Mask dancing is a long-standing traditional practice which has been performed throughout many generations of the Tay and Nung ethnic groups in the northern province of Lang Son. Mask dance – An intangible cultural heritage in Lang Son - Photo: VNA The dance is performed at major festivals including the Long Tong (Gong to the Field) festival, spring fest, and the mid-autumn celebrations. A mask dance troupe, which has 8 to 16 members, is led by young men who hold ‘gay doi’ and ‘tang giao’, two kinds of the Nung people’s weapons. Similar to the lion dance, the performers in the Nung ethnic mask dance wear a big lion head, but it is distinguished with a cat mask. The head is decorated in typical colours including red, black, yellow and green. Hoang Choong, 72, from Tham Me hamlet, Hoang Viet commune, Van Lang district, is the only artisan who can produce the cat-masked lion head. He said that there are different types of the dance: greeting, … [Read more...] about Mask dance – An intangible cultural heritage in Lang Son
Black cats bad luck
Prolific as hens in Year of the Rooster
The country is celebrating the first days of a lunar new year, the Year of the Rooster, with hopes for a better year compared with the previous Year of the Monkey, which was a difficult year accompanied by disasters, unfavourable weather, as well as a challenging economic situation. Animation of a happy chicken family set at a park in Huế to celebrate the Year of the Rooster. Years of the Rooster are not the most favoured among the 12 zodiac animals, which include the cat, tiger, dog, rat and dragon. But they are not as bad as the Years of the Monkey, which have been seen in Vietnamese history to be the years of terrible famines, disasters, and bad luck. In Vietnamese culture, chickens represent an unhurried rhythm of life, and of course, are not as poorly behaved and unstable as monkeys are. A family made up of a hen, rooster and chicks also stands for a happy family in the context of maintaining a peaceful rural ambiance. A hen that fights off eagles, snakes or dogs … [Read more...] about Prolific as hens in Year of the Rooster
Prolific as hens in the Year of Rooster
Viet Nam News by Phước Bửu The country is celebrating the first days of a lunar new year, the Year of the Rooster, with hopes for a better year compared with the previous Year of the Monkey, which was a difficult year accompanied by disasters, unfavourable weather, as well as a challenging economic situation. Years of the Rooster are not the most favoured among the 12 zodiac animals, which include the cat, tiger, dog, rat and dragon. But they are not as bad as the Years of the Monkey, which have been seen in Vietnamese history to be the years of terrible famines, disasters, and bad luck. In Vietnamese culture, chickens represent an unhurried rhythm of life, and of course, are not as poorly behaved and unstable as monkeys are. A family made up of a hen, rooster and chicks also stands for a happy family in the context of maintaining a peaceful rural ambiance. A hen that fights off eagles, snakes or dogs to protect her chicks best suggests the love and tenderness between mothers and … [Read more...] about Prolific as hens in the Year of Rooster
Ladies and gambling tragedies
VietNamNet Bridge – Thousands of Vietnamese women have become familiar clients of casinos along the Vietnam-Cambodia border. There are 14 casinos in Cambodia, which are located very near from the Vietnam-Cambodia border. Up to half of them (Winn, Le Macao, Chateau, Las Vegas Sun or Titan King) are built in Bavet in Svay Rieng province to mainly serve Vietnamese gamblers. Vietnamese gamblers, including thousands of women, often pass the Moc Bai border gate in the southern province of Tay Ninh to Bavet. VietNamNet’s reporters visited casino Winn at 10 am on a Saturday. This casino is known recently for ruthless assaults against indebted gamblers. According to the casino’s rules, visitors are not allowed to bring cell phones, cameras, sound recorders, etc. into the casino. These items must be locked in the casino’s safety boxes. Casino staffs in black trousers and white shirts always smile with customers. The casino was chock-a-block with gamblers, especially at … [Read more...] about Ladies and gambling tragedies
EVENTS SCHEDULED FOR FEB. 1-10 (daily updated)
Exhibition “Returning Day 1″ Opening: Sun 08 Feb 2015, 5 pm Exhibition: 08 – 12 Feb 2015 Vietnam Fine Arts Museum 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc St. Hanoi You are invited to a group exhibition titled “Returning Day 1″, which features 53 artworks by 7 painters and sculptors with different approaches in art. Artist Line-up: – Pham Ha Hai (1974) – Tran Manh Hung (1977) – Tran Ngoc Hung (1983) – Le Quoc Huy (1968) – Nguyen Anh Nguyet (1960) – Nguyen Khac Quan (1962) – Nguyen Xuan Tiep (1956) Film Screening “Princesas” Tue 10 Feb 2015, 7.30 pm La Bicicleta 44, lane 31 Xuan Dieu Str, Hanoi Welcome to the screening of film “Princesas” (2005, 113 mins). About the film Princesas is a 2005 film by Spanish director Fernando León de Aranoa. The Princesas in the film are two prostitutes: Caye, a Spaniard who is hiding her profession from her family, and Zulema, who is saving money to send to her family in … [Read more...] about EVENTS SCHEDULED FOR FEB. 1-10 (daily updated)