Since opening in April 2015, Nguyen Hue walking street has become the “it” place for young Saigoneers to take a stroll and hang out with friends. But for Good Morning Vietnam, a group of six energetic street performers, the popular walkway is also a stage.
According to Nikkei Asian Review, the sextet heads to this downtown hotspot a few nights a week with their boombox and sweet dance moves to deliver a night of performances. According to Johann Kim-Long Ly, the group’s leader, Good Morning Vietnam was the first group of artists to turn the granite-paved plaza into a performance stage.
On a typical night, Ly sets up a small set of speakers and connects them to his smartphone before the group starts break-dancing to the beat. A crowd of curious onlookers will gather around the group and occasionally break out in gasps and rapturous applause.
The routine usually lasts eight minutes, featuring everything from complex dance moves to physical humor à la Charlie Chaplin and even audience participation. Ly and his peers repeat the show up to 10 times a day, according to the members.
The 33-year-old leader was born in France to a Vietnamese father and French mother. His mother passed away when he was young, and by the time Ly was 18, he had become estranged from his dad. He then began touring the world to pursue his interest in dance.
He moved to Vietnam a few years ago, where his father now lives, and started the dance group, named after the 1987 Robin Williams comedy-drama Good Morning Vietnam. The team relies mainly on donations from the audience after shows, making around VND300,000 a day.
Although Ly wishes to earn more, he maintains that the group’s performances will always be free. “My happiest moments are when audience members are satisfied with our show," he told Nikkei Asian Review.
Local authorities, however, are not as thrilled about the impromptu shows as local spectators. Right after the walking street opened to the public, the local management board decided to ban eating, drinking and street performances featuring loud music without prior permission, reports the news source.
Since then, each night of performing has been “an endless cat-and-mouse game” between the group and Saigon’s law enforcement. According to Ly, sometimes they try to sneak in music through portable speakers, but usually end up being stopped by the police immediately.
The chase has been wearing him down, leaving him anxious, as it could all end tomorrow. Though the group typically performs on the street, Good Morning Vietnam is not without accolades, having won the Vietnamese preliminary competition of the international Battle of the Year (BOTY) in 2015 and 2016.
Last September, the sextet competed in BOTY’s South Asian preliminary round but missed out on a chance for the world finals. "Our target is first and foremost to become No. 1 in South Asia and eventually the world champion," Ly shared with Nikkei.
You can check out a clip of Good Morning Vietnam's night performance here.
[Photo via Nikkei Asian Review]
