Over the 15 years after being first introduced in Vietnam, contemporary dance has gradually gained in popularity and

recognition among conservative dance authorities, artists and audiences and now has quite a strong foothold. Some 15 years ago, under a Vietnam-France cultural exchange program, Regine Chopinot, a famed French choreographer, was sent to Vietnam to put up contemporary dance works such as !uoi lan da" #$eneath the skin% and &nh mat" #'he look%( )owe*er, many of the audiences found the performances highly disappointing, as they felt alien to and were +affled +y seemingly unemotional, *iolent, hy+rid mo*ements( Contrary to the exemplary genres such as classic ,uropean dance and traditional dance, contemporary dancers steer away from their predecessors- academic path and seek the uni.ue, li+erated expression of their own( Contemporary dance is .uite choosy regarding its audiences, and local spectators +ack then weren-t used to exploring art with their own perspecti*es, which lies at the core of the genre( /ith more cultural exchanges featuring contemporary dance troupes hailing from different countries including $ritain, 0oland, 1apan and China, local dancers and enthusiasts +egan to feel attracted to the genre, which com+ines the accentuated +odily mo*ements and the strength of gra*ity, and is characteri2ed +y instincti*eness and fieriness( 'he genre totally +reaks away from the strict rules adopted in +allet and folk dance and depicts modern-day stories( /ith all these com+ined, contemporary dance has steadily gained in popularity and appeal( 'he clearest e*idence of this growing popularity is the Vietnamese *ersion of the &merican reality show So you think you can dance"( 3ts first season saw the contemporary dance competing performances o*erwhelming those in other dance genres( 'he second season, which recently kicks off and airs, is also expected to see contemporary dance as many of the young contestants- choice( &t the less trendy, recent dance competitions called 4ationwide young choreographing talents" and ,xpanded )o Chi 5inh City !ance Festi*al", nearly one third of the competing performances were also in contemporary dance( )owe*er, the genre still has a +umpy road ahead in the country-s dance scene, due to technical inade.uacy and lack of professional training( 6ne of the competing contemporary dance performances, $an nga" #'he ego%, put on +y )C5C $allet Symphony 6rchestra and 6pera #)$S6% gra++ed much attention( 3t +lended the dancers- tempestuous mo*ements with music, lighting and image effects from a large screen(

)owe*er, the performance had some technical pro+lems, as the festi*al staff wasn-t .uite familiari2ed with the new technologies( &lso, the incorporation of all kinds of weird ideas and topics creates the wrong impression that contemporary dance is kind of shoddy and of limited professionalism( 'herefore, contemporary dance has yet to +e on local dance schools- official curriculum( Se*eral local choreographers do study different +ranches of the genre a+road, so +ack home, their coaching remains spontaneous and unprofessional( 4ot few lesser-known choreographers teach themsel*es the genre +y merely watching foreign programs( )owe*er, according to artist 7e 4goc Cuong, deputy chair of Vietnam !ance &rtist &ssociation, other countries remain di*ided on designing official course+ooks on the genre( Contrary to its appearance, contemporary dance re.uires serious, hard training and high concentration( 3n my opinion, all we need to do now is to em+race its coming," said choreographer 0huc )ai from )$S6(