HCM CITY — A series of dance performances, film screenings and workshops will be held during the third Krossing Over Arts Festival in HCM City from April 5-11.

With the theme “Roots”, the festival, organised by the France-based Kerman Dance Company and French Institute in Việt Nam, has attracted 50 Vietnamese and foreign artists.

Its featured performance will be The Roots, a globally acclaimed hip hop creation by choreographer Kader Attou, director of the National Choreographic Center in La Rochelle, France. The dance has been performed during tours in Europe, the US, China and Taiwan.

The event will open with contemporary dance performance At the Gate of Oblivion featuring French dancers Sébastien Lý, Thomas Demay and Lisa Robert, and Vietnamese dancers Lê Mai Anh and Trần Hoàng Yến.

Choreographer Nguyễn Phúc Hùng of the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera (HBSO) will collaborate with French visual artist Sandrine Llouquet to present Lub qhov rooj (The Door).

The dance will feature Sùng A Lùng, a dancer of HBSO who won the Gold Medal at the 2016 National Young Choreographer Talent Competition.

Vietnamese-Canadian John Huy Trần will introduce Tree of Life, a collaboration of John and French visual artist Benoît Bottex featuring dancers from UDG Việt Nam.

The festival will include White Language featuring Korean dancer Sunyoung Grace Lim and Vietnamese dancer Vũ Minh Thu of the city-based Arabesque Dance.

The event will also present eight dance films by independent filmmakers, producers and choreographers. Some of them have been shown at international film festivals such as Tarikat by Jasmijn Schrofer at the Agite Y Sirva Film Festival in Mexico; and The Ferryman by Gilles Delmas and Damien Jalet at the Ciné-Corps Film Festival in Paris.

Workshops on contemporary and traditional dances will be held as well.

The festival will take place in 10 different venues, including HCM City Cultural House, the Institute of Cultural Exchange with France, the HCM City Opera House, and the Factory Contemporary Arts Centre.

Sébastien Lý, artistic director of the festival, said: “The festival aims to introduce performances by Vietnamese artists to the public as well as the artists’ desire and passion for dance.”

He said the festival also includes workshops, artist talks and screenings of international films.

The Krossing Over Arts Festival will also be held in Hà Nội for the first time. It will take place from April 13-21.

The schedule for the performances can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/pg/VienPhaptaiTPHCM/. Tickets are available at www.ticketbox.vn. — VNS