(Dan Tri Newspaper) - The average cost to choreograph a school performance is 8 million VND, according to a choreographer in Hanoi .
"Why should teaching students to dance and sing be cheap?"
Speaking to a reporter from Dan Tri newspaper, a choreographer in Hanoi expressed frustration that many parents consider 8 million VND to be too expensive for staging a cultural performance.
"8 million VND covers everything from scriptwriting and music production to teaching the children for at least 5 sessions and one dress rehearsal before the performance. The number of students can sometimes reach 35-40. All of this is the result of creative artistic expression and hard work."
"Why should teaching students to dance and sing be cheap?" the female choreographer questioned.
Performance at the Hanoi High School Student Choir Festival 2024 (Photo: Gia Doan).
Originating from the story of a class at Nguyen Chi Thanh Secondary School in Ho Chi Minh City that planned to spend 21 million VND on a cultural performance to celebrate November 20th, the female choreographer said that most of the comments she read criticized the parents' committee and the choreographer.
"The reason netizens are protesting is because they don't fully understand the value of art education in schools," the choreographer stated his personal opinion.
According to her, the typical fee for staging a school cultural performance in Hanoi ranges from 4 to 15 million VND; anything less than 4 million VND will not be accepted.
Specifically, the 4-5 million VND prize money is reserved for special connections, simple performances, with a small number of students, not requiring unique elements or a spectacular script, and not for competition for prizes.
A fee of 8-10 million VND is more common, with requirements including a clear script, educational value, good artistic merit, no plagiarism from the internet, and the potential to win awards.
The 13-15 million VND price range is usually set by parents themselves, with schools requesting the integration of interdisciplinary educational content including literature, history, local education, and civics, while also ensuring high artistic quality and being unlike any previous work.
"For each request from parents, choreographers will create different works, each with a different level of creativity."
The more elaborate and unique a performance is, the more skilled the choreographer needs to be. This is because the choreographer not only has to come up with the idea and write the script, but also bring that script to life in the most visually appealing and captivating way on stage.
"What's even more challenging is that the script has to be feasible, and all the students have to be able to dance, and dance beautifully," the female choreographer shared.
She added that the aforementioned fee only applies to schools, where funding is raised from parents. For businesses, the choreography fee will be higher.
This fee does not include the cost of renting props and costumes. The cost of renting props and costumes depends not only on their quality but also on the number of students participating in the performance and the complexity of the script.
"In the parent-teacher association's report, I saw that the choreography cost was 10 million VND, but the number of rehearsals was 10, which is double the usual amount. The cost of renting props and costumes was 5.6 million VND. I suspect this was a class performance, with 100% of the students participating."
In Hanoi, this is the cost associated with maintaining "family connections," the female choreographer remarked.
School arts and culture are different now than they used to be.
A primary school music teacher told a reporter from Dan Tri newspaper: "The cost of school performing arts is a sensitive issue. The majority of parents still view art as a secondary subject in school and performing arts activities as fun, something that's nice to have but not essential."
A cultural performance during the opening ceremony of Ngo Si Lien Secondary School (Photo: Hoang Hong).
According to the female teacher, school arts and culture is an educational activity, organized on major school holidays such as the opening ceremony, November 20th (Vietnamese Teachers' Day), and the closing ceremony. Among these, arts and culture competitions often take place on November 20th - Vietnamese Teachers' Day.
This is also an event where parents often have to contribute financially so their children can practice and put on a good performance.
According to this teacher, in the past, school arts and culture were not valued, so they were mostly homegrown talents. However, nowadays, in large cities where cultural and entertainment life is increasingly improving, the requirements for school arts and culture are different from before.
Since art has been included in the new general education curriculum as an important component of holistic education, school arts and culture must also change accordingly to truly fulfill the responsibility of aesthetic education for students.
Many schools are innovating their teaching and learning methods, also using art as a tool to convey knowledge, especially in interdisciplinary education.
"The factors mentioned above have impacted the 'quality' and 'quantity' of school arts and culture, making this activity more professional. To achieve professionalism, funding is necessary. Most schools need the support and cooperation of parents to socialize arts and culture activities," the female teacher shared.
Regarding the figure of 21 million VND for a single cultural performance, this teacher stated that it's impossible to judge whether it's high or low, a lot or a little. Each figure must be based on the parents' economic situation and their needs and desires.
The female teacher noted that each parent has different educational goals, leading to different assessments of the value of a cultural performance.
"From a personal perspective, as a music teacher, I believe that a cultural performance during a special school event deserves investment."
"Parents in the city can invest tens of millions of dong in an IELTS course, so if they invest 400,000-500,000 dong in a cultural performance with many practice sessions and receive many benefits from that activity, it cannot be said to be expensive, considering the general standard," the female teacher said.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/mot-tiet-muc-van-nghe-chao-mung-2011-gan-22-trieu-dong-dat-hay-re-20241108161359732.htm
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