Veteran stage designer Dong dies aged 87

People's Artist Nguyen Luong Dong, one of Viet Nam's most talented scenic designers for the theatres, died on Wednesday in HCM City after a long illness. He was 87.

Born in 1924 in Bac Lieu Province's Hong Dan District, Dong joined the revolutionary movement in 1945 after graduating from the Gia Dinh Fine Arts School.

He began his career as an employee for the Ha Noi-based Research Institute of Cai Luong (reformed theatre) Stage Fine Arts in 1954.

Working with several theatre troupes, Dong captured the beauty of Viet Nam and its people through his work in 30 plays.

He participated in Nang Tien Mau Don (Peony Fairy), a play directed by Chi Lang, and won his first golden medal at the first National Theatre Festival in 1958 in Ha Noi.

From 1964 to 1975 he was director of the Viet Nam Cai Luong Theatre in Ha Noi. He played an important role in helping the theatre become one of the country's largest.

Dong was involved in more than 100 plays in the style of cheo (traditional opera), tuong (classical drama) and cai luong.

His life was spent celebrating the traditional culture and theatre of the Vietnamese people. His work received top prizes at local and international theatre festivals.

Dong was named the People's Artist by the Government in 1993.

American Kyo York is voice of Vietnam

For most foreigners, speaking Vietnamese is hard enough never mind trying to sing local ballads. But there is always an exception, step forward Kyo York, an American, who not only speaks Vietnamese fluently but also sings it beautifully.

Possessing the ability to sing fluently in Vietnamese, vocalist York has forsaken his native tongue to serenade Vietnamese audiences.

Born in America in 1985, Kyle Cochran, a student at Marymount Manhattan, York arrived in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang ready to teach English as a volunteer to underprivileged children in 2009. And during that time he had a life-changing experience as he met and fell in love with a Vietnamese girl. His love affair prompted him to study the Vietnamese language and culture intensively.

Then by chance, he heard the song “Rieng mot goc troi” (A private sky corner) by songwriter Ngo Thuy Mien, which is performed by Tuan Ngoc. At that time, York did not understand the meaning of the song but its melodies attracted him and obsessed him.

York learned by heart the lyrics of the song and asked his girlfriend to explain the meaning. He then asked his friend to play instruments as he sung and the friend encouraged him to follow a professional music career.

With his voluntary role over, York moved to Saigon where he focused on studying the Vietnamese language and songs of other famous song writers such as Pham Duy and Trinh Cong Son. York has won many Vietnamese audiences’ hearts with shows in venues like ATB, Dong Dao, Silk-Black, C’est moi, Jardin D’amour, Yen or Moi Moi. He also joins big live music shows in HCMC, Hanoi, Danang, Hue, Vinh, Nha Trang, Phan Thiet and Can Tho. “Many shows give me a good income to live in Vietnam. But the important thing is I have a chance to sing. I was fated to sing Vietnamese,” said York.

Currently, York is also an English teacher and Vietnamese student at HCMC University of Social Sciences and Humanites.

He decided on the stage name Kyo York because of the Vietnamese language. When locals tried to pronounce his name Kyle, they couldn’t pronounce the ‘le’ so he decided to shorten his name to Kyo and combine it with York as he is from New York.

Although his love story with the Mekong Delta girl is over, his love of Vietnam and Vietnamese music will never die.

Northern mountainous region photo festival winners announced

Artist Le Hien from Phu Tho province and Thanh Mien from Yen Bai province won gold medals at the 11th Photography Festival of the Northern Mountainous Provinces for their works entitled ‘Huong Dong’ (Scent of the Countryside) and ‘Nuoc Va Cuoc Song’ (Water and Life) on September 29 in Son La city.

The festival, co-organised by the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists and the Son La provincial Association of Arts and Literature features the theme, ‘The Lives of Ethnic Groups in the Northern Mountainous Region Today’.

Four silver medals went to Ha Bac from Son La, Hoang Lai from Hoa Binh, Dam Son from Lang Son and Minh Duoc from Lao Cai.

The organising board also awarded six bronze medals and eight consolation prizes to other artists.

Son La, Lao Cai, Hoa Binh and Vinh Phuc provinces received team prizes for having the highest number of winning entries.

Five months after its launch, the festival had attracted over 1,770 entries by 229 photographers from 15 provinces in the region.

True to its theme, the works extoll the cultural beauty and the daily life of the people in the region.

The festival’s best 215 entries will be displayed in an exhibition at the Son La provincial Sports Centre on October 10.

Vietnamese man causes stir with flashmob proposal

A former Vietnamese student of the University of California in Los Angeles has caused a stir on Youtube with his proposal to his girlfriend via a flash mob on the school campus on September 24.

After being released on the Internet for only 3 days, the clip received over 200,000 views with almost 6,000 likes from Youtube users.

In the clip, Nam Tran, the hero of the hour, took Trang, his girlfriend to the school campus where they first met. Then around 100 people joined him to perform a 4-minute flash dance mob on the background of “Can’t take my eyes on you” by Frankie Valli.

After the dance, Nam bared his heart to the girl.

“I want you to know that I want to be with you for the rest of your life and do everything with you¬¬¬. I love you so much,” Nam said.

The man then got down on his knees and said, “Will you marry me?”. The girl responded with a big “yes” while happy tears kept falling on her face.

The whole thing even brought some of the girls around to tears.

The clip ended with the couple exchanging a romantic kiss and receiving congratulations from friends.

Netizens also expressed their admiration for the creative wedding proposal.

“The song, the dancing, and his sweet words simply take my breath away. I'm deeply moved watching this video. Simply love this touching proposal,” a netizen nicknamed tienxu04 commented.

$1 mln photo dispute finally settled

The Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists has resolved a three-year-old plagiarism dispute related to a photograph that was sold for US$1 million in 2008.

The agency Wednesday rejected claims by photographer Minh Loc that a photo shot by Tran Lam titled “Bright sun shines in the mausoleum,” was based on his own “A full moon night in the mausoleum.”

The association’s evaluation board analyzed and compared camera angles, details, light angles, camera positions, and other technical and artistic aspects and concluded there was no plagiarism.

Both photographers accepted the ruling.

Lam provided his photo’s original file but Loc did not, saying it was lost.

The case surfaced once earlier in 2008 when the disputed photo, signed by then Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet, was auctioned at a fundraising event to provide free heart operations to 500 poor children in the Mekong Delta.

It was bought by industrial infrastructure developer Tan Tao Group for a whopping $1 million.

Following media reports of the purchase, Loc alleged that Lam’s photo was a copycat of his.

The association looked into it and rejected his contention in December that year, but Loc was not convinced and continued to press his claim.

Earlier this month Lam filed a complaint to the agency saying he wanted the dispute resolve once and for all.

Hoi An to dismantle ancient houses for safety

Hoi An city is planning to dismantle 2 ancient houses which are facing a high risk of collapse in this flooding season upon the request of the Hoi An Centre of Heritage Conservation and Management.

The houses are located at 26 Bach Dang Street and 43 Tieu La Street. The UNESCO World Heritage city also plans to remove local residents from 100 other ancient houses for safety.

In April, Hoi An spent VND2.7 billion (US$135,000) to restore 7 important historical and cultural relics including a centuries-old house at 14 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street and 6 others on Bach Dang and Tran Phu Streets that are likely to collapse.

The city has around 200 relics, including 82 ancient houses, 87 pagodas, several ancient wells, and a tiled bridge.

Action comedy sets new ticket sale record

Charlie Nguyen’s action comedy “Long Ruoi” has reaped US$ 2 million in ticket sales at theatres nationwide in just a month, setting a new record in the local film industry, its distributor, Galaxy Films, said Wednesday.

The film broke the record set earlier this year by Victor Vu’s romantic comedy “Co Dau Dai Chien," (War of Brides), which garnered the same amount after 2 months of screening.

More than 25,000 tickets have been sold for Charlie Nguyen’s movie, which is about a country pumpkin’s journey to success in Saigon.

Starring actor and comedian Thai Hoa, who also helped to make Charlie Nguyen’s 2010 romantic comedy “De mai tinh” a hit, “Long Ruoi” also stars new names such as singer Tina Tinh and model Phi Thanh Van.

HCM City Conservatory marks 55 years

The HCM City Conservatory of Music will mark its 55th anniversary with a classical music concert on September 30.

Artists from the conservatory and Hanoi's Vietnam National Academy of Music will perform symphonies written by several celebrated artists like Quang Hai, Hoang Cuong, Nguyen Van Nam, and Ca Le Thuan who have worked at the conservatory for many years and helped train generations of musicians.

The concert will begin with a ceremony to confer the State's Independence Order, Second Class, on the conservatory for its contribution to the country's music scene.

The conservatory will also hold an exhibition to display photos and documents of its activities over the past 55 years.

It was renamed in 1981 after being known as the Sai Gon National Music School since its founding in 1956. The conservatory, situated in Nguyen Du Street, District 1, provides training in more than 100 branches including symphony musical instruments, singing, and Vietnamese traditional musical instruments.

German film festival opens in Hue

The German film festival opens in Hue September 29 with the screening of Goethe! at the Thua Thien-Hue Culture and Information Centre.

The festival organised by the Goethe Institute includes films Welcome to Germany, Pope Joan, Autumn Gold and November Child.

All screenings are free. Invitation tickets are available at the Thua Thien-Hue Culture and Information Centre, 41A Hung Vuong Street and at the Lieu Quan Buddhist Culture Centre, 15A Le Loi Street in Hue.

The one-month German Film Festival was launched on September 16 in Hanoi. It was also held in Hai Phong and Da Nang.

After Hue, the festival will be held in HCM City from September 30 to October 5; and in Mekong Delta city of Can Tho on October 13-17.

PV