MOST OUTSTANDING CULTURAL DANCE NOMINEE
Vietnamese Student Association at Louisiana State University
VSA-LSU Fan Dance 2020
List of everyone involved in this performance. Please include: first and last names, whether or not they attended your school during the time of the dance, and their roles for the performance.
Choreographer and dancer: Hannah Nguyen.
Dancers: Grace Clark, Lilly Doan, Judy Kong, Vivian Luong, Destinee Nguyen, Linda Pham, Vina Pham, Caitlynn Seingchaim, Madonna Trinh, Jill Troung, Peter Vu.
Please describe the purpose of this dance, including your intention, goals, and creative process.
This year VSA-LSU performed a fan dance for International Fusion 2020. Hosted by the International Student Association, this annual event invites various cultural clubs from around LSU to put on a cultural show through visual and performing arts.
The choreographer, Hannah Nguyen coordinated a twelve person dance to the pop-ballad song “Còn Lại Nhớ Thương” by Minh Tuyết. The dance opens with a gentle ripple before gradually speeding into rapid movements to match the upbeat instrumental. As the vocalist begins to sing, the music lowers down to a soft tone and the dancers’ moves become elegant and fluid to match the pace of the melody. Soon, the twelve dancers take up the span of the stage and create several formations throughout the song. For the finale, the dancers created a heart using closed fans. On the second to last beat, the fans are popped open to make a blooming heart bringing the performance to a close.
additional comments
We were invited to perform on short notice. With only three weeks to work with, Hannah was able to create a full choreography and teach it to eleven other individuals. The dancers were fast learners and put their best foot forward. Helping one another when there was trouble. They were also generous by bringing extra fans and lending their ao dais for others who needed one. All of their hard work went towards a performance well done.