Art performances celebrate Hanoi’s anniversary

A “Festival of dragon” show performed by Spanish theatre troupe Els Comediants and Vietnamese artists from the Circus Federation of Vietnam took place at the My Dinh National Stadium in Tu Liem district, Hanoi on Oct. 2 to celebrate Hanoi ’s millennium anniversary.
The art programme, which was jointly held by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Hanoi People’s Committee and Spanish Embassy, featured music, acrobatics, dance and spectacular fireworks, depicting the legend of the birth of the city mixing elements of Vietnamese culture with a Spanish perspective.
It combined the musical language and aesthetics of one of Vietnam’s most popular dragon legends and the Spanish spirit fire to tell about the royal proclamation of King Ly Thai To to transfer the capital from Hoa Lu to Thang Long in 1010.
The show started with a dragon waking up after a long sleep and breathing fire into the sky, to create the islands of Ha Long Bay. Then the islands become greener and more beautiful waking up other gods.
The centerpiece of the stage was a big dragon, ten meters wide and ten meters tall with its moving eyes to express emotion.
Established 33 years ago, Els Commediants includes a group of artists of different majors. They staged art performances in many countries across the world, attracting a large number of fans.
On October 3, a special art performance themed “Thang Long-Hanoi in Ho Chi Minh era” took place at Ly Thai To Flower Garden.
The programme included a phantasmagoria of four chapters reflecting major events in the history of the country and the capital city from Duy Tan movement, the birth of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the Declaration of Independence read by the late President Ho Chi Minh on September 2, 1945 to the current cause of national construction.
Spectators swelled with pride in the country’s traditions and the 1,000-year history of the capital city when viewing the images, which were presented in popular songs about Hanoi.