”Hanoi Stardust” in Europe Meets Asia in Contemporary Dance 2014

Fri 26 Sep 2014, 8 pm
Youth Theatre

From Goethe Institut:

At invitation of the Goethe-Institut the German choreographer Arco Renz|Kobalt Works produce through an intensive working in several weeks a three-part-dance piece with five soloists of the Vietnam National Opera Ballet (VNOB) and guest performers Nguyen Duy Thanh and Khai Ngoc Vu. The performance proposes a vigorous and vibrant encounter with classical ballet in the context of a dynamic and youthful Vietnamese society. This performance is in the framework of Europe Meets Asia in Contemporary Dance 2014.

A group of 7 Vietnamese performers challenges our perspective on the codified language of classical ballet. Hanoi Stardust confronts our perception of inherited and accepted codes of beauty and virtuosity with emerging and surprising codes of the present. Through obstinate repetition and variation of movement, the performers “drill” into accepted, standardized forms of beauty and virtuosity; elements of classical language are negotiated to reveal individual deviations from collective routines and acquired patterns. Hanoi Stardust expands on the drive to be alive, in movement, and stitches a lively minefield of relations between individuality and uniformity.

Arco Renz

In 2002 the German choreographer Arco Renz founded the Brussels based ensemble Kobalt Works and develops since then dance pieces based on the central concept of “abstract dramaturgy”, which focuses on the dialog of the body with the parameters of time and space to explore the emotional potential of the abstraction. The main emphasis on his work is the transcultural and multidisciplinary co-operations between European and Asian Artists. His piece “Crack” with the Cambodian group Amrita was honored with the ZKB Patronage Prize on the Theater Festival 2012 in Zurich.

Arco’s choreographs are characterized by their intense physicality and explore the emotional potential of movement, together with the interaction between movement, light, video and music. In addition to the work as a choreographer, he developed dance education through numerous workshops and is a guest lecturer worldwide. His ensemble Kobalt Works is supported by the Flemish Government of Belgium.

Free Tickets are available from 17th September at 12 pm (noon) at:

Goethe-Institut, 56-58 Nguyễn Thái Học, Hanoi

L’Espace, 24 Tràng Tiền, Hanoi

Japan Foundation, 27 Quang Trung, Hanoi