spring ritual, where a group of elders observe a dance in preparation for the death of a girl whom they are offering as a sacrifice to the god of spring for his benevolence.

It was staged by choreographer Phạm Minh, who has been a soloist at France’s Ballet du Capitole for 10 years. “Minh has modified the work to suit the body shape, rhythm and customs of Vietnamese people,” Nam said.

“The physical movements as well as the story behind this piece are presented in Vietnamese style. The mysterious tale combined with Stravinsky’s beautiful compositions makes for a fascinating ballet."

Child dancers from the Japanese Mariko Tosa Modern Ballet Academy were awarded Promising Dancers for their performance Hirosima seven’s summer days.

Nearly 100 dance performances of traditional folk, contemporary, classical and modern ballet were enacted by over 500 dancers from 15 countries and territories. The dancers also performed in Hà Nội and the central province of Thanh Hóa as part of the festival. — VNS