Catch “The Mist” at the Saigon Opera House

Last night, we were invited to watch the premiere showing of “The Mist” featuring the performers of Arabesque at the Saigon Opera House.

I love the Saigon Opera House. It’s like stepping back in time. The French colonial architecture is well-preserved.

Directed by AO Show Saigon‘s Nguyen Nhat Ly and Nguyen Nat Loc, The Mist is a contemporary dance performance depicting the life of farmers as they go about their daily tasks in the early morning mist. Unlike the AO Show Saigon though, The Mist caters to a more mature audience.

To set the tone, the entrance of the opera house was adorned with native products covered in rice husks. And once you enter the main auditorium, you would hear the sounds of crickets and frogs like you would in the countryside.

The performance began with farmers waking up to perform their tasks in the rice paddies.

The performance focused on the life in the countryside, like going to market, husking the rice, and tending the rice fields.I was happy to sit beside James Pham who helped me understand some parts of the show.

I have to admit though that one part of the show confused me — the scene right after a big storm where the women danced as if possessed. Was it the storm they were interpreting? 😛

I mean in the Philippines, we name our typhoons using women’s name because as theysay, as a typhoon always changes directions and the wrath it inflicts , so do women. 😛

Two performances stood out for me. The first was when the farmers began using native instruments to make music. The audience were able to join in using these —which according to my 6 year old were nunchuks. LOL. Hubby said that these are actually rice ladle joined together.