Hello and welcome to VOV’s Letter Box, our weekly feature dedicated to listeners throughout the world. We are Mai Phuong and Ngoc Huyen.
A: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Well, the Christmas atmosphere is really exciting now, not only in the streets and shopping centers but also in work places- even VOV’s studio.
B: Yes, Christmas songs are playing around the clock making us feel so excited. Our Christmas is warmer because of season greetings from listeners around the world. Ms Sreenivasa Raju of India wrote: “Christmas greetings to the English service as well as other services of Voice of Vietnam. I like to listen to VOV online. Good streaming, I like news, music, mailbags, and other programs. Thank you very much. Happy New year 2015 to the entire crew of Voice of Vietnam in Hanoi”.
A: Thank you very much, Ms Raju. Also from India, Ratan Kumar Paul wrote: “Wishing all VOV family members a Merry Christmas. We are enjoying your programs regularly. On September 16th we liked your news and the speech of Mr. Obama against IS terrorism. It’s very important for us to know what happened in Sydney. We also enjoyed your society segments. All the songs in the program were enjoyable”.
B: Thank you, Ratan Kumar Paul. We’ll send you a QSL card to confirm your reception report. Patrick Travers of the UK sent us Christmas greetings in his email to VOV this week. He wrote: “I enjoy listening to the afternoon broadcast at 16:00-16:27 CMT on the shortwave frequency of 7280 KHz. I noted a SINPO rating of 34343. I was using a JRC NRD 525 and the antenna is a Wellbrook ALA 1530 loop. Thank you for the many hours of enjoyment you have given me over the years. I find the transmission from VOV informative as well as entertaining. I’d like to thank you for the beautiful 2015 calendar. It was a very pleasant and welcome surprise. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year”.
A: SB Sharma of India sent us a very sweet season greeting for Christmas. SB Sharma wrote: “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all staff members, stakeholders and audience of Voice of Vietnam. I wish you good health, prosperity, peace, money and development”.
B: This week, SB Sharma asked us about the current state of Vietnamese circus.
A: In the early 20th century, many famous circus troupes came to perform in Vietnam. They included the Cabaret group of China, the Circus Troupe of Japan, the Bostock and Armstrong troupes of the UK, the Rodeo group of Mexico, the Carnavale de Manila of the Phillipines, and the Uytixay Union of India. These groups and their performances strongly impressed the Vietnamese audience.
Vietnamese circus in the old days
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B: In the context, Vietnamese circus artists gathered together and opened circus training centers. They set up circus troupes like the André Than circus in Sa Dec in 1917, the Nam Tu circus in My Tho in 1918, the Sau Sung circus in the southern region in 1919, and the Tan Nam Viet circus in Saigon in 1922. In Hanoi, the Ta Duy Hien circus was set up in 1922, the Dai Nam Cua Luu Khanh Van circus in 1924, the Long Tien circus of Pham Xuan Trang in 1925 and many other circus troupes in the central region.
A: In 1922, the Ta Duy Hien circus troupe performed on a round stage at Hang Da market with a lot of circus artists and the addition of elephants, tigers, bears, goats, dogs, and monkeys, signaling the start of Vietnam’s modern circus.
Vietnamese circus artists participated in international circus festivals
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B: On January 16, 1956 the Central Circus Group, the predecessor of the present Vietnamese Circus Federation, was formed gathering outstanding circus artists from various circus troupes around the country.
A: From 1956 to 1975, when Vietnam was unified, the Vietnamese circus developed steadily. After 1962, Vietnamese circus artists had successful performances in Eastern Europe, China, North Korea and Mongolia. They also participated in many international circus competitions in Cuba, the Soviet Union and China.
B: Over the past 58 years, the Vietnamese Circus Federation has involved nearly 1,000 circus artists. The federation was given Vietnam’s Independence Order, Second Class for its achievements and contributions to national development.
A: The federation has recently revived its performances and has attracted audiences at home and abroad. One of its most famous performances is the circus drama called “My village”.
B: Using bamboo as the main performance material in “My village”, young artists draw a romantic picture of rural Vietnam. The show combines several genres of stage art including somersaults, swinging, prestidigitation, pantomime and singing. As a new art genre in Vietnam, the circus drama “My village” has impressed both Vietnamese and foreigners.
Circus drama: My village |
A: Bamboo is the main material of the show, participating in the show almost like a character. Dozens of bamboo sticks of various sizes are made into bamboo bridges, houses and rivers on the stage as artists somersault and swing over the sticks. The circus drama takes the audience on a journey which is sometimes peaceful, sometimes exciting, and always romantic. The show reveals rural Vietnam to foreigners and reminds Vietnamese people of their home village, continually evoking the close relationship between bamboo and people’s lives.
B: The stage is not colorful and has no laser lights. It is as simple as rural Vietnam and as its name “My village”. The show takes audience members back to their childhood through the sound of flutes, takes them to a bamboo village through the set design, balancing acts, acrobatics, prestidigitation and folk chants from all three regions of Vietnam. Launched in Vietnam in 2005, in 2009 “My village” began to be performed overseas.
Circus drama: My village |
A: That’s a short take on Vietnamese circus. This week, we received a number of letters from Fumito Hokamura of Japan, a regular listener of VOV. One of the letters is dated July 22, one was written on March 9 and two others were from December. Thank you, Fumito, for tuning in to our broadcasts regularly. Fumito surprised us by writing a sentence in Vietnamese, which said “Hanoi is a beautiful city”. Your Vietnamese is quite good, Fumito. Through Fumito’s letters, we guessed that he has been in Vietnam before and had a special love for our country.
B: In an email to VOV this week, Mitul Kansal of India wrote: “Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2015 to VOV’s devoted contributors, listeners and internet users. In this letter box program, meeting with Ironman and Otto is amazing and unforgettable. My heartiest congratulations!”
A: Mitul Kansal also sent us a number of questions about Vietnam that we’ll answer in our later shows. On today’s show, we’d like to acknowledge letters and emails from Bhaikan Hazarika and Siddhartha Bhattachajee of India, Dewan Rafiqul Islam of Bangladesh, and Richard Lemke of Canada. We’ll send you all QSL cards and the souvenirs you requested very soon.
B: We welcome your feedback at: English section, Overseas Service, Radio Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu Street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.org.vn. You’re invited to visit us online at www.vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs. Good bye until next time.