In addition to showing off their skills, the delegation from the Vietnam People’s Army will also take the opportunity to introduce the country’s traditional culture to international friends.
Colonel Dang My Hanh, head of the Vietnamese art troupe to the Army Games 2021.
An opportunity to advertise Vietnamese culture
Cultural and artistic performances have been listed as a category for competition entitled “Army of Culture” for the first time at this year’s Games.
According to Colonel Dang My Hanh, head of the Vietnamese art troupe to the event, participating in the Army Games not only helps the troupe improve their performance skills but also introduces the land and people of Vietnam as well as the Vietnamese People’s Army to international friends through the performances.
“We are tasked with featuring the cultural identity and traditional essence of Vietnam as well as the image of the Vietnamese People’s Army in our performances,” Hanh said.
Apart from the artistic performances, the team will host a display entitled ‘Vietnamese People’s Army – Integration and Development’, utilising digital technology to increase the sense of interaction with visitors.
All costumes for the performances as well as musical instruments, and the way to deliver the performance to the audience were asked to highlight the authentic culture of Vietnam, a country on the path of global integration and development.
Members of the Vietnamese art troupe practicing a performance for Army Games 2021 (Photo: vnq.edu.vn)
One of the performances that the Vietnamese art troupe will bring to the stage is a Chau Van (Spiritual Singing) song entitled ‘Co Doi Thuong Ngan’ (Goddess of the Forest). The musical genre is often delivered during the practices related to Viet beliefs in the Mother Goddesses of the Three Realms, recognised as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the UNESCO.
To prepare for the performance, members of the Vietnamese art troupe had to translate the song’s lyric into Russian, making a complete story which can help international friends understand more about Vietnamese people’s Mother Goddesses worship.
The troupe will also introduce the audience to traditional Vietnamese musical instruments such as the bamboo flute and dan t'rung (bamboo xylophone).
Bringing flavours of Vietnamese cuisine to Army Games 2021
Vietnam’s Field Kitchen team cooking at the Army Games 2020. (Photo: Trong Hai)
Tran Dang Viet, a member of Vietnam’s Field Kitchen team at the Army Games 2021, revealed the team will bring the flavours of Vietnamese cuisine through signature dishes from different regions across the country, such as grilled fish with mac khen pepper, roasted duck, and ‘nom bo kho’ (dried beef salad).
Popular dishes often served in Vietnamese people’s meals will also be introduced to participants at the event, including steamed chicken, beef rolls, fried shrimp with young sticky rice, nem (fried spring rolls), and prawn cracker.
As the ‘Field Kitchen’ category will take place in Uzbekistan, a country with a majority Muslim population, the team will use lamb and poultry as the main ingredients for their dishes instead of pork.
“We made careful preparations for this year’s event in order to promote the best of the team and achieve the best results at the competition,” Viet said.
Source: NDO
VNQD