ABSTRACT
With poise and determination in her eyes, Đoàn Thi _ Kết, a Vietnamese woman in
her eighties, takes the stage and begins to sing. When not performing with Company Ea Sola, Đoàn works as a farmer in the rural rice fields of northern Vietnam. She first set foot on the professional dance stage in 1995, at the world premier performance of Drought and Rain.1 Now more than a decade and a half later she again finds herself performing in a European city far away from home, this time in Drought and Rain 2011. Framing the dance-drama about to unfold, Đoàn looks out to the audience and tells us in sung Vietnamese ‘This epic dance – “Drought and Rain”/Recounts the history of thousands of destinies’. The look on her face is energised and concentrated, her body poised for action like a coiled spring. She continues, keeping the suspense-filled air ripe with anticipation:
*Email: ihorei@hum.au.dk
i
t ent of ulture and Society, Aarhus University, Denmark
On the land [Vietnam], rich with alluvial deposits wedded to blood. My ancestors for centuries opened up our pathways. This epic dance – ‘Drought and Rain’. Recounts the history of thousands of destinies. And this is what the poem said: (voices reply: what did it say?) The present generation, do they remember the centuries past?2
