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I
n recent years, options for dance
lovers in Ho Chi Minh City have mul-
tiplied and one of the many profes-
sional dance centers to have opened
is Dance Center in District 2.
Established back in 2007, Dance
Center offers training for both amateur
and professional dancers in categories
such as ballet, jazz, hip hop, tap, rumba
and belly dance. As a purpose built dance
studio it provides learners with good
conditions for improving their skills.
“Our key focus is jazz, which has
not been very popular in Vietnam un-
til now,” says Thao Nguyen, general
manager of the
centre.
“Vietnamese people are used to ballet
and some other traditional forms, but
jazz and some related categories such
as tap and contemporary are not very
well-known yet.”
Thao says the centre’s aims are to
motivate people, especially the youth,
to enhance their interest and equip
them with new knowledge.
Dance Center is supported by a
team of international, experienced
trainers such as Linh Rateau, who has
been teaching for 15 years in France
and Vietnam. Another teacher, Rosie
Pollard, was one of the first peo-
ple to bring tap to Vietnam,
while John Huy Tran is a Vi-
etnamese Canadian who was previous-
ly a choreographer for the Vietnamese
version of
So you think you can dance
.
For Linh, jazz comes from the mix-
ture of African culture and European
cultures; however, she says: “The his-
tory of Jazz is too great for us to fully
understand since it has a very complex
development and it is also the mixture
of many cultures.”
The center now has around 600
learners, including kids, teenagers and
adults. From these ranks, the center
has established a professional danc-
ing group named Urban Dance Group
(UDG). In the last few months the
group has performed shows including
Inspiration and Show Jazz which have
attracted thousands in Ho Chi Minh
City.
“We would love to have more
friends come to share our love for danc-
ing. We are also trying our best to
become a cultural destination for the
youth,” says Thao. This is a sentiment
John seconds: “Jazz has inspired many
other categories of dance, so we hope
that it will be more popular with the
youth in Vietnam in the near future.”
Put on your
dancing shoes