Month: June 2019

Choreographer Vũ Ngọc Khải: Bring Vietnamese soul into contemporary Dance

26/06/2019

Choreographer Vũ Ngọc Khải will present a new show entitled Đáy Giếng (Into The Well) on June 28 in Hà Nội. Khải currently works at the Konzert Theatre Bern, Switzerland. He graduated from the Việt Nam Dance Academy and attended a one-year course at the Codarts Rotterdam Dance Academy in the Netherlands. He is the art director and co-founder of the 1648km Art Performance & Community Organisation. Lê Hoa talks to Khải about his new show and career.

Can you tell us about your new work?

I choreographed Into The Well for the Hanoi Dance Fest 2019. The work is a journey of Vietnamese looking for their identity. In Vietnamese culture, the bamboo oars, communal house yards, water wells and mats are both propulsive forces and resistance for the individual human being. Striking through cultural challenges I wanted to reflect myself in correlation with nature. The journey is illustrated by the language of contemporary dance and traditional live music. I researched traditional festivals such as buffalo fighting and the Tây Sơn battle drum to incorporate into the dance. I was introduced to artists who I invited to join my project later. Traditional musicians Nguyễn Thành Nam and meritorious artist Nguyễn Ngọc Khánh will be playing for me. They were born into traditional music families.

How did you become a dancer?

I started dancing because my father made me to. At that time I was very active and like many other children I liked sports a lot. Honestly, when my father submitted the application for my entrance exam to dance school, I didn’t like it at all. But now I have to thank him because I’ve become a professional dancer and I love to dance.

Did you face many difficulties at the beginning?

I had a lot of injuries. When I was a child I often twisted my ankles. When I started learning ballet my legs were quite weak, so injuries were common if I fell in training. I’ve suffered the consequences of those injuries such as arthritis. The worst injury I’ve had was a herniated disc. I had to take a year off because of that.

You’ve had the chance to perform with foreign artists on international stages. What have been your most memorable experiences?

Foreign dancers have amazing creativities, and I’m happy to be involved in that environment. School dancers have the right to zone in to their own creativity. Good or bad is not important and no one has the right to judge. This is the key for creativity. The contemporary dance language is very wide and almost without limits. In school they learn many different techniques such as ballet, Cunningham, Limon, Flying Flow, Floorwork, Counter Technique and Release Technique. These techniques are all choreographed by teachers. Creative thinking helps to acquire these techniques. In contemporary dance ideas relate much to life, especially in the way you think about people. Modern life brings people to more complex thoughts and young people in particular want to express their emotions.

There are more young artists involved in contemporary dance. What do you want to say to them?

Actually, it is difficult to enjoy a dance performance. I think young dancers should set their goals from the beginning. They should know if they want to be ballet dancers, contemporary dancers or both because dance always takes time to practice. Depending on the form of dance they choose, their bodies will grow around them. A dancer has quite short time to perform so if they have a clear plan from the beginning they will get the results they desire. In addition, when they are dancers, they should learn the methods of teaching, choreography and staging. It will be good preparation for them when they can no longer dance. But the most important thing is they should try their best to dance while they can. The door will open more for them later.

Le Hoa (Vietnamnews)

Khai Ngoc Vu is currently a dancer/choreographer at Konzert Theatre Bern, Switzerland. He had the opportunity to both study and work in Vietnam and Europe. Before being a professional, he graduated from the Vietnam National Dance College in 2004 after 7 years of study. In 2006, he received a full scholarship for the Codarts/Rotterdam Dance Academy – Netherlands from the Consulate of Netherlands in Vietnam. Ever since, he has worked for a number of dance companies and theaters in Vietnam, Holland, Italia, Germany and Switzerland.

He started choreographing in 2009. Since 2018, he is the Artistic Director, co-founder 1648kilomet (Performing Arts and Community Activity Organization). He first started as a ballet dancer, then gradually changed to neo-classical dance, and now he has finally found himself embracing contemporary dance. He would love to share his experience to audience by teaching and choreographing. He wishes his work could touch the people in modern life.

In march 2018, one of his works ‘’Mushrooms Zone’’ won 1st prize International Ayang Young Choreographer Competition – South Korea.

How do you succeed in Dance? (Part Two)

17/06/2019

Lesson 11: Know when to quit.

“If you’re not getting challenged in a big company, investigate why. Where is your dancing lacking? Where is your work ethic lacking? If you can’t seem to move forward, look into other companies. Go back to what it means to bend your body, to bend your knees, to move in space. You’ll be able to breathe through those moments of difficulty.” —Ashley Tuttle, master ballet teacher

Lesson 12: Remember that even stars are part of a team.

“This is a collaborative art form. Successful dance artists see themselves as part of a whole. They may be the star, but they remain aware that there’s an entire corps de ballet behind them, and a conductor in the pit carefully keeping the music at the right tempo, and someone who will stay late and do all the laundry for the next day. Anytime there’s a mishap onstage, we all have to band together and coordinate the best, most subtle solution possible, ideally without the audience knowing anything was wrong. Sometimes I feel like we’re a pod of dolphins—we communicate very simply and effectively, sometimes just with our eyes or a whisper. We find a way to fix it, then move along as if nothing happened. The stronger the team, the better the company.” —Kelly Brown, production stage manager at Miami City Ballet

Lesson 13: Hire experts.

“Do not be, as one lawyer told me, ‘penny wise and pound foolish.’ When you have an opportunity to be paid for your craft, especially when it comes to commercial partnerships with brands and products, find a good entertainment lawyer or agent to help you navigate the contract. It’ll cost you 5 to 15 percent of the overall fee, but is very worth it. They’ll make sure you’re not giving away rights to your image and likeness indefinitely or for longer than the value of your compensation. You’ll avoid being unfairly locked into category exclusivity. The details are truly in the fine print.” —Gilda Squire, founder of Squire Media & Management, Inc., and manager to Misty Copeland and others

Lesson 14: Be insatiable.

“When you see artists who are dancing into their 50s, ask, ‘What is it that has brought them to this moment?’ When you think of Alessandra Ferri, Wendy Whelan, Sylvie Guillem, Mikhail Baryshnikov—they’re incredibly gifted, versatile artists, but there is a drive that is innate.” —Jodie Gates, vice dean and director of USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance

Lesson 15: Get some distance.

“I was getting burned out dancing and being on the road so much with Batsheva, and decided to spend nine months at a Buddhist monastery in Nova Scotia. There was a scary feeling of space that opened up by cutting the momentum of my dancing life. I became aware of how much I defined myself as a dancer, and held that as a proof of my self-worth. I had thought I wasn’t one of those ‘crazy dancers’ who prioritizes being a dancer over being a person. Now I feel less afraid to drop dancing and that identity entirely, which allows me to continue, and more fully, because my grip on it is more relaxed. Any time I have stepped away, I have come back with more than I left with.” —Doug Letheren, dancer with Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch

Lesson 16: Don’t trust the trends.

“Don’t get lost in what is ‘cool,’ even when you see the pros doing it. Trends like no ballet slippers or dressing like you’re at a gym can make anyone watching think less of you, and you never know who is going to walk in. Even I put myself into a unitard and skirt to teach class because I feel and think more like dancer when I am dressed like one.” —Nancy Bielski, master ballet teacher at Steps on Broadway

esson 17: Save money to buy yourself freedom.

“Save enough for three to sixth months. Start by putting a little bit aside. I have the bank do it automatically, so it slowly drips into a savings account. That cushion is going to make it okay for you to not take the crappy gig you don’t want but to hold out for the job that you do.” —Jessica Scheitler, enrolled agent, owner of Financial Groove

Lesson 18: Keep exploring.

“The dancers I’ve watched succeed haven’t been afraid to reinvent themselves, either across topic or scale. Consider how your practice works across platforms—corporate and not, nonprofit and not, on Broadway but also at a place like The Joyce.” —Marc Bamuthi Joseph, vice president and artistic director of social impact at the Kennedy Center

Lesson 19: Don’t cross your legs when you sit.

“Considering the frequency of total hip replacements in dancers these days, you should refrain from sitting with your legs crossed. This position adds stress to the lumbar spine and the hip joints. It compresses the nerves and blood supply to the lower extremities, and it inhibits the abdominal muscles from activity, making them insufficient to stabilize your spine.” —Marika Molnar, physical therapist and founder of Westside Dance Physical Therapy in New York City

Lesson 20: Treat rehearsals like more than practice.

“Rehearsals are not just about preparing for some future event. They are the present, too. So how we engage with each other, and how we literally live together in the hours and hours we have making a thing together, well, that matters. Once I figured that out, my attitude about time changed, as did the actual outcomes of the dances themselves.” —Liz Lerman, choreographer and educator

(Dance Magazine)

How do you succeed in Dance?

06/06/2019

What does it take to “make it” in dance? It’s no secret that turning this passion into a profession can be a struggle. In such a competitive field, talent alone isn’t enough to get you where you want to be. So what kinds of steps can you take to become successful? Dance Magazine spoke to 33 people from all corners of the industry to get their advice on the lessons that could help us all, no matter where we are in our careers.

Lesson 1: Ask yourself why you dance, and make sure the answer is, “Because I love it.”

“The stage is transparent. Some people go out onstage and they have so much life because they love what they do. Other people just do tricks. Someone might give great performances, and the audience might think, Oh, that’s very nice, but it doesn’t change them. They were just watching someone who wanted to be the center of attention, not an artist who was dying to dance.” -Paloma Herrera, artistic director of Teatro Colón’s ballet company

Lesson 2: Learn about the culture of every style you study.

“Have the same respect for the culture of locking, for instance, as you would for pointe work. Understanding the history will open up your storytelling abilities and make you look more natural because you’ll ‘get’ where it comes from, not just what it is.” – Luam, hip-hop choreographer, director and master teacher

Lesson 3: Don’t get hung up on talent.

“Statistically, less physically gifted dancers are more successful. A talented dancer gets everything easier, gets used to this and stops exerting. The greatest mistake dancers make is too much self-assurance.” -Yuri Fateyev, acting director of the Mariinsky Ballet

Lesson 4: Value all improvement.

“Don’t dismiss small improvements just because they don’t fulfill the image of your larger-scale goals. Improvement can be a change in quality, facility, adaptation or efficiency. A change can be tiny, incremental. Acknowledging an improvement makes the difference between leaving the studio that day with a success or with a failure—and this can set the tone by which we live our lives.” —Ami Shulman, rehearsal director for GöteborgsOperans Danskompani and certified Feldenkrais practitioner

Lesson 5: Don’t work hard, work smart.

“A lot of young artists practice by just repeating and repeating the same material, thinking it will get better. But sometimes you have to pause and think about why you’re doing the movement, or why it doesn’t work. Stick with it, but try a different way.”—PeiJu Chien-Pott, principal with the Martha Graham Dance Company

Lesson 6: Value your choices more than your body or ability

“How your body looks or how well you execute movements does not determine who you are. If your feelings about yourself rise and fall with your weight or how high you jump, then you will feel anxious and depressed. But if your self-esteem is based on your actions and behaviors, then you can consistently feel good about yourself.” —Nadine Kaslow, a clinical psychologist who works with Atlanta Ballet

Lesson 7: Share yourself, not just what you can do.

“What’s interesting is who you are, not how many turns you can do or how you can distort your body. Dancers today are challenged constantly by that very passing flashiness. Like a jewel dangling in front of you, sparkling. But stars glow, they do not sparkle. Sparkles can disappear.” —Judith Jamison, artistic director emerita at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater

Lesson 8: Don’t ignore directions just so you can show off.

“In the audition room when the choreographer is like, ‘Okay, give me a double pirouette—clean, please,’ we’ll get young hotshots giving us a triple or a quadruple. They want to sex it up a little bit, when in fact what’s being asked for is very clear, very succinct. If you show off, it can quite often work against your favor.” —Duncan Stewart, Broadway casting director at Stewart/Whitley

Lesson 9: Ask for advice—and the opportunities you want.

“No one in the dance world has ever said no when I’ve asked for advice. Pick up the phone or meet face-to-face and ask questions. If you want to dance in a certain company or project, ask. Sometimes luck just occurs, and sometimes luck is made because you are vigilant in your pleasant, kind assertiveness. Make yourself available for opportunities. And make your own opportunities.” —David Dorfman, artistic director, college professor, Broadway and postmodern choreographer

Lesson 10: Value the small roles.

“Dancers today too often want everything now. To that, I say, ‘Wait your turn, stick it out, gather the experience and commit to the company.’ Patience develops dancers.” —Barbara Bears, ballet master at Houston Ballet

(Continue)