In recent years, the term ‘flashmob’ has become an increasingly familiar one among young Vietnamese. It can be seen everywhere and for every occasion, from confessions of love and charity events to environmental campaigns and New Year welcoming parties.

According to Wikipedia, a flashmob is a group of people assembling suddenly in a public place, performing an unusual and seemingly pointless act for a brief time, and then quickly dispersing, often for the purposes of entertainment and artistic expression. Flashmobs are organized via telecommunications, social media, or viral emails. The first flashmobs were created in Manhattan in 2003 by Bill Wasik, the senior editor of Harper's Magazine. 

In Vietnam, flashmobs have become a sort of organized dance, which could take participants anywhere from a few days to weeks or months to prepare.

A means of confessing love

One night in November 2013, Hoang Quang Chuong was waiting for his girlfriend. He was surprised when his girl, Ha Thi Hang, together with many of her friends, appeared and performed a flashmob dance to Justin Bieber’s “Baby” to express her love for him.

Hang is a member of the Da Nang Flashmob Community, which includes more than 20 dance groups.

“We work online. Our leader will make an announcement on Facebook a week before any performance. He will post a video featuring him dancing and we will practice the dance moves at home. We don’t need uniforms, just dance and dance. The spirit of flashmob dancing is to gather as many people of different ages as possible,” Whitney Nhat Vy, a member of the community, shared.

To many young locals, flashmob dances have become a favorite way to express their love for their partners. Stories of confessions of love through such dances can easily be found on newswires or social networking sites.

One of the most famous flashmobs, which caused a stir on the Internet, was directed by a former Vietnamese student of the University of California in Los Angeles. In a video clip, Nam Tran, the hero of the hour, took Trang, his girlfriend, to the school campus where they first met. Then, around 100 people joined him in performing a 4-minute flashmob dance to “Can’t take my eyes off you” by Frankie Valli. During the performance, Tran proposed to Trang. The video showing the proposal spread online and received thousands of positive comments from netizens.

Video featuring Nam's flashmob proposal 

From “dance for fun” to “dance for the community”

Beginning as a way of dancing for fun or entertainment, flashmob dances in Vietnam are now a way to lead the community towards certain good causes.

On the Lunar New Year’s Eve in 2013, around 500 people, many of whom were in their 60s or 70s, gathered along Hoan Kiem Lake in Hanoi for a flashmob dance to welcome the New Year.

In late October 2013, a group of people danced to show their support for “equal marriage” at Thong Nhat Park in the capital. Narrow Tran Nhan Tong Street suddenly bustled with around 300 people dancing and shouting out “I Do,” the slogan of a campaign to advocate same-sex marriage.

“Psychologically, the most fascinating thing is people have a chance to show who they are in a way that they would be uncomfortable doing alone,” Nhat Anh, head of the YG Lovers group, who has choreographed many flashmob performances in the city, said in regards to what makes them attractive.

Some of the most famous flashmob performances are “Yeu La Yeu” (Love is Love), which was organized to support same-sex marriage; “Hoa Huong Duong” (Sunflower), which took place at Tuoi Tre newspaper’s charity event to raise funds for child cancer patients; “Toi Tu Hao – Toi Nhay – Toi Yeu” (I’m Proud – I Dance – I Love), staged to raise awareness of disabled people’s sexual rights; and “Giot Hong Tri An” (Pink Drops of Appreciation), which called on people to donate blood to the Vietnam Red Cross, among others.

“We were evicted by security guards and police officers when we first began performing flashmobs in public places for public order reasons,” Le Phuong, a member of the “New York in Hanoi” flashmob group, said. “I think flashmob dances make people more confident. It doesn’t matter how well or badly you dance, you do it because you love this life, you love yourself. You feel happy when others will do the same. That’s enough to make a successful flashmob,” Phuong added.

Video capturing hundreds of Hanoi students who joined to dance flashmob to celebrate Vietnamese teachers' Day (November 20) in 2013

According to Nguyen Thanh Chieu, the leader of a flashmob club in Ho Chi Minh City, the organization has drawn the attention of local youths because the group often organizes activities intended to help the community, such as charity trips to shelters or orphanages in the city.

“During our trips, flashmob dancing is an indispensable part of bringing people together. Our club has become a home to youths who have an interest in social activities and flashmobs,” Chieu shared.

Although the club officially has around 100 members, it once staged a flashmob performance of 1,000 people to welcome Nick Vuijic, the limbless inspirational speaker, on his trip to Vietnam last May.

Moreover, the flashmob trend has also had an impact on high school students, as evidenced by their many dances to welcome the new school year.   

A flashmob of students from HCMC's Le Hong Phong High School

“Flashmob dances have become a favorite activity of many youths because it’s dynamic, young, spontaneous, and easy to catch people’s attention,” Lam Dinh Thang, deputy secretary of the HCMC Youth Union, said.

“A lot of young people use flashmobs for individual or collective purposes. If they continue to distil and improve the positive elements of flashmob dancing to make it meaningful for themselves, as well as society, and suitable for Vietnamese culture, I think it’s a trend that’s worth encouraging,” he added.