Artist and director Nguyen Quoc Cong: Love for Vietnamese circus and the desire to go far

In recent years, the Southern Arts Theater (now part of the Ho Chi Minh City Arts Center) has invested in staging many large-scale, spectacular, and attractive circus plays. Among them, talented young director Nguyen Quoc Cong (stage name Cong Nguyen) made his mark with the circus play Mystery on the Deserted Island, especially "Mysterious Land" - a special circus play, which has lit up nearly 150 sold-out shows and 17 contracted shows.

* REPORTER: After more than 30 years of working in circus arts, what unforgettable memories and impressions has that journey given you?

* Artist, director NGUYEN QUOC CONG : I have loved circus since I was a child. At the age of 12, I officially reached my dream, passed the exam and studied for 5 years at the Vietnam Circus and Variety School. After graduating, my partner Hong Nhung and I - who performed the act of double aerial silk swing, went to Ho Chi Minh City to seek opportunities for professional development. It can be said that Hong Nhung and I were the first pair of artists performing aerial silk swing in Vietnam.

After more than 10 years of performing circus, we had many opportunities to tour abroad, observe, learn, gain more experience, and approach international circus development trends. Later, when I was assigned the position of Deputy Director of the Blue Sky Circus, to meet the job requirements, I studied directing at the University of Theatre and Cinema in Ho Chi Minh City.

Through training, I realized the difference between performers and organizers when creating products and programs. That is, it is necessary to have a plan, have certain knowledge, from the knowledge learned as a director, to be able to build layers, sections, pieces, script structure, technical processing... Perhaps this is also my advantage, because the issues that are closely related to circus art, only circus performers who work as directors, always stick close to their colleagues, can understand thoroughly and calculate thoroughly.

Artist Nguyen Quoc Cong directs actors in practice

* After more than 30 years of working, what are your concerns about the profession?

* I am a bit sad because up to now, there are still many audiences who do not understand the circus profession. Many people simply think that circus is magic, fire dancing, knife swallowing, swords, or animal circus... Therefore, I want to change the audience's mindset by promoting circus arts more through training for contestants to participate in game shows, talent competitions of television stations, television production units, circus performances in music programs...

In recent years, when the conditions are favorable, my actors and I have performed large-scale, spectacular circus acts. We bring circus ideas alongside the basic, traditional performances, from juggling, acrobatics, rope swinging, performing with fire or water, but completely changed into a different form, breaking the mold with many details, emotional levels, using many techniques and staging methods.

* Phu Tho Circus and Multi-purpose Performance Theater has just been inaugurated, what is your development orientation in the new facility?

* As soon as the project started construction, I followed closely to build programs of sufficient scope, which could be performed at the new venue in the future. From the success of the plays that have been released in the past, I can confidently say that we can meet the requirements of organizing performances, with the support of superiors, as well as the supporting facilities and technical conditions.

However, the brothers also need some time to get used to the new performance venue, a modern facility with international standard technical parameters. For example, the stage has a swimming pool about 5m deep, so it is necessary to train circus performers or collaborate with swimmers; or with an artificial ice rink, the brothers also need to be trained and practiced slowly. Like the tightrope performance, previously at Gia Dinh Park Circus, the actors only practiced at a height of 8-9m, but with the new stage, the ceiling height is up to 24m, the actors have to swing at about 10-15m to be at eye level with the audience, so the actors need to have more time to practice, gradually getting used to the technique.

With the new house, the design is an international standard theater, one of the 9 stages in the world with modern circus functions. It is also the best condition for international circus troupes to come to Ho Chi Minh City to participate in exchanges and performances. In addition, from the internal strength of the next generation of artists, from the leaders, those participating in the staging work must also create programs worthy of the new stage. The first thing is that we must meet the needs of the people in Ho Chi Minh City.

From this new home, I hope that Ho Chi Minh City will become a formal training facility for circus artists in the Southern region and have a stage for young directors to participate in staging, giving them the opportunity to experience, participate in activities, and develop their creativity. This experimental stage can operate as a club, or organize festivals to create a unique circus art playground. These activities will help spread the diversity of circus performance art in the future.

“I, like many other colleagues in the profession, believe that our circus industry will develop strongly in the near future. This belief comes from the fact that we currently have many very talented young artists who have been educated, exposed to the world of technology, and have training, practice, and supporting facilities. What we need to do is connect, keep the fire burning, and enrich our knowledge. However, it is also important to note that the circus profession only starts to decline after about 30 years, so we need to study and improve our qualifications, perhaps in terms of management capacity, staging, choreography, directing, and technical skills, because this knowledge will greatly support the profession, and that is also a way to train the next generation.”

THUY BINH

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nghe-si-dao-dien-nguyen-quoc-cong-tinh-yeu-xiec-viet-va-khat-vong-vuon-xa-post809882.html