Bringing Vietnamese Lion Dance to the international community

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 performances of Lion Dance and many beautiful martial arts performances.

The purpose of this activity is to bring Vietnamese Lion Dance to the international community, develop it widely and aim for high-performance competitions.

Đưa múa Lân Sư Rồng Việt Nam đến với cộng đồng quốc tế

The performance will contribute to the development of Vietnamese Lion Dance in an increasingly professional and widespread manner. (Source: Vietnam Lion Dance Federation)

At the beginning of the performance, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Vietnam to UNESCO in France Le Thi Hong Van beat the opening drum, setting the pace for a heroic drum performance imbued with traditional Vietnamese culture.

The sound of the festival drums, sometimes intense and bustling, sometimes gentle, deep and high, is like a call from the homeland to Vietnamese compatriots far away from the Fatherland, reminding us of the heroic history of building and defending the country.

The entire audience was silent, only the sound of drums and the beating of hearts were beating, full of excitement and pride towards their homeland.

Right after the drum performance were the Lion and Dragon dance performances, along with performances of Vietnamese martial arts 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.

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 fights, which received the enthusiastic response of not only Vietnamese audiences but also many French audiences present.

Master Pham Quang Long, Chairman of the Vietnam Lion Dance Federation, 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 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 provide free support and guidance to units, organizations and individuals who want to return home to train in Lion Dance.

Mr. Pham Quang Long expressed his hope that with strong development in the country, Lion Dance will increasingly expand in scale and become a strong sport in 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-Dragon 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 basis 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 Vietnamese Lion Dance in an increasingly professional and widespread manner.

Source