Nguyen Hai Yen (Red)

video artist / independent dance/theater/art producer

Born in Lang Son, Vietnam, Red is a video artist and independent dance/theater/art producer whose practice focuses on the multidisciplinary approaches which contribute to rethinking about ‘dance’ in Vietnam, creating (safe) spaces for performance practices that don’t fit in any existing system, encouraging artists to explore new possibilities of performance thinking and making. Beside her personal artistic research & practice about the discourse between dance & film,  she also produced various performance-related projects supported by the British Council, Goethe Institut, Japan Foundation, Asia Cultural Council, Yayasan Kelola, Dance Nucleus Studio, Mekong Cultural Hub, Prince Claus Fund,... including “Method” (2019); "X-Project" (2020); “Sound Barrier” (2021); "A self self shall" (2021); "1936" (2021); "Human Learning" (2021); “Jakob Tour in Vietnam” (2022); "Vinabiennale" (2022 - 2024);...

Since 2016, she had been involved in organizing multi poetry/experimental music/performance activities with independent publishing house Ajar Press and Heritage Space. Her works as dance producer include various projects with H2Q Art Dance Company, Kinergie Studio, Mat Tran Ensembles, digital artist Giang Nguyen and choreographer Ngo Thanh Phuong. She also produces art films and exhibitions that involve performances.

Together with choreographer Ngo Thanh Phuong, she co-directed MORUA (2020-now), an active member of the Southeast Asia Choreographer Network, a dance collective and [performance-maker] in residence program aiming to encourage the next-generation of dance practitioners to research, exchange and experiment with new frameworks of performance, to broaden the dialogue about performance-making in Vietnam. Alongside with MORUA, she’s working as project manager & seasonal producer of H2Q Art - an emerging independent dance company focusing on creating international co-production performances, founded by choreographer Bui Ngoc Quan (director assistant of Alain Platel, Les Ballet C de la B, Brussels).

Dedicating her youth to promote emerging dance artists in Vietnam, Red has been figuring out different path ways to connect with the world (especially Asia) by developing her own practice as a dance producer and broaden her network in the producer’s global community, naming her participation in: Asia Connection: Producer’s Camp 2021 (online)-2023 (offline, Taiwan), under the mentorship of Farooq Chaudhry (co-founder & producer of Akram Khan Dance Company) and then Sasapin Siriwanij (artistic director, BIPAM) organized by Taiwan’s National Theater & Concert Hall; the Producers' Academy 2023, Brussels, Belgium (granted by Cifas and Kunstenfestivaldesarts); Djakarta International Theatre Platform, Asian Producer Forum 2023, Indonesia (invited by Yayasan Kelola); Partnership Development Programme 2022, a trip to Edinburgh International Festival and London, UK for networking with dance, theater, performing arts festivals (funded by British Council). Her latest production - the multimedia performance “Vinabiennale” was supported by and had its work-in-progress presented at Taiwan’s National Theater & Concert Hall in 9/2023.

In July 2024, she will be participating in the Asian Producers’ Platform, Malaysia.

As an artist, Red aims to use choreography/theatrical thinking to visualize personal landscapes and archive spiritual memories. Her dance films and video works were featured at Fundacion-PROA (Argentina), White Chapell Gallery (UK) (nominated by Hanoi DocLab for the Artist Films International 2019), SeaShorts Film Festival (Malaysia), Arkipel International Documentary and Experimental Film Festival (Indonesia), OFF. Focus (Singapore), TANZAHOi International Festival for Dance (Hamburg, Germany), Fifth Wall Fest (Phillipines), Rencontres Internationales Paris/Berlin (Paris), San Art (Vietnam), Teater Garasi (Indonesia), NOWNESS...

She’s now working on The Tangerine Womb (2022-2024) a video-theater project developed in her northern hometown Lang Son, using ‘Sli Singing” (Tay people’s traditional antiphonal singing) to archive people’s memories about things they have lost in life. This is part of the Terasia project (a theater project about death, life and belief, initiated by Japanese artists and joined by Indonesian, Malaysian, Thailand and Vietnam artists).

Red was one of 100 Prince Claus Seed Awardees in 2022.