More than 250 Vietnamese and Danish artists will join a cultural programme on the occasion of the upcoming State visit of the Danish royal family led by Queen Margrethe.

Blending cultures: Danish dance troupe Uppercut will perform in Ha Noi on the occasion of the Danish royal family’s visit to Viet Nam.

A first ever street art festival will be the main event, with diverse, exciting and animated performances, taking place at Ly Thai To Garden, downtown Ha Noi next Tuesday.

The event, held from 2.30pm to 9pm, will see Ly Thai To Garden transformed into a four-cornered stage with one grand stage. At hip-hop and modern dance corner, the group Big Toe will perform together with Danish dance group Uppercut. Experimental corner has been reserved for experimental artist Dao Anh Khanh and his friends. At the traditional music and dance corner, Thang Long Ca Tru (ceremonial singing) Club will take the lead while the circus and theatre corner’s attractions will be the Viet Nam circus and Danish theatre company, Batida.

Performances will be organised spontaneously one after another, so everyone can join in every single activity at the festival.

“The event is a good reason to promote cultural exchange between Viet Nam and Denmark, and the street art festival will inspire not only the artists but also the authorities and organisers to think of an annual arts street festival,” said Danish Ambassador Peter Lysholt Hansen.

“This will be the first street art festival for the public in Ha Noi. And hopefully it will be organised annually. I want to be part of this initial remarkable event, that’s why I volunteered to perform free of charge,” said singer Tung Duong.

At the festival, audiences will get the chance to understand more about the arts and even have a go themselves. When artists from the Thang Long Ca Tru Club perform, others like Big Toe will create graffiti or circus artists will perform without music and when Big Toe perform, ca tru artists will display and introduce their traditional instruments.

An exhibition entitled Emergency Room will be opened next Tuesday with the visiting Danish royal family and Danish Minister of Culture in attendance. The exhibition will run until November 28 at the University of Fine Arts, 42 Yet Kieu Street, Ha Noi.

Hip-hop fans, watch out! Uppercut are on their way. With their captivating blend of modern dance, street dance, electric boogie and physical theatre, Uppercut have created their own unique style on the frontier between modern dance and theatre.

For their latest performance, Uppercut will collaborate with the multi-cultural band Peace of Middle East to perform their renowned piece Universe – a combination of break-dance and contemporary dance with classical and world music at Tuoi Tre (Youth) Theatre, 11 Ngo Thi Nham Street, Ha Noi.

Uppercut will also perform together with Big Toe, one of the most well-known Vietnamese dance groups this Sunday at 4pm till 8pm at the Cultural Centre for Students, 37 Tran Binh Trong Street, Ha Noi.

Installation’s by Khanh, entitled 1,000-year-old Ha Noi – Convergence of Light, will be held from now until Sunday at Khanh’s studio, Lane 462, Ngoc Thuy Street, Long Bien District.

A performance by a danish jazz trio will be held tomorrow at Minh’s Jazz Club, 31 Luong Van Can Street. Django Bates, famous jazz composer, piano player and professor at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory will give an inspirational jazz concert together with his musical colleagues Jens Skou Olsen and Mads Emil Nielsen along with jazz musicians from the Viet Nam Academy of Music.

Let’s Rock

with Viet Nam and Denmark features Danish band The Blue Van and Vietnamese bands Pentatonic, Silent and UnlimiteD. The show will be held on Sunday at the Viet Nam Exhibition and Fair Centre, 148 Giang Vo Street, next Wednesday at Hue city’s Sports Centre, No 1 Ha Huy Tap Street, Hue city and next Saturday at Lan Anh Music Centre, No 291, Cach Mang Thang Tam Street, HCM City.

Ten actors and actresses from the Danish theatre group, Batida, will perform Grande Finale at the Youth Theatre next Monday and at the Cultural Centre for Students from next Tuesday to Thursday.

An exhibition entitled Women in Viet Nam Today will be held from next Tuesday till November 20 at Ha Noi Future Art, Lane 310, Nghi Tam Street, Tay Ho District by curator Vu Thi Trang and her husband, Danish artist Jes Brinch. It will display video art, installations, documentaries, paintings and sculptures by six Vietnamese female artists.

A workshop on urban area planning with architect Jan Gelh will take place at Hilton Hotel. He has surveyed Ha Noi to get an overview of the city’s architecture from which he will develop ideas in planning for the city and it’s people.

The Kim Dong Publishing House and the Danish Writers Association will work together to hold the Children’s Literature Awards ceremony next Monday at the National Library, 31 Trang Thi Street, Ha Noi.

For free tickets, please contact the Youth Theatre and Embassy of Denmark, 19 Dien Bien Phu Street, Ha Noi.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News