Artists from the Vietnam National Opera and Ballet (VNOB) will perform classical and contemporary works at Hanoi Opera House on January 18.

A scene from the Moment dance. (Photos courtesy of VNOB)

The one-night show, entitled Moment of Spring, will include Mozart’s works Symphony N.40 and arias from the opera The Marriage of Figaro and Vietnamese dance by choreographer Nguyen Ngoc Anh.

During the first part of the night, opera singers such as Manh Dung; Vanh Khuyen and Tran Trang will sing the main part of the opera including duets and arias. VNOB musicians will play Symphony N.40 under the baton of conductor Le Phi Phi who graduated from the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory with degrees in piano and orchestra conducting.

Contemporary dance Khoanh Khac (Moment) will feature all dancers of VNOB including leading Phan Van Luong, Thu Hue and Thu Hang.

"It’s great for all dancers of VNOB to perform together," said dancer Luong. "Normally, there are just a few dancers in a contemporary dance. Moment by choreographer Anh is an abstract work that gives audiences different ways to think about life."

Moment was created by Anh in 2016, inspired by moments of life, the struggle for survival, and the desire for a better life.

"The life of everyone through different moments, the emotion of desire, the concerns with survival and rising aspirations like the invisible burden clinging to us," said choreographer Anh. "Sudden moments always exist in our life. Each person with their experiences and their feelings will see desire, burdens, joy and loneliness from those moments. This is idea behind Moment."

Anh graduated in classical ballet from the Vietnam Dance College in 1998. Winning a full scholarship at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, he started his professional choreography career and won third prize at the Vietnam National Dance Competition in 2002 and the New British Choreography Bonnie Bird Award in 2005.

The choreographer also won the UK’s Spotlight Award in the Critics’ Circle Dance Awards (Outstanding Male Artist) in 2008. Anh was appointed as a Resident Choreographer for Union Dance Company with his debut Two By Two in 2007 and has choreographed for Doreen Bird College from 2006-2010.

Anh won an Outstanding Achievement in Choreography by Hong Kong Dance Award in 2015. He is dance assistant in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.-VNA