Nguyen Manh Quyen's mark on the circus stage

Since the beginning of the year, the play "Mysterious Land" has been performing 7 to 10 shows per week.

Choreographer Nguyen Manh Quyen tells the story of "The Mysterious Land" through the language of dance, helping the audience to sublimate their emotions. "The Mysterious Land" invested by the Phuong Nam Art Theater (now the Ho Chi Minh City Art Center) made a strong impression on the audience at Gia Dinh Park, Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City.

Reporter: As a choreographer who rose to fame from the show "Anh trai vu ngan cong gai", you have now made an impression with the circus play "Vung dat ky mys". What chance brought you to this play?

Choreographer Nguyen Manh Quyen. (Photo provided by the character)

- Choreographer NGUYEN MANH QUYEN: I am a person who loves to explore and experience. Therefore, when invited to participate, I immediately agreed with the desire to contribute to changing the face of circus art in Ho Chi Minh City. The work "Mysterious Land" is directed by director Meritorious Artist Le Ich Dien, professional advisor - director Nguyen Phi Son, scriptwriter Thuc Tram and director Nguyen Quoc Cong. The play is invested in large-scale staging, with the participation of nearly 30 talented young circus artists and actors, performing unique circus techniques such as: rope swinging, juggling with balls, fire dancing, acrobatics, stacking people, balancing at high altitudes, stick dancing, dragon dancing, giant stick puppetry...

What role does dance play in this circus, making "The Land of Wonders" attractive to viewers?

- The story begins in a village where natural disasters and droughts suddenly struck, the people living in anxiety put all their faith in a custom of "Drum calling the sky" to pray for rain. The village chief organized a competition to choose the strongest person to go on a journey, find 5 stones symbolizing the five elements: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth... to bring back and place on the drum, praying for rain for the village. And I told this dramatic story in the language of dance. When placed in the right position, the language of dance has well summarized the content of the story and conquered the audience.

During the performances, the audience witnessed a sky drum placed in the middle of the square with 5 precious stones carefully arranged on its surface. It was also the moment when the dance language exuded a proud beauty. What did you base this on?

- Performing dance art in an attractive and easy-to-understand way is a difficult problem, so I always try to bring youthfulness and a performance close to the breath of life into the performances. To have a "Mysterious Land" that satisfies the audience, we practiced hard together for more than 2 months, trying to perfect the technique of performing circus art with high difficulty, completing each scene, especially promoting the effectiveness of sound and light effects...

A performance in the circus play “Mysterious Land”. Photo: KIM NGAN

In your opinion, what factors helped "The Land of Wonders" become a theatrical phenomenon?

- Honestly, we didn't expect "The Land of Wonders" to attract such a large audience, including foreign tourists. I think the creativity and innovation in the script, music, costumes, set, circus skills and stage effects are the factors that make the play successful.

How did the process of choosing music, costumes and stage effects for "The Mysterious Land" take place?

- Choosing music, costumes and stage effects was a huge pressure for the entire crew. We worked continuously from morning to night, experimenting with many new techniques and constantly improving every little detail. Specifically, from character creation to lighting, sound and the combination of dance and circus, the integration of circus acts such as flying trapeze and twisting into the play to make it convincing. Every day, we are always immersed in new challenges, from choreography to music, with the goal of bringing perfect performances.

How do you combine the body language of a circus performer with choreographic ideas?

- This is quite a long journey. To achieve the results we have today, we must mention 5 years ago, the time when I first cooperated with Gia Dinh Park Circus in the circus "Mekong Show". That period of time helped me shape the training style for the artists as well as learn how to choreograph the dance so that it is truly effective and suitable for the actors. That achievement is most evident in "Mysterious Land", when the artists had a spectacular transformation in choreography. They led the audience through the emotions of sadness, joy, happiness, emotion... through body language.

Many of your recent works have exploited contemporary dance with the theme of national culture and history. Why this combination, sir?

- Since I was a child, I have loved exploring culture and history. I want to continue that interest through storytelling through the language of dance. Through my work, I not only combine body movement and music but also use it as a means to convey the cultural identity of the Vietnamese people.

How do you evaluate the development of dance art in promoting cultural industry in Ho Chi Minh City?

- As a choreographer for the program "Anh trai vu ngan chong gai", I clearly understand the need to exploit the best potential of dance art, contributing to the development of Ho Chi Minh City's cultural industry. The 30th Mai Vang Award - 2024 organized by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper, I also contributed by choreographing the performance "Mua tren pho Hue" for the group "Anh trai vu ngan chong gai" to perform on the award night and the art program to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Mai Vang Award. The program brought me many special emotions.

With the success of the circus "Mysterious Land", not only me but also the circus performers are extremely happy that the audience has paid attention and given much love to the show in particular and the country's art and culture in general. This has created more motivation for us to continue to make new contributions.

What are your plans and aspirations for the future, especially in developing stage arts and dance?

- In the future, I hope to build a generation of "MQ Dance Team" - a generation of young actors who can express Manh Quyen's dance choreography style. This is not only a place for me to assert myself but also to create opportunities for the younger generation. At the same time, I am aiming to build art programs related to Vietnamese culture and history for domestic and international audiences.

Nguyen Manh Quyen was born in 1993 in Hue. Before becoming a choreographer, he was a dancer with many awards in dance competitions such as: champion of "Tinh hoa hoi tu" season 1, top 8 "Thu thach cung buoc nhay - So you think you can dance" season 3...

Manh Quyen has received the UK's ISTD international dance certificate. He is also the choreographer and general choreographer of many major television shows, such as WeChoice Awards, Anh trai say hi, Anh trai vu ngan cong gai, Chi dep dap gio xuong song...

Meritorious Artist Ca Le Hong commented: "Manh Quyen is a dedicated and skilled choreographer. In the art program celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Mai Vang Awards, the performance of the Anh Trai Vat Ngan Cong Gai group was "Mua Tren Pho Hue" which was very new and unique. The cup dance on the basis of newly arranged music was very impressive. Although there were many innovations, it still retained the ancient features of Hue.

As for the creative dance in the circus play "Mysterious Land", Manh Quyen once again demonstrated his youthful creativity, each dance move clearly expressing the character's character. The group dances on the circus floor were not simple, but Manh Quyen staged and choreographed them very convincingly."

Source: https://nld.com.vn/dau-an-nguyen-manh-quyen-voi-san-khau-xiec-196250322195620884.htm