Disney show makes historic debut in HCMC

As a sign that Vietnam is becoming more appealing for international tours of all kinds, local audiences will be able to enjoy a visit from some of the most famous cartoon characters on the planet next month.

Master Magician Mickey Mouse and his ever-present sidekick Minnie Mouse join forces with professional illusionist Michael Barron for a magical production on stage.  Disney Live! presents Mickey’s Magic Show featuring grand illusions and favorite Disney characters, including Donald Duck and Goofy; Cinderella and her Fairy Godmother; Alice in Wonderland and the Mad Hatter; and beloved Disney princesses Jasmine, Belle and Snow White. This marks the production’s first-ever stop in Vietnam.

“It took over one year to secure the contract,” said Tanya Trang Johnston, co-founder of District Music 360, the event’s local promoter.

From the breathtaking levitation of Minnie and Jasmine to the transformation of Cinderella’s rags into riches in a split second, Disney Live! presents Mickey’s Magic Show gives families a whole new way to experience Disney magic.

“This one-of-a-kind show gives parents and children the power to see magic everywhere,” Kenneth Feld, producer of the Disney Live! Shows, said in a release.

Disney Live! presents Mickey’s Magic Show visits HCMC from Sept. 24-28 for 12 performances at Hoa Binh Theatre. Tickets for Disney Live! presents Mickey’s Magic Show, produced by Feld

Entertainment, are available at www.mox.vn/disneylive . To learn more about Disney Live!, go to www.disneylive.com.vn or visit Facebook and YouTube.

Artists unveil latest works at Galerie Quynh

Roi (falling), a painting exhibition hosted by HCMC-based Galerie Quynh, will feature latest creations by Tiffany Chung, Ha Manh Thang, Sandrine Llouquet, Nguyen Manh Hung, Tran Van Thao, Truc-Anh and Lien Truong from now until October 18.

The event introduces some new works by artists who come from different galleries. Tran Van Thao unveils a series of abstracts featuring happiness while Truc-Anh’s paper and metal made creations will make people think a lot.

Nguyen Manh Hung tells a funny fable by strokes and colors and Ha Manh Thang describes landscapes in a majestic and suspicious way. Tiffany Chung and Lien Truong tell chronicles in unique styles and

Sandrine Llouquet features her myth-like works with signature medical smell of methylen color.

The exhibition takes place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Tuesday and Saturday at 65 De Tham Street in HCMC’s District 1. Advance bookings are recommended.

HCMC Museum of Vietnamese History marks 35th anniversary

The Museum of Vietnamese History in HCMC, one of the city’s sightseeing spots, last week marked its 35th years of establishment (1979-2014) in District 1.

The government of HCMC changed the name of the Saigon National Museum which displayed artworks of Asian countries into a Museum of Vietnam History on August 23, 1979.

The original museum was built by the French in 1929 with over 5,000 artifacts. After four phases of rehabilitation, the current museum has 17 rooms featuring prehistory, the Nguyen Dynasty, Oc Eo and Champa cultures and ancient pottery items, and Buddha statues of some Asian countries.

The museum has 37,000 artifacts and numerous precious collections, especially those by late scholar/collector Vuong Hong Sen and two popular collectors of Saigon before 1975.  The venue also keeps 11 national treasures.

The museum attracts around 400,000 guests, 60,000 of them foreigners.

The museum is organizing a Japan ancient artifacts exhibition featuring 300 furnishing and worshipping items until the end of next February.

Variety show honours East Sea

A special programme honouring the East Sea in song, dance, martial arts and circus acts will take place here on Friday.

Jointly organised by the Viet Nam Stage Artists Association and Ha Noi Martial Arts Association, the programme, entitled Nation's Soul – East Sea Waves, will gather well-known singers such as Thanh Hoa and Viet Hoan to perform songs praising the beauty of the nation's seas and islands.

For their part, artists of the Viet Nam Circus Federation will stage special circus acts. Thu Huong and Thanh Tuan, gold medallists of the International Festival Golden Circus Rome 2013, will also perform their prize-winning Quan Ho Swing act.

Troupes from the Viet Nam National Puppetry will perform a number of dances that include Swan Dance and Peacock Dance.

The programme begins at 8pm at the Viet Nam Central Circus, 67 Tran Nhan Tong Street. Proceeds will go to the Vietnamese coast guard.

Music video on patriotism released

Young artists and students dressed in national colours have taken part in a music video titled To Quoc Goi Ten Minh (The Fatherland Calls My Name) to express their patriotism and remind young people of their responsibility to the country.

The music video features 132 students from Ha Noi's universities along with celebrities, Miss Viet Nam 2010 Dang Ngoc Han, violinist Khanh Linh, and singers Duy Khoa and Trong Tan.

It was released on Sunday and will be broadcast on television.

The video was shot at beautiful sites across the capital including Long Bien Bridge, Guom (Sword) Lake, Van Mieu (Temple of Literature) and the Ha Noi Flag Tower.

VNOB dance performance to highlight martyrs story

A dance entitled Khoanh Khac Bat Tu (Immortality Moment), based on the young martyr Vo Thi Sau's life, will be performed for the first time tonight at Ha Noi Opera House.

Choreographed in a modern style by Pham Anh Phuong and to be performed by 100 dancers of the Viet Nam National Opera and Ballet (VNOB), the dance is based on the true story of the national hero Sau (1933-1952) who began her revolutionary career at the age of 14. She was arrested and imprisoned in early 1950 and was sentenced to death in Chi Hoa Prison in the former Sai Gon.

Feared for her strong and courageous revolutionary will, the French colonialists shipped her to the Con Dao archipelago in the southeastern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau and shot her on January 23, 1952. Sau was just 19.

The script of the performance has been selected from 18 stories shortlisted in a contest that was organised by the Viet Nam Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's Department of Performing Arts.

The VNOB dancers will be accompanied by an orchestra tonight and tomorrow.

Ballet masterpiece staged in City

Norwegian Johanna Jakhelln Constant will choreograph one of the greatest comic ballets of the 19th century, Coppelia, for two nights of performances by the HCM City Ballet Symphony Orchestra and Opera at the Opera House this week.

Coppelia was originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Leon to the music of Leo Delibes and with libretto by Charles Nuitter. Nuitter's libretto and mise-en-scene was based upon two stories by ETA Hoffmann: Der Sandmann (The Sandman), and Die Puppe (The Doll).

The ballet presents a budding romance between two villagers, Frantz and Swanilda, alongside the curious workings of their eccentric neighbor Dr Coppelius, a mad inventor who has taken to creating life-like automatons.

The music of Coppelia links two great historical periods of ballet – the French Romantic style and the Russian Classical style.

Constant, who choreographed HBSO's hugely successful productions of The Nutcracker and Cinderella, has won three choreography awards for her original works Chairished and Flickering Blue. The shows are on September 28 and 29.

Quang Nam restores historic tunnel

The central province will funnel VND3.7 trillion (US$176 million) into restoring a historic national relic, the Ky Anh tunnel, 7kmnortheast of the province's capital Tam Ky city, in addition to a complex of commune houses, a tourism centre and infrastructure.

The three-stage project, scheduled for the 2014-25 period, will prioritise 14 items spanning an area of 51.18ha.

The 32km tunnel built in 1967 served as a home for local militia and guerilla forces during the fiercest period of the American War between 1964-75.

The province aims to establish the tunnel as a historical destination for local and foreign tourists in the coming years.

The restoration project also includes the preservation of the reed ecological conservation of the Dam River as an eco-tourism site.

Quang Nam is home to two World Heritage sites, the My Son Sanctuary and Hoi An ancient town, and a world Biosphere Reserve, Cham Island.

General Giap photos exhibited in capital

A photography exhibition commemorating the birthday of late legendary General Vo Nguyen Giap (1911-2013) opened in Ha Noi on Sunday.

Entitled Vo Nguyen Giap, the People's General, the exhibition features 102 photos taken by photographer and retired Lt Colonel Nguyen Trong Nghi from 1990 to 2005.

The exhibition covers two main themes: "General Vo Nguyen Giap with Vietnamese war veterans" and "From 30 Hoang Dieu to Vung Chua, Quang Binh". In the first section, viewers can see photos of General Giap meeting with war veterans from across the country.

"Those photos portray a unique side to the most prominent military commander. His warmth and affection for the people were why he was referred to as the Eldest Brother of the Viet Nam People's Army," Nghi said.

The second section includes a series of photos taken at the General's funeral in October 2013.

Vietnamese came from all over the country to Ha Noi to show their respects and gave a final salute to General Giap. The series captures some of the memorable moments from the occasion, such as the line of people waiting outside his residence to say goodbye, the funeral car passing the Ha Noi Opera House and a Vietnamese soldier guarding the General's final resting place in his mother's hometown Quang Binh.

Co-organised by the Ha Noi War Veterans newspaper and Ha Noi Association of Photographic Artists, the exhibition will be open at 93 Dinh Tien Hoang until Thursday.

Art performances to increase environmental protection

Art performances will be held in several craft villages in the Nhue-Day river basin, a seriously contaminated river ecosystem.

The series of events is part of a project launched in Hanoi on August 25 to increase local inhabitants’ awareness of the importance of environmental protection.

Opera singers will take to the stage in Cu Khe commune, Thanh Oai district on August 30 and 31, with performances highlighting the problem of water pollution in the river.

Earlier this month, on August 11, a painting exhibition entitled “Green Dreams” was held at the Cu Khe primary school, which saw the participation of close to 180 children between the ages of 8-10. The students shared their solutions to reduce water pollution.

The Nhue-Day river basin covers 7,665sq.km and flows through the northern provinces of Ninh Binh , Nam Dinh, Hoa Binh, Ha Nam and Hanoi .

According to the Environmental Protection Committee for the Nhue-Day river basin, levels of water pollution in the river has been increasing steadily, with many stretches of the river now considered heavily polluted, especially during the dry season.

In 2008, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved the project Environmental Protection in the Nhue-Day River by 2020, consisting of 12 smaller projects with a contribution of 3.34 trillion VND (163 million USD) from the State budget.-

Vietnamese singers ignorant of music theory

Experts have estimated that up to 70% of professional Vietnamese singers lack knowledge of music theory and the trend is growing.

Musician Hoang Huy Long estimated that only 30% of Vietnamese people have music classical music training.

Another musician, Quoc An, said that only the most well-trained singers are able to sight-read music. He added that this has attributed to the current state of music in Vietnam, in which many untrained singers seek fame through televised contests. Many lament the situation, saying that untrained singers bring down the quality of music as a whole.

However, according to some, such as the musician Nhat Trung, musical training is not essential to becoming a good singer. Trung points out that many well-regarded performers have not had classical musical training, and this is true not only in Vietnam, but in many other countries.

Musician ends cooperation with copyright agency

Musician Phu Quang announced that he will stop cooperating with the Vietnam Centre for Protection of Music Copyright (VCPMC).

The musician intends to stop giving the centre authority to collect copyright fees for his material. At present, most local musicians authorise their copyright payments through the centre.

“I intend to officially end my agreement with the VCPMC September 1. I’ll take on the responsibility for the collection of copyright fees for all of my works and performances,” said Phu Quang.

Even though did he not give specific reasons for this decision, many say that it is a result of the lack of transparency in music copyright fee collection by the centre.

“The centre survives based on music copyright fees. The problem is the rate they pay composers,” Phu Quang said.

He stated that the centre wanted to collect VND80 million for the performance use of five songs by other musicians; Doan Chuan, Pham Duy and Doan Chuan. Meanwhile, the fees it required from musician Van Cao was only VND1 million each.

“The centre used to collect only VND1 million per song at most. On average, the fees ranged from VND200,000 to VND300,000 per song,” Phu Quang said.

Controversy over regional accents of newscasters

The central regional accents of a newscasters on Vietnam Television (VTV) on August 6 have raised controversy about the standards for anchors.

To date, the national news channel has been dominated by newscasters with northern accents. However, a few years ago, VTV welcomed a new anchor named Hoai Anh, who has a light southern accent. Since her hiring, there have been numerous complaints because of the deviation from standard northern Vietnamese, however light. Still, many viewers like her, saying she delivers news clearly and steadily. But, debates over the issue persist.

Some time ago, VTV1 took on a newscaster named Anh Phuong, who attracted attention with her central accent, which many believed to be from Hue City. Some welcomed the change towards diversification of the station. "Anh Phuong's voice is soft. She deserves to read the news," said one internet user.

Another user said that national television should include more regional accents. "This is Vietnam Television, not Hanoi Television." He went on to say that this change may help people get used to hearing and understanding accents from other regions.

Still, there are others who would hold tightly to the northern accent standard, especially for news broadcasters. These people believe that Hanoians speak the clearest and that viewers might not be able to fully understand the information if it were not spoken in a standard northern accent.

A reader of Vietnamnet Newspaper commented, "I don't care which region the newscaster is from, but they have to speak right. A newscaster can't get the sound "ăn" mixed up with "ăng" like that newscaster from Hue."

Kim Tien, a well-known veteran newscaster from VTV, is also against the changes. "VTV should not 'localise' the news, because each province and city still has their own channels. What if the ethnic minority groups also wanted their accents represented on the national news?" she said.

First national singing contest for the disabled launched

The 2014 national singing contest for the disabled was launched for the first time on August 25, aiming to offer a playground for people with disabilities across the nation to affirm their intelligence and talents.

The contest aims to encourage people with disabilities to integrate into the community.

With the theme of ‘The desired hearts’, the contest is organised by the Vietnam Association in Support of Disabled People and Orphans in co-ordination with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and other related agencies and social organisations.

To be held in response to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (December 3) and in celebration of 2014 Asia Pacific Disability Forum General Assembly and Conference hosted by Vietnam this November, the contest is also a significant event expressing the concern of the whole society to its less fortunate members and encouraging them in contributing to the country and integrating deeply into social activities.

The contest is held on a national scale until November, and will be divided into three regions: the northern contest held in Vinh Phuc province, the southern competition in Ho Chi Minh City and the central one in Nghe An province. The final round will take place in Hanoi from November 26-29. A gala award ceremony is scheduled for November 29 at Hanoi Friendship Cultural Palace and will be broadcast live on Vietnam Television.

To date, more than 7 million contestants from 40 localities have registered to showcase their talents at the contest.

About 110 excellent performers are expected to be present in the finals.

Non Nuoc Carving Village recognised as national heritage

The stone carving work that has made Non Nuoc Village, in Danang City, famous has also gained it recent recognition as an intangible national heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Famous throughout Vietnam, it was nominated to become a heritage because it met all major requirements, such as reflection of cultural diversity and creativity and has a craft handed down through generations and likely to continue for a long time.

In April, the People's Committee of Danang City set up a council to create a dossier for Non Nuoc Village, requesting that the village to be recognised as a traditional village.

The village was founded in the late 17th century, and has survived the changes of time while preserving its reputation. Currently, there are about 500 manufacturing facilities, with nearly 4,000 workers, mostly located in the Marble Mountains. The village is famous for stone statues, especially representing animals of the zodiac.

70% of the products are sold right at the manufacturing sites, while the rest are domestic and overseas orders. In 2013, the income of Non Nuoc Village reached VND400 billion (USD19 million).

Photo festival highlights beauty of northern mountainous region

An artistic photo festival that spotlights today’s land and people in the northern mountainous region opened in Lang Son province on August 25.

The Northern Mountainous Region Artistic Photography Festival, the fourteenth of its kind, held under the theme of 'Northern Mountainous Region - Homeland and People', attracted the participation of over 280 photographers from 15 cities and provinces in the region.

After the qualifying rounds, 20 pictures were selected for awards, including two gold, four silver, and six bronze medals, as well as eight consolation prizes. In addition, 200 photos were also chosen for the exhibition.

The photos highlight the beauty of nature, land and people in the northern mountainous region, as well as focusing on the region’s socio-economic, security-defence and scientific-technological achievements during the country’s industrialisation and modernisation.

The photos also reflect the cultural and spiritual lives of regional people, especially ethnic groups in mountainous areas.

The festival, co-organised by the Vietnam Association of Photographic Artists and the Lang Son provincial Literary and Art Association, marks the 69th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day.

The next festival will take place in Cao Bang province in 2015.

Exhibition recounts King Bao Dai’s abdication

The Thua Thien – Hue provincial Museum of History and Revolution recently opened an exhibition recalling the historical moment on August 30, 1945 when King Bao Dai, the last King of Vietnam’s Nguyen dynasty, abdicated.

Photos, paintings and statues on display show the King handing over the gold seal and sword symbolising royal power to Tran Huy Lieu, a representative of the provisional Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam at Ngo Mon (Noon Gate), Hue city, marking the ending of feudal dynasties in Vietnam’s history.

The exhibition also showcased a collection of weapons used by Thua Thien – Hue residents during the August Revolution, as well as photos taking during the general uprising in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in 1945.

* A photo exhibition under the theme ‘Vo Nguyen Giap – People’s General’ opened on August 24 in Hanoi. The exhibition is sponsored by Cuu Chien Binh Thu Do (Capital’s War Veterans) newspaper and Hanoi Artistic Photography Association.

Works on display are 104 photos, representing the104th anniversary of the General’s birthday (1911 -2014) taken by Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Trong Nghi.

The pictures featured the daily life of the General, as well as love and respect all war veterans and Vietnamese people felt for him.

The exhibition will run through August 28 at 93 Dinh Tien Hoang street, Hoan Kiem district.