Promoting Vietnamese Lion Dance to the world

On the evening of November 4, the Vietnam Lion Dance Federation coordinated with the Vietnam Martial Arts Federation (Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao) in France to organize a night of lion dance performances and many martial arts performances on a grand and spectacular scale.

The purpose of this activity is to bring Vietnamese Lion Dance to the international community, develop it widely and aim for high-performance competitions. According to the VNA reporter in Paris, at the beginning of the performance, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the United NationsEducational , Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in France Le Thi Hong Van beat the opening drum, setting the pace for the heroic drum performance, imbued with traditional Vietnamese culture. The drum beats, sometimes intense and bustling, sometimes gentle, deep and high, were like a call from the homeland to Vietnamese compatriots far away from the Fatherland, reminding them of the heroic history of building and defending the country. All the audience was silent, only the drums and the beating of hearts were beating, full of excitement and pride towards the homeland. Right after the drum performance were the Lion-Dragon dance performances, along with performances by Vietnamese martial arts schools in France such as Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao, Son Long Quyen Thuat, Minh Long... which made all the audience present feel extremely excited and delighted. The outstanding performances included the dance performance "Tu Quy Hung Long" with the ensemble performance of 4 Lions and Lions; Lion dance on Mai Hoa Thung (on a pole); "Lion-Lion destroys snakes, recovers precious gems" and single and double Dragon dances. Interspersed with that were dozens of team martial arts performances, spear dances, sword dances and extremely thrilling and dramatic hand-to-hand combat and weapon combat, which received the enthusiastic response of not only the Vietnamese audience but also many French audiences present. Chairman of the Vietnam Lion Dance Federation, Master Pham Quang Long, shared that Vietnamese Lion Dance has a history of thousands of years, and has been depicted in Dong Ho folk paintings and Hang Trong paintings. According to him, Lion Dance is based on martial arts movements, so martial arts students will be very suitable to practice this subject. Master Pham Quang Long affirmed that with the aim of promoting Vietnamese culture to the international community, the Vietnam Lion Dance Federation is ready to coordinate with the World Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao Federation to organize free performances during community holidays and Tet. At the same time, domestically, the federation has also established training centers that can ensure free support and guidance for units, organizations and individuals who want to return home to train in Lion Dance.

Mr. Pham Quang Long expressed his hope that with the strong development in the country, Lion Dance will increasingly expand in scale and become a strong sport of Vietnam, soon making Lion Dance a competition in the SEA Games. He hopes to soon establish the World Lion Dance Federation to promote Vietnamese culture to the international community.

President of the World Council of Vovinam-Viet Vo Dao Masters Tran Nguyen Dao said that Vovinam has existed and developed in Europe for nearly 50 years. This is a favorable condition to support and develop the Lion Dance to expand to the world, helping to promote Vietnamese culture to the world. According to Mr. Tran Nguyen Dao, it is necessary to develop the Lion Dance on the foundation of martial arts associations, then gradually develop it to other groups, meaning that Lion Dance can rely on Vivonam-Viet Vo Dao to expand its scale throughout Europe as well as the world.

The Vietnam Lion Dance Federation was newly established on April 15, 2023. This is the first time the federation has organized a performance abroad, which is of special significance, contributing to the development of folk cultural art, while promoting the image of Vietnam to international friends. This performance will contribute to the development of Vietnam's Lion Dance in an increasingly professional and widespread manner.

baotintuc.vn