Conversations with Luan Vu

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luan Vu.

Hi Luan, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
In 1998, choreographer DinhLuan relocated from Illinois to California. Upon arrival, VanSon Productions (a Vietnamese Music Productions) offered him a job as one of their main choreographers . He did not have a dance group to work with. VTADO (Vietnamese Traditional Art Development Organization) in Orange County, CA, gave 1 of their 3 dance groups to him. DinhLuan spent many years to build up the dance group, from an amateur level to a professional level. In the first 10 years, our dance group’s name was Lạc Hồng Dance.

Since we were the only Vietnamese professional dance group in California at that time, we got to work with many Vietnamese Music Productions , big and small. We worked with the top three : ThuyNga Productions, Asia Productions, VanSon Productions and many others in California.

We have traveled to perform in many states of USA. VanSon Productions brought us along to perform in Philippines, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, Canada… Famous Vietnamese singer Nhu Quynh also brought us along to perform in Paris.

In 2009, most of dancers from Lac Hong Group retired from the dancing activities to finish their colleges. The new group was formed under the name of Viet Cam Dance. Once again, choreographer DinhLuan had to spend many years to build up his new dance group. On top of that, many Vietnamese Music Productions in California started to close down (because of DVD piracy). With out steady incomes from those Vietnamese Music Productions, Viet Cam Dance and Mr. DinhLuan was struggling to survive. With all the ups and downs, after 26 years, we are still active.

Most of our dancers are students. Some of them are professional dancers came from Việt Nam. Beside going to schools, having part time day jobs, these young men and girls spend their time to learn Vietnamese dances on the weekends. Thru Vietnamese traditional dances, the dancers (and their parents) learn more about Vietnamese culture, history……

Our mission is to preserve and develop Vietnamese culture thru dancing, and to bring more color to Amerrican culture. We also participate in community events, such as the Annual Ancestral Ceremony of Vietnamese 1st King, Nursing Homes, Ceremony of General Trần Hưng Đạo, Vietnamese New Year Parade (in California and in New York), Fund Raising events….etc…

We give scholarships to low-income children to participate in our training classes.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a smooth road at all . We have internal problems, and external problems :
Internal issues :
— The professional overseas Vietnamese dancers, they work only with main stream . We can not afford to pay them. Only semi-professional Vietnamese dancers join our group. We have to spend a lots of time to turn them into more professional dancers (with free training).
— The dancers always have to struggle between schools, works and dancing. Time is one of the big issues.
— We are not a non-profit-organization. We do not have regular sponsors. We only have one-time-sponsors.
— Mr. DinhLuan is a one-man-crew. He can not afford to have employees. He takes care of Costume Design Department, Costume Making Department, Costume Preserve Department, Teaching Dance Classes, Choreography, Public Relation, Customer Service, Sale Reps, Dance Captain, Human Resource, Graphic Design, Advertising Department, Book Keeping …etc….
— Unstable income is always a big issue. If we paid dancers higher salaries, we will attract more Vietnamese professional dancers to joint our group.

External issues :
— After Vietnam War ended in 1975, millions of Vietnamese left Viet Nam to live around the world. The US imposed an embargo on Vietnam. Overseas Vietnamese craved for Vietnamese Entertainment. That was how many overseas Vietnamese Music Entertainment were launched in California in the late 80’s. They produced music CD, video tapes, dvd, blu-rays …to distribute to all over the world where overseas Vietnamese lived. From 1998-2005, our dance group had steady incomes from these Productions. In 1995, the US and Vietnam officially normalized diplomatic relations. Overseas Vietnamese have been able to come back to Viet Nam to visit their hometowns. The need of overseas Vietnamese entertainment slowly decreased. In addition, the DVD Piracy also add to the loss of profit of the productions. One by one, overseas Vietnamese Music Productions slowly closed down. Thúy Nga (Paris By Night) Productions is the only one still operate. But, they do not work with Vietnamese Dance groups.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I was a semi-professional dancer when i was young. I have experiences to work with semi-professional dance groups. I have ambition to upgrade my group to be more professional dance group. It took us a long time to get there since we only practice on the weekends. I specialized in Vietnamese folk dance. I know basic Ballet technique .I am a self-taught costume designer. I believe God has been blessing us. I do not know how we could survive that long (28 years) . I am a low maintenant person , that helps me to endure the hardship. I believe that i have a meaningful life (to build up a group of young people, preserve and develop Vietnamese folk dance in USA, to add more color to America’s culture). I am proud to be able to keep the group that long.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?
I do not think so !

Contact Info:

• Website: https://vietcamdance.net
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VietCamDance1998/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%C4%91%C3%ACnh-lu%C3%A2n-13802ba7/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@luanvu

Image Credits
Hung Le, Jessica Yen Lam, Daniel Pham, Joe Pham, Chris Le, Paul Le, Huy Khiem, Van Son Productions, Tuan Mmpl, Tuyet Mai, Michele Luong ….