Hanoi New Music Festival 2013 – The First two Outstanding Shows
WHAT MAKES THE SPIDER SPIN HER WEB: Sat 30 Nov 2013, 8 pm
BLIND SPOT: Sun 01 Dec 2013, 8 pm
Cheo Theatre
From Domdom:
Hanoi New Music Festival 2013 begins with two outstanding shows of Vietnamese contemporary composers and artists:
WHAT MAKES THE SPIDER SPIN HER WEB
(Vietnam)
Date & Time: 8pm – Saturday, Nov 30th 2013
Venue: Cheo Theatre – 15 Nguyen Dinh Chieu, Hanoi
A music-theatre performance composed and performed by Kim Ngoc. After the premiere of this piece in Hanoi 2007, it has been then performed in different well-known stages of the world. It offers a mixture of music, light, stage design, theatre set, acting and video. The Magazine Visiting Art described the event as “figurative performance’’ – “abandoning the written text in favor of new ways of communicating with the audience, Kim Ngoc’s work promises a ground-breaking new vision for Vietnamese contemporary theatre.”
“What Makes The Spider Spin Her Web” is a popular line from an old Vietnamese folk song, which often appears in other traditional songs and is both a question and a lament. It affects Kim Ngoc powerfully, calling to mind women, a rope binding them, a journey shared, from the ancestors to the present day.
Composition/Direction/Performance by Kim Ngoc
Original Video by Brian Ring
BLIND SPOT
(Vietnam)
Date & Time: 8pm – Sunday, Dec. 01st 2013
Venue: Hanoi Cheo Theatre – 15 Nguyen Dinh Chieu
Blind Spot is the main theme of Hanoi New Music Festival this year. Blind spots always exist in every vision, Hanoi New Music Festival 2013 has commissioned 5 new productions from local musicians and artists to manifest the remaining “invisible” spots of Vietnamese experimental scene. All Vietnamese authors share a strong interest in the sensitive turning point between the past and the present or, in other words, the cultural zones with interruption of time and space.
This is the official opening event for Hanoi New Music Festival 2013.
1. CIRCLE OF LIFE
The piece is based on two characters who represent two different generations, who can also symbolize for the circle of creation. As the previous generation moved into the past, it left behind messages to the contemporary one who at the same time receive signals from the external world. How will they deal with these messages? They might deny or lose the values of the other. Or they might harmonize and transform them, and continue to pass them onto the next generation.
The dialogue between the two generations expressed by the languages of two different art mediums will take us on a journey to explore the mystery of life – a perspective, an attitude upon conflicting and interrupted values.
Music: Pham Thi Hue
Vocal, phach, pipa: Pham Thi Hue
Hiphop dance: Vũ Tùng Phương
2. PIANO AND CONCRETE DRILLING AND CUTTING
The ten-minute piece derived from the idea to record the noise of concrete drilling and cutting as my neighbours repaired their home. The terribly drastic, violent and persistent noise lasted several weeks … On the first few days tolerating the noise of concrete drilling and cutting, I tried to shut down and cower, but as I’ve reached my limit, I opened windows and sat at the piano to .. ‘beat and demolish’ with the desire to harmonize with the horrible noise out there, but not enough to give way to anger, vice versa, that would destroy both the piano and the ears themselves. Finally, some soothing tunes from piano – based on the sound of concrete drilling and cutting which was recorded and remixed on the computer – helped to create this piece.
Music: Vu Nhat Tan
Piano & sound tape: Vu Nhat Tan
3. WAITING FOR WIND TO FLY A KITE
Tiny sounds are not enough to overwhelm loud noise. They have to wait for a falling spot to raise their voice. Moves are not strong enough to carry themselves; they need a ‘falling spot’ from a previous power to operate. Small fates are too weak to overcome themselves and they need a falling spot at some point in their lives.Correspondingly, they do not compromise or confront the seemingly impossible they hide themselves waiting for the “falling spot’’oft he ‘big statues’ to find an opportunity to raise their voice and the meaning of their existence.
Choreography & Dance: Nguyen Anh Duc
Jew-harp, vocal & percussion: Nguyen Duc Minh
Dance: Mai Nhu Quynh
4. Shhhh
Music is a minor part in numerous sounds which we are able to hear on an active or passive basic. Among them, there are sounds that we wish to hear and ones we do not- all create a complex essence of life. The piece Shhh is shaped from simple and tiny elements, in which normal sounds in daily life reappear through instruments. Each minute of the piece is the process of assembling various mechanical and electronic sounds, producing multiple layers, structures and images relating to the stereoscopic interference of modern society.
Music: Nguyen Manh Hung
Electric guitar: Nguyen Manh Hung
Drums: Nguyen Dinh Nghia (Bom)
5. FALL INTO SLEEP
As if asleep, a man has a dream in which he finds himself back in time one hundred years in a totally strange form. The man in the dream is looking for something… SonX combines violin, tranh, percussions, laptop and theatre moves to create his latest piece.
Music, direction, performance: SonX
Dance: Nguyen Duc Manh
Violin: Dao Van Trung
Dan tranh: Nguyen Thanh Huyen
Electronic: Luong Hue Trinh
For more details: www.hanoinewmusicfestival.vn
Registration fee
– Yellow Pass: 200.000 VND
– Green Pass: 30.000 VND
Festival passes are available at:
1. DomDom – The Hub for Experimental Music & Art
Block A, 3rd Floor- 9 Tran Thanh Tong
Open: 10 am – 5 pm everyday
2. Goethe Institut 56 -58 Nguyễn Thái Học
Open: 9 am – 4 pm (Mon – Fri)
3. Manzi – 14 Phan Huy Ích
4. L’Espace – 24 Tràng Tiền
5. Tadioto – 2nd Floor, Block A, 9 Trần Thánh Tông Hà Nội
* With one Festival pass, 10% discount off all drinks purchased during the Festival week at Manzi Café.
