Vietnamese Culture Night (VCN) is THE BIGGEST ANNUAL EVENT held by UCSD VSA every spring quarter. This year’s 17th Annual VCN will be on Saturday, April 21st, 2012 (Spring Quarter 2012) at Mandeville Auditorium on campus.

The purpose of VCN is to preserve Vietnamese culture and promote its awareness within UCSD and the San Diego community. The centerpiece of the production is a play, with various performances to adorn it such as traditional Vietnamese dances, modern hip hop dance, singing, fashion show and more.

It is a huge production that requires the help of over a hundred of people every single year and it provides the perfect setting for the creation of life-long friendships and for the development of talents. Trust us that it is a FUNNN and rewarding experience. It is the place to create another family, another unforgettable big huge chunk of memory in our college career.

Facebook Event

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BE A PART OF VSA Culture Night!
*No experience necessary. We’re looking for passion and commitment!

1. MODERN DANCE
VSA’s Dance Team is open to all skill levels. Come talk to the coordinator-Thanh Thao Tran at practices or email her anytime if you’re interested in joining! [thanht14@yahoo.com]

2. SPONSORSHIP TEAM
Help us look for sponsors. We need discounts, donations, drinks, food, money, shirts, everything to make this year’s show happen! Contact Diana Lam if you are interested in being a part of this team or if you have any suggestions [dianalam.vsa@gmail.com]

3. MARKETING TEAM
If you’re good with designing fliers, editing videos, public speaking, anything marketing related, we need! Sign-up with Mai Tran [mat003@ucsd.edu]

4. PROPS TEAM
If you’re good with arts and building then put your talent to use here! We need painters, wardrobe designer, set designer, anything you can offer! Sign-up with Mai Tran [mat003@ucsd.edu]

5. BACKSTAGE NINJAS
These are the cool kids in black who move/arrange props on stage between changing scenes! Sign-up with Mai Tran [mat003@ucsd.edu]

6. OTHERS
We need all kinds of talents: make-up artists, photographers, graphic designers, etc. If there’s anything not listed that you would like to bring up, you can always contact Mai Tran [mat003@ucsd.edu]
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If you have already signed up to be a part of VCN, make sure you are added to the facebook group to receive updates and information on practices.
Modern Dance
http://www.facebook.com/groups/167449720014079/

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Clips and Videos of VCN 2011

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If you have questions, comments or suggestions please do not hesitate to contact this year’s Culture Night Chair:
Mai Anh Tran via facebook or email at mat003@ucsd.edu

Thank you everyone who came to the show.
We hope that you enjoyed it and that you learned something new about Viet Nam, it’s people & culture.
If you have any comments or suggestions for the show please email UCSD VSA at vsa@ucsd.edu

SCRIPT WRITER’S NOTE

Ever since the beginning of Winter Quarter, VSA has started putting together the necessary preparations leading up to their biggest event of the year, which was hosted annually for the past 16 years. Each year’s show is different from the next but the purpose of each Vietnamese Culture Night (VCN) remains the same: to preserve and showcase Vietnamese culture.

Keeping the purpose of VCN in mind as a script writer, I wanted to present a theme that can connect with the young as well as the old generations. I took into the play a prominent issue that exists in many Vietnamese-American families today: the difficulty of passing on the Vietnamese language, traditions and values abroad.

The goal of this year’s VCN was to bring the audience on a trip back to Viet Nam, to experience the country and to learn about the land through the eyes of Lan, the main character. This year’s goal presents a very difficult task: to bring Viet Nam to the stage at UCSD live.

In order to do so, a good portion of the lines and conversation in this year’s play contained a lot of Vietnamese. This was a factor I was worried about as a script writer, but I can’t deliver Viet Nam without the language that the locals use to speak in their daily conversation. With clever manipulation, a good balance of English was blended in so that the audience can still understand the plot without having to be fluent in Vietnamese.

Other than having the right settings and scenarios, having the right actors, in particular, were important to convey the personalities of local Vietnamese. I was fortunate enough to find five main actors who carried the authenticity of the characters described in the script: Tracey Nguyen as Lan, Luan Bach as Hieu, Ngoc Le as To Nhu, Duy Duong as Minh and Vivian Pham as Ba Ngoai.

Because I wanted the characters to be as true and close to themselves as possible, the actors were instructed not to memorize their lines word by word. They were to take their parts of the script and make it their own so that everything they say can sound as natural and genuine as any conversation they would have in real life.

With that, I have to say that my favorite part of culture night was to watch the main actors bring their characters and their stories to live on stage. Scene by scene, they were taking the audience for a trip to Viet Nam until the very end. The acting was completed by Vietnamese singing performances, traditional dance, Digga Hip Hop and Fashion Show making this year’s VCN a package of wholesome goodness.

With the theme “Return to the Roots”, I wanted to remind all the young Vietnamese-Americans out there that it is very important to know their language and traditions, to know their culture and to take pride in it. Because like our parents have said in so many different ways, for so many times: “It’s who you are and where you came from.”

So take a trip to Viet Nam like the main character Lan did in this play, take a look inside yourself, talk to your parents, google it up, read a book, do something about it. Little or small, a lot or a little, anything we do now as the young generation of Vietnamese Americans to preserve our culture will matter for the next generations, for years to come.

“Return to the Roots”

Lan, a white-washed Vietnamese high schooler who doesn’t know much about where she came from, earns herself on a trip back to Vietnam. There for the summer, Lan finds company from To Nhu, a female cousin of the same age who possesses the traditions and manners of a respectful Vietnamese woman. Lan was quickly introduced to Hieu and Minh as they all begin on a journey across Viet Nam. Although Hieu and Minh are best friends, they carry opposite qualities from each other. While Minh is an only child of a wealthy family with a cocky attitude, Hieu is a good honest boy who works to help support himself and the only family member he has, his grandma.

Traveling across Viet Nam, Hieu finds out that Lan is his long lost twin sister while Minh, the bad boy finds himself changing as he begins to fall for the good girl, To Nhu. After a lot of thinking and deliberating to herself, Lan chooses to accept her true identity and to stay in Viet Nam with her biological grandmother and brother. Putting aside the lavish life she had in America, Lan realizes that she cannot go on in life without knowing who she really is and where she comes from.

No matter where we are, the Vietnamese roots will always remain within us.

Tóm Tằt Nội Dung Câu Chuyện:
“Trở Về Cội Nguồn”

Vì sinh sống và trưởng thành tại Mỹ nên Lan hoàn toàn không có khái niệm nào về đất nước Việt Nam cũng như nguồn gốc của mình. Sau một lần tranh chấp với các bạn cùng trường, Lan đã được bố mẹ gửi gắm về Việt Nam trong dịp nghỉ hè với hy vọng cô ta sẽ học hỏi được nhiều điều hay lẽ phải.

Tại Việt Nam, Lan đã gặp người chị họ của mình là Tố Như-một cô gái thùy mị, đoan trang, luôn cẩn thận trong từng lời ăn tiếng nói. Lan lại được kết bạn với hai người bạn khác, Minh và Hiếu. Tuy là bạn thân nhưng tính tình của hai người hoàn toàn trái ngược nhau. Trong khi Hiếu là một chàng trai ít nói, hiền lành, lại chăm chỉ phụ giúp bà ngoại bán cháo trong một căn nhà nhỏ, thì Minh lại là một công tử nhà giàu với bản chất kiêu ngạo.

Theo lời mời của Minh, bốn người bạn trẻ với những tính cách trái ngược đã cùng nhau du lịch xuyên Việt. Ở mỗi nơi, những người bạn trẻ này đã học được thêm nhiều điều mới lạ, đặc biệt là Lan, không những cô ta ngày càng thêm yêu quý vẻ đẹp văn hóa Việt Nam mà còn khám phá ra được thân phận thật sự của mình.

Thật ra, Lan là em gái sinh đôi mà lâu nay Hiếu vẫn luôn tìm kiếm. Lúc mới sinh ra ở bệnh viện, người làm phòng đã làm rớt bảng tên của Lan và một đứa bé gái khác trong khi quét dọn và đã vô tình tráo đổi bảng tên. Lan đã được đón đi Mỹ với một cặp vợ chồng trẻ trong khi Hiếu lớn lên một mình với bà ngoại của mình.

Qua chuyến đi du lịch Việt Nam, Hiếu tìm thấy em gái của mình còn Minh thì lại thay đổi tính tình vì người con gái dịu dàng thùy mị mà anh đã đem lòng thương yêu, Tố Như.

Tình bạn, tình yêu, tình cảm gia đình và tình người là những điều đẹp đẽ và cao quý nhất trong bản sắc dân tộc Việt Nam. Với những tình tiết hấp dẫn và những đoạn đối thoại dở khóc dở cườI, vở kịch “Trở Về CộI Nguồn” mong muốn truyền đạt đến khán giả những cảm nhận sâu sắc về văn hóa, truyền thống cũng như con người Việt Nam.

Dù đi đâu hay ở bất cứ nơi nào thì nguồn gốc Việt luôn luôn tồn tại trong ta…

Lan
[acted by Tracey Nguyen]

Hieu
[acted by Luan Bach]

To Nhu
[acted by Ngoc Le]

Minh
[acted by Duy Duong]

Grandma
[acted by Vivian Pham]

Lan’s Family
Lan’s Dad acted by Anthony Pham
Lan’s Mom acted by Tina Nguyen

To Nhu’s Family
To Nhu’s Dad acted by Chris May
To Nhu’s Mom acted by Kristen Bui

Best Friends
In the play, Minh & Hieu are best friends. Despite their differences (Minh is a rich spoiled boy, Hieu is a poor hard working boy) they find each other’s qualities compatible. Minh, especially, is sick of his usual crowd of higher class friends, who are not as down to earth and genuine as his best friend Hieu.

The 4
These friends will travel across Vietnam on a summer vacation trip to have fun but to their surprise, their journey turns into an adventure full of meaningful lessons and discoveries.

Have you seen it yet?
UCSD VCN Official Trailer 2011 is out!

Vietnamese Culture Night 16th Annual
“Return to the Roots” Tro Ve Coi Nguon

Saturday, April 23rd, 2011
Mandeville Auditorium
Doors Open 6:00 PM
Show starts 6:30 PM

Performances Include:
-A Meaningful Theatrical Act
-Traditional Dance with a modern twist
-Digga Hip Hop
-Fashion Show with Ao Dai & Modern Clothing
-Vietnamese Singing Performances
and MORE!

UCSD VSA Facebook

http://www.facebook.com/ucsdvsa

VCN Facebook Event

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=103139636437759

If you have questions, comments or concerns please,
Contact UCSD VSA via Email
vsa@ucsd.edu

Cameramen: Dat Nguyen & Jose Chen
Director: Mai Tran
Editor: Jose Chen
PS: Forgot to adjust focus from 1:00 – 1:25