Finest Artist Nominees: Vu Ngoc Khai
Vu Ngoc Khai
Years of birth : 1985
Field: Dance
About artist: Vũ Ngọc Khải graduated from the Vietnam Academy of Dance after studying ballet in a 7-year period (1997-2004), and began studying at the Codards/Rotterdam Dance Academy (the Netherlands) for another year. Afterwards he worked for dance companies and theaters in Vietnam, the Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Germany and Switzerland.
Vũ Ngọc Khải was working at the Konzert Theater Bern (Switzerland) when he decided to return to Vietnam to explore the culture of his upbringing. His work always features highlights of Vietnamese culture, such as the conical hat, patterns on straw mats, movements that mimic buffalo and chicken ring fights, or using traditional Vietnamese music. “Only when attached to your roots can you form an authentic sense of self, otherwise you’re just a cultural borrower. That’s why I wanted to return to Vietnam,” he said. In 2018, he won the first prize at the International Young Choreographers Award in South Korea, and became the co-founder and art director of 1648kilomet (representing the length of the Vietnamese coastline), an art collective that organizes and promotes perfomances and community activities.
Remarkable activities/projects in 2019 : In 2019, he was the choreographer and a dancer for the piece Đáy giếng (Bottom of the Well), participating in Hanoi Dance Fest, ran the Made in Vietnam dance workshops, was part of the ĐA THỨC dance performance, and hosted summer dance workshops for children with special needs alongside 1648kilomet, an organization he co-founded.
Hanoi Grapevine’s Finest aims to become an annual honoring event, organized and selected by Hanoi Grapevine and the audience community. The event seeks to honor individuals, organizations, projects and activities whose work in the creative arts has had an impact on the community, in order to foster artistic development, promote media coverage and further the influence of arts and culture on the community in a broader and more meaningful manner.
The voting event of Hanoi Grapevine ‘Finest 2019 and PAN Positive Network has received valuable sponsorship from the British Council, the European Union and the Vietnam Creative Cultural Space Project.
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The voting period runs from February 07, 2020, to February 20, 2020.
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