A Vietnamese dance play fusing contemporary and folk elements will be staged in the U.S. later this month and next month.

Arabesque – the first private neo-classical and contemporary dance ensemble in Ho Chi Minh City – is set to take their dance play, “Suong Som” (The Mist), on a performing tour to St. Louis, Washington DC, Birmingham, San Francisco, and San Diego from October 24 to November 15.

The play, which tells a pastoral Vietnamese tale and portrays farmers, merges realism with symbolic movements while dancers create agrarian cycles and rural rituals inspired by the country’s tradition of rice farming.

The new version of the contemporary dance play featured live music in its Ho Chi Minh City performances in September, and will include such music during its return in two weeks.

In its comeback performances at the Municipal Theater in September, the play was accompanied by folk melodies remixed on electric musical instruments. “Suong Som” will be performed again at 8:00 pm on October 15 and 16.

Directed by art director Tan Loc, the play was warmly embraced in 2011 and 2012, and was also staged in other countries, including South Korea.

The play retains its richly expressive contemporary dance language, light and stage effects, and interaction with audience members, which made it a resounding success in the past.

Its duration will be shortened to 60 minutes from the previous 75 minutes.

Director Tan Loc now plans to stage the play in Ho Chi Minh City four times every month, starting in January next year.

The Tri Minh Quartet from Hanoi will also showcase their experimental music performances, which blend acoustic and electronic elements, on a U.S. tour around the same time.

The quartet’s and Arabesque’s residencies in the U.S. will also include workshops, discussions, people-to-people exchanges, and community gatherings.

The two Vietnamese groups have been invited to tour by Center Stage, which is an arts program initiated by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, and produced by the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA).

Now in its second edition, the program has brought seven acclaimed contemporary dance and music ensembles from Morocco, Pakistan, and Vietnam to the U.S. to perform and interact with American communities from June through December 2014.

Over the past 35 years, Massachusetts-based NEFA has worked to cultivate and promote the arts in New England and beyond by pioneering partnerships and programs.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!