Artist Hoang Yen and her journey with dance

Yen came to dance late, so for her, competitions and challenges on the dance floor are opportunities and lessons to hone her skills to be more confident on her future path.

Journey on thorns

Yen said that, since childhood, she was fascinated by the movements of ballerinas on the toes, gracefully gliding across the floor, and was fascinated by the stories told through body language. However, to be able to dance on stage like those actors, for Yen, was a dream, because no matter how much she begged, her parents did not agree to let her pursue a career in dancing, because they were worried about the harshness of this art form; moreover, Hoang Yen was past the "golden age" to practice dancing.

Then, one time Yen went to Nghe An Traditional Arts Center - where her parents worked, while the artists were practicing a music and dance program directed by People's Artist Thu Ha, seeing Yen passionately performing the dance moves on stage, People's Artist Thu Ha told her mother - People's Artist Hong Luu: "She is so passionate about dancing that she will surely be able to follow it". Because according to artist Thu Ha, Yen has a relatively favorable body shape for dancing, the remaining thing is the harsh training, when Yen was 17 years old, too old to start dancing. "With that, I asked my parents to let me practice dancing to take the entrance exam to the Military University of Culture and Arts", Hoang Yen said.

Needless to say, the hardships and difficulties of Hoang Yen's days of dancing. The pain of opening her joints and adjusting her postures to be beautiful and correct left her with bruises and scratches all over her body. "There were times when I cried out in pain because the teachers adjusted my joints. When I got home, I couldn't swallow my food or sleep well. However, when my parents asked me: "Can you continue dancing?" I firmly replied: "I will continue!" - Yen recalled. The journey filled with sweat, tears and blood gave Yen an unexpected result. She passed the entrance exam to the Military University of Culture and Arts with high results.

During her first years of dancing, when talking about Yen, teachers and classmates always exclaimed in admiration! Admiration, because every morning and every afternoon, everyone saw Yen on the dance floor, practicing and practicing, practicing until she was bruised and scratched, forgetting to eat and sleep. However, for Yen, that was not enough, the thought of how to become an excellent dancer always ached in her.

Therefore, in 2020, before graduating from the dance major at the Military University of Culture and Arts, Yen was encouraged by her direct teacher to participate in the Vietnam Dance Talent Competition. This is a competition that any dance student dreams of winning, but not everyone can confidently enter the competition. Hoang Yen is no exception because she feels that she has not yet achieved advanced techniques in dance movements. However, with her hard work and dedication, Yen has won the hearts of the judges and experts. “At the same competition as me, there was a younger friend who also chose to perform the performance “Hoa Vang” by Meritorious Artist Tran Ly Ly like me, but her technique was very skillful because she had studied dance since she was 9-10 years old. However, with her acting demeanor, I was also evaluated equally by the judges and we both won second prize.”

Or like the Army Games 2022 competition held in Russia, Hoang Yen also chose the difficult dance "Matriarchy". This is a dance with difficult expressions in both movement and acting, however, with confidence and captivating expressions, she also won the second prize in the end, to the admiration of international friends and experts.

New steps

From her teaching assistantship, Yen had the opportunity to travel to many places, giving her valuable experiences. “I remember one time when I went to Truong Sa, I had to stand on the deck of a ship to dance while the ship was still heading straight ahead. The waves were big and the wind was strong, the ship was rocking, but I still stood firmly on my toes, still moving continuously with difficult dance positions, even though I almost fell many times. It was not only the mental and technical strength of an actor, but it seemed like there was also some kind of power that helped me perform the entire dance for the soldiers to enjoy,” Hoang Yen said.

For a military dancer like Yen, being able to go to the island to serve the soldiers in art is not only a duty but also an honor and a noble mission. Therefore, Yen believes that no matter what position she is in, she still has to do well in her role as an actress wearing a soldier's uniform. That spirit also guides her to higher goals in her artistic journey. She continues to register to participate in the Vietnam Dance Talent Competition in 2023, with quite thorough preparation. Hoang Yen chose a folk song and focused on acting, expressing the character's expressions. Those are "Nam Phuong Mau Te" and "Dao Lieu".

In particular, “Nam Phuong Mau Te” is a folk art performance of the ball dance of the South. Needless to say, it was difficult to master the tray dance technique - a technique that Yen had never approached before. Therefore, in order to have the divine moves in this technique such as tossing the tray evenly, letting the tray rotate on the foot, along with other body expressions, Hoang Yen had to find good instructors in this art to practice it properly.

She traveled south to find the “cradle” of ball dance in the hope that she could learn and meet the highest techniques of tray dance. “For 4 consecutive days, every morning at 8am, I had to travel 10km to study tray dance techniques with a lecturer at the Ho Chi Minh City Dance College. During the entire process of going on stage, I barely stopped, only ate and took a nap. At 4pm every afternoon, I traveled another 10km to study with another lecturer about other movements. However, for me, that was still not enough, I practiced as soon as I woke up,” Yen recalled.

After devoting 4 days to the tray dance, Hoang Yen then had to return to Hanoi to practice the piece “Dao lieu” - a contemporary folk work based on Bac Ninh folk songs. “Dao lieu” was a bit more leisurely to practice, but to convey the profound inner feelings of a Northern girl in the early 20th century, an actor with great inner strength was required: Delicate in movements, performing in a way that brought out the character’s portrait and soul. Yen did better than expected, winning the first prize in the 2023 Vietnam Dance Talent competition to the joy of her friends, teachers and family.

When being honored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as the Outstanding Artist of 2023, Yen said that it was a great honor that her efforts were recognized and evaluated appropriately, but deep down she still felt it was a blessing, because she was able to come to dance, to stand on stage and tell good stories through body language.