15/10/2021
Places to enjoy performing arts in city
Enjoying art shows in the city is also a good way for you to appreciate the "Saigon identity". Do not miss the outstanding programs that we recommend you below!
Ethnic art performance at Truc Mai House
Truc Mai House is a familiar space for many locals and tourists who love Vietnamese folk music. At a small house on Pham Viet Chanh Street, Binh Thanh District, meritorious artist Tuyet Mai with her husband, who is a bamboo flutist Dinh Linh, and two children are still enthusiastically imparting knowledge to fans of traditional music through unique musical instrument classes such as flute, monochord, double-stringed lute, zither, drum, lithophone, T'rung musical instrument, K'long put,.... The music from zither and T'rung of artist Tuyet Mai are special, while artist Dinh Linh and his son play the bamboo flute very skillfully. At the same time, her family also organizes performances of Chau Van songs, folk songs and musical works played from different ethnic musical instruments for visitors to enjoy. During the performance, the couple will introduce and explain to the audience the meaning of each traditional Vietnamese musical instrument.
Truc Mai House No. 104, Pham Viet Chanh Street, Ward 19, Binh Thanh District.
Vietnamese classical opera at Le Van Duyet Mausoleum
Appearing around the 13th century, Vietnamese classical opera is an old-fashioned musical show style with exaggerated lyrics and lively rhythms on festive occasions. Artists have to draw bold faces, multiples (applied, added) on people with fancy flags and latex crowns. During the time General Le Van Duyet (1764 - 1832) was a head of South Vietnam, people used to say he was fond of Vietnamese classic opera. Local people also handed down an anecdote that Ong Thuong (General Le Van Duyet's nickname) personally participated in the performance. It is also thanks to that chance that Vietnamese classical opera is more and more deeply rooted in the southern land and develops to a perfect level. On the occasion of the anniversary of Ong Thuong's death (July 30 to August 2 of the lunar calendar) every year, artist from Art troupe of Ho Chi Minh's Vietnamese classical opera house gather at Le Van Duyet Mausoleum for some activities, such as participating in "Xay Chau Dai Boi" ceremony, perform for 2 day continuously plays as "Duc thuong cong Ta quan Le Van Duyet”, "Thuyet Duong", "San Hau I, II, III", ... for recreating Ong Thuong's life. At the end of the performance, the Sacrifice Board with the artists performed the “Ton Vuong” ritual and ended the anniversary. Being able to perform Vietnamese classical opera house at the mausoleum on Ong Thuong's death anniversary is an honor for troupe artists, as well as helping locals and visitors to understand more about the beauty of ancient performance art.
Le Van Duyet Mausoleum, No. 01, Vu Tung Street, Ward 1, Binh Thanh District.
Collection of ethnic musical instruments at Excellent People's Artist Duc Dau’s Private house
“Passionate about collecting ethnic musical instruments, artist Duc Dau travels all over the country for collecting and mastering many musical instruments from 54 ethnic groups such as the Meo, the Hmong flute, the Goong, the T'rung, Bro, K'ní, H'go drums, etc. Now, his massive collection has expanded to hundreds of ethnic musical instruments and nearly thousands of artifacts.”
Excellent People's Artist Duc Dau’s Private house is a space to display hundreds of different ethnic musical instruments collected over 30 years. He was also the founder of the Phu Dong percussion group in 1980, famous for his performance “New Year's Eve Drums” played from percussion not only performed in the country but also many times to other countries. Visitors can come to his house at Pham Ngu Lao Street to visit, enjoy the performance of traditional tunes and listen to him share many interesting stories surrounding them.
Excellent People's Artist Duc Dau’s Private house, No. 62/45, Pham Ngu Lao, Nguyen Thai Binh ward, District 1.
Circus and puppetry at Gia Dinh Park and Lu Gia area
On weekends, Phuong Nam Art Theater organizes performances at Gia Dinh Park Theater and Ho Chi Minh City Theater with many attractive circus acts such as swinging, shake round, cycling, clown circus... with the participation of talented actors around the country. The troupe also performed many puppet plays that re-enacted fables appealing to children, praising family, friends and fond memories of the countryside. The performance has a combination of many types of puppets such as black puppets, stick puppets, hand puppets, human puppets... In particular, there are plays made with the form of shadow puppetry combined with sound and lighting modern effects applications that will make customers and children go with the same label, going from one surprise to another.
Gia Dinh Park Circus, Hoang Minh Giam Street, Ward 3, Go Vap District.
Circus Ho Chi Minh City, Lu Gia Street, District 10.
Traditional and modern art performance at the Municipal Theater
Located in the heart of District 1, on Dong Khoi street, the Saigon Opera House is the venue for music programs of various genres, especially academic, national art, ballet that requires certain standards for sound and lighting systems. In recent years, Lune Production has been famous with Saigon audiences and tourists for four art shows: A O Show, My Village, Teh Dar and Palao. All plays are imbued with Vietnamese cultural identity and are integrated with the breath of modern life, through dance, jump, acrobatics, ... and other art forms.
A O Show presents an interesting contrast between the peaceful life of the Village (“Ah”) from the scene of busy boats, wobbly bamboo bridges and the bustle of the Streets (“O”) with bamboo circus technique combining acrobatics and contemporary dance. The show's unique background music is played live with a variety of ethnic musical instruments such as moon lute, zither, bamboo flute, lip lute, and exciting beatbox sounds to stir the stage.
My village recreates a poetic, emotional picture of the Northern countryside and makes you immerse yourself in a flow of beloved memories. Many unique art forms recreate rural lifestyles such as balancing circus, flexing, swinging and juggling with magical lighting, combined with a smooth ethnic sound system from more than 20 unique musical instruments such as lip lute, trumpet, erhu and drums.
The Morning Mist, a contemporary dance that recreates the rhythm of life of the rural farmers in the South, from the dim image of the early morning, overcoming storms and cheering in the harvest season through the art of semi-classical ballet and contemporary dance. The huge rings of incense, the sound of prayers, the ba ba robe, the ao dai, the cassock, straw and rice make up the sophistication of the play.
Teh Dar recreates the lively, powerful world of pure Central Highlands culture on a contemporary stage. The play reenacts elephant hunts, the jungle hides death and rebirth, or the moonlit night with daring acrobatics, skillful bamboo circus technique, and enchanting sounds from the Central Highlands ethnic musical instruments.
Palao brings the spirit and philosophy of Cham to welcome new things with a completely contemporary breath. The sound of the ancient ritual instruments is harmonized with the familiar sounds of Ghineng, Paranung, Saranai, Kanhi and snail trumpet. All create a strongly attractive music space, towards a bright and colorful future.
Saigon Opera House No. 07, Lam Son Square, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1.
Water puppetry at the Palace of Labor Culture and History Museum of Ho Chi Minh City
Water puppetry is one of the oldest folk arts in Vietnam, originating from the Northern Delta. Through traditional music, exquisitely carved wooden puppets perform tricks and plays on the water during ceremonies, festivals and Tet. There are more than a few dozen traditional water puppet shows and hundreds of modern water puppet shows telling about Vietnamese legends, fairy tales and daily life. Water puppets are extremely diverse from Uncle Teu to Master Tang Seng, from a large lion to a small fish and duck. Uncle Teu from Nguyen village and fairies have become familiar characters or Vietnamese water puppetry and are bought by many tourists as souvenirs. In the city center, spectators can watch water puppetry at the Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater located in the Labor Culture Palace or the Ho Chi Minh City History Museum.
Golden Dragon Water Puppet Theater, No. 55B, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Ben Thanh Ward, District 1.
Museum of History of Ho Chi Minh City, No. 02, Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1.
Cai Luong at Tran Huu Trang Theater
In the middle of the last century, Cai Luong in Saigon was very popular. Cai Luong theater sprang up as well as cinemas, among them Hung Dao theater, now Tran Huu Trang Cai Luong Theater. The famous reformed artists in the 60s and 80s, were all singing on the stage of the theater. Many classic Cai Luong plays exploit modern social themes or Ho Quang's plays such as Warrior's wife, Love in the sea neighborhood, blue-blood, To Anh Nguyet, Life of Miss Luu, Mong Hoa Vuong are very attractive. Every month, audiences in the city can enjoy special and quality Cai Luong performances at Tran Huu Trang's Cai Luong Theater with attractive fee or free tickets depending on the time.
Tran Huu Trang Cai Luong Theater, No. 136, Tran Hung Dao Street, Pham Ngu Lao Ward, District 1.
“ This place preserves many important memories and events of the reformed art discipline.”
