Meritorious Artist Quynh Thuong: When dancing is a commitment

The artist said that she had cherished the work for many years and had to do it over and over again because of her perfectionism for each scene and each performance. For her, each dance work that is put on stage is a process of hard work and creativity.

Contemporary work

Images in Crescent Moon — Images of women in "Winter Moon Season". Photo: NVCC

“The Crescent Moon Season” is staged for a group dance performance, with actors playing roles to portray the fate of Vietnamese women in the post-war period; the pain, hidden corners and even the small, simple happiness are fully conveyed through the language of dance.

Artist Quynh Thuong said: Dance is a genre of art work that is difficult to "say" clearly what the author wants to express, because in this genre there is a specific language of expression. If the creator is not meticulous in detail and does not focus on the popular aspect, the content of the work will not be clear. What is more difficult is that in order for the work to achieve high artistry, to highlight the characteristics of the dance language, and to describe the character's inner thoughts, the most important thing is that the creator of the dance work's content must harmoniously combine the language of dance and music .

In this work, post-war women have to endure the pain of losing their husbands and children, the pain that stays with them every night, every time they encounter a reunion, every time they are lonely and need a shoulder to lean on... But above all, they always hope for a brighter tomorrow, so they always show the other person their efforts, their endurance and their positive life energy. "The Crescent Moon Season" was chosen by the author to name the work with the meaning: the crescent moon is a piece of the moon waiting for the day to be full and radiant...

Women are vividly portrayed in The Crescent Moon — Women are vividly depicted in "The Crescent Moon". Photo: NVCC

Furthermore, the crescent moon in the work is not only a metaphor for separation and loss, but also a symbol of steadfast love and belief in a day of reunion.

Each stage of the dance reflects a range of emotions: from happiness, separation, longing, to resilience in overcoming pain to continue living, hoping and contributing to the country.

The appearance of the husband's soul in the dream is a special highlight of the work, showing that although war can take lives, it cannot extinguish the love and sacred connection between the husband and his wife in the beloved rear.

The image of the husband returning in her dreams is also the image that protects, comforts and gives strength to the wife at home. These are the segments that artist Quynh Thuong said she painstakingly researched with the most intense emotions.

Image from the play Crescent Moon. Photo: NVCC — The image of the husband returning in a dream in the play "Wave Moon Season". Photo: NVCC

“When I read works, watched many movies and witnessed many real lives, I realized that Vietnamese women are very brave, very resilient, even though they are in pain, they always know how to overcome their fate to continue to spread their fragrance to life. That is also the message I want to convey through this work,” Thuong said.

For Quynh Thuong, dancing is hard work but full of joy. Photo: NVCC

Born in 1988, Quynh Thuong is a dancer who has been trained in the field since childhood. At the age of 13, she was admitted to the dance major at the Military University of Culture and Arts, with the desire to follow in the footsteps of her mother, People's Artist Quynh Nhu, former Head of the Art Troupe of Military Region 4, and continue her mission as an artist to contribute beautiful sounds to life as her grandparents and mother had devoted their entire lives.

She said: “I once dreamed of becoming a teacher, I wanted to do something different from my family’s wishes, but perhaps because of my outstanding talent since childhood, and also because of my family background, I could not resist my fate with dance. And with the personality of a child who wanted to assert himself, when I came to dance, I always promised myself to study well, to strive to have the best skills.”

Memorable journeys

Meritorious Artist Quynh Thuong. Photo: NVCC

In 2027, after graduating from dance school and joining the Military Region 4 Art Troupe, Quynh Thuong quickly asserted her position thanks to her 7-year-long training techniques. The main soloist positions were entrusted to her by the choreographers. From there, she quickly won her first medals, such as the B prize for Vietnam's dance talent, 2 gold medals for the entire army for solo dancing...

Quynh Thuong said: “To be a good dancer, in addition to technique and skills, the dancer must have a rich knowledge of the character genres. Therefore, they are required to carefully study the work when they are about to play the role. What is the historical context of that character, what is the space where the scenes take place, and especially the depth of the character's expression in the movements. That proves that the dancer has been trained systematically.”

image of woman in the play Crescent Moon — Image of a woman in the play "Winter Moon". Photo: NVCC

According to Quynh Thuong, the "education" of a dancer, in addition to the requirements of skills and techniques, the ability to convey the character's inner thoughts and psychology is considered a prerequisite.

Thuong said that when she was assigned the role of Xuy Van, she had to sit in front of the mirror for hours to practice her facial expressions and eyes for each psychological development of the character. How to pretend to be crazy, how to make eye contact and shake her head and hair to create the expression of the character type has been successfully performed by many actors on traditional stages with different art forms.

Thanks to careful research and concentration in training, Thuong is always "nailed" to character types that require inner depth.

Thuong said: “A dancer is not a machine, not a tool of expression for the choreographer. Because, the choreographer conveys the ideas and content, the dancer is the one who carries that content. Therefore, a good dancer is the one who, together with the choreographer, creates good works. If the work is well-staged but the dancer performs poorly, the work will not be successful…”.

Image of Quynh Thuong on the dance floor. Photo: NVCC

With the desire to stick with dance for a long time, in 2011, Quynh Thuong expressed her wish to her superiors to study choreography. And through difficult exams, Thuong received a scholarship to study choreography for 4 years in China. During her years studying in the neighboring country, Thuong realized many things: when studying choreography, the choreographer must be the one who can carry out the techniques and ideas that he or she creates.

Thuong said: “The first lesson the teachers taught us was how to stand up and sit down in five different positions. There were only 23 people in the class, but with just that one movement, there were more than a hundred different positions. It shows that human creativity is limitless.”

From then on, Thuong learned that, like an actor, in order to stage a dance, a choreographer must have thorough research on literature, culture and music based on the content and ideas; then comes technique and skills. If the work does not convey the depth of the story, it will easily slip away and not leave a lasting impression on the audience.

The play "Winter Moon Season" was awarded the A prize in the Ministry of National Defense 's Award for Composing and Promoting Literary, Artistic and Journalistic Works on the Armed Forces. Clip: NVCC

Since graduating from choreography, Quynh Thuong has continued to contribute to the Military Region 4 Art Troupe. Here, she is always assigned the task of staging the troupe's dance and singing performances. In staging, Quynh Thuong always takes the criteria of being unique and special as the main focus. That means, for her, art has no room for laziness, each work is a new creation, a brainchild that she has to cherish through many hardships to give birth.

With her serious, diligent and dedicated work, Quynh Thuong has won many prestigious awards: 4 gold and silver medals for individuals in military art festivals. In 2019, she was honored by the State as a Meritorious Artist; in 2023, she held the position of Deputy Head of the Art Troupe of Military Region 4.

For artist Quynh Thuong, each position brings its own experiences. To be able to work with the Board of Directors to bring the Military Region 4 Art Troupe to new heights of pride, it requires even more efforts from the troupe leaders. Therefore, she never lets herself rest, always setting new levels for herself to strive and make efforts, because for her, dancing is a commitment.

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Quynh Thuong's medal awards:
- 2009: National Gold Medal: dance "For love"; National Young Dance Talent B Prize.
- 2011: National Gold Medal: dance "Vong phu song".
- 2018: 2 Gold Medals in the Army Professional Art Performance (Dance performance: 11 girls of Huong River; Singing and dancing: Central Vietnam - the wall of the Fatherland.
- 2022, B prize Ho Xuan Huong award.
- 2023: Gold Medal for the whole army for the performance "Winter Moon Season".
- Certificate of Merit from the General Department of Politics for works that excellently demonstrate the theme "Studying and following the example, morality and style of Ho Chi Minh" in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 (Overcoming the Night, Communist, City Commando, Tearing Through the Storm).
- 2025: A Prize for the dance work "Crescent Moon Season" Award for composing and promoting literary, artistic and journalistic works of the Ministry of National Defense on the topic of armed forces.