Vice President and Choreographer of the Vietnam Club, Hoang Lan Vu, said it’s a historical time for them as it’s the first time, to their knowledge, that the club is performing at Culture Night.
Vu, a senior from Portland, Oregon, majoring in exercise and sport science, said, “Because it’s our first time, we want to share as much as we can [and] we want to make it as cool as possible.”
The club has 20 people dancing for Culture Night, she shared. They have seven Vietnamese participants and the rest are from Japan, the Philippines, Tahiti, Indonesia and the U.S. mainland.
She said they chose dances that weren’t too hard so more students could participate. Non-Vietnamese students joined their performance because they know someone in the club, they love the culture, and “they want to be part of making history too,” shared Vu.
Vietnam through seasons: Winter, autumn and spring
Vu said the first part of their presentation is a soloist vocal performance with a guitar accompaniment. The song is called “Nhat Ký Cua Me,” which means “Mother’s Journal” in English.
Their performance is divided into three seasons: winter, autumn and spring. She said this first song embodies winter. “The song itself is slower and a little bit more emotional. So, it’s like winter. It feels a little bit cold, but the lyrics actually talk about the love parents have for their child,” she explained.
She said the second part of the performance is called “Nàng Tho Xu Hue,” which is translated to “Poet’s Muse, Hue” in English. Seven female club members dance in this section and wear a traditional dress called “ao dai.”
Vu said this dance is the autumn section, representing growing up and maturation because it’s the season students go to school.
“[This] song is a graceful, slower song, but still has a really pretty tune and that even the members of our club who aren’t Vietnamese love it and they sing along a little,” she shared.
The third part of the performance, Vu said, includes everyone with a more upbeat song called, “Ngày Xuân Long Phung Sum Vay,” which is the spring section.
Vu said it is an excellent song for the Lunar New Year celebration. Springtime in Vietnam, she shared, is full of celebrations such as Lunar New Year, where everyone is dancing, wishing their grandparents good health and wishing each other happiness.
According to vietnamisawesome.com, “Tet,” or Lunar New Year, “is the most important national holiday in Vietnam and Tet celebrations usually last up to 14 days. Most people have time off work to travel to their hometown and spend time with family.”
At the end of the performance, Vu said, is a pretend mini wedding where a couple wears traditional wedding clothing.
Japan through anime: Fight scenes and “Zatoichi” music
Hikari Winchester, a senior from Hokkaido, Japan, majoring in exercise and sport science and the president of Japan Club, said Culture Night has brought their club members together as they gather weekly to practice.
For their performance this year, Winchester said Japan Club used almost the same dance and music as they did for Culture Night in 2016.
The first part of the performance features iconic characters from various anime shows such as “Naruto,” “Demon Slayer,” “Pokémon” and “One Punch Man,” she shared, and these characters have one-on-one fight scenes.
The second part of the performance comes from a scene in a moving picture called “Zatoichi” made in 2003, she shared, and the timeline of the movie occurred around 1600 to 1800.
The music from the scene is called “Festivo,” a piece of energetic music, she shared. Winchester said they perform this dance while wearing traditional clothing called yukata and kimono.
Thailand: Fighting and flirting
Club President Sahapoom (Upper) Suriyachan, a senior from Bangkok, Thailand, majoring in marketing, said the male members present Thai boxing or Muay Thai, for the first part of their performance. He said he wanted to show the real and unique aspect of Muay Thai for this year’s Culture Night performance.
“It’s not just only for punches or kicks, but it’s more of elbows and knees,” he added. He said this section is accompanied by an upbeat modern song that match the movements.
Suriyachan said the second part of the performance is a mixture of boys and girls, and they use a song called “30 Yung Jaew.” Suriyachan said, “The meaning of the song is about a man flirting with a woman and telling her that she looks beautiful no matter how old she is. The song’s dance is a modern-day dance mixed with the dance from the ‘50s.”
The vibe in this section is from around the 1940s to the 1950s in Thailand, where people dance with colorful clothing, he said.
The third part is also performed by both boys and girls and the song is called “Jojaja,” which has a cute vibe, he added. The song’s meaning is a man sings how he likes a woman’s movements and invites her to dance with him, Suriyachan said.
The fourth part, he said, is based on a traditional festival in Thailand called “Loy Krathong.”
According to asianhighlights.com, “Loy Krathong Festival, known as Thailand’s Festival of Lights, is an annual traditional Siamese festival celebrated by Thais to pay respect to the Goddess of Water and the Buddha.”
It is a nationwide celebration where Thai people meet around rivers, lakes and canals to float “krathongs,” which are “lotus-shaped rafts decorated with banana leaves, flowers, and candles,” says the site. •