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Fanglao blends breakdance with traditional and contemporary dance. TEXT BY MELODY KEMP PHOTOGRAPHS BY VAN HAI
MORE INFO Fanglao regularly produces shows in their BlackBox theater located just north of Vientiane city center in Hongkha Village. Visit their Facebook to stay abreast on shows and booking information: facebook.com/Fanglaodancecompany
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s it becomes a more bustling and vibrant capital, Vientiane is also becoming the nation’s performance hub. Many of the city’s bars and restaurants bring live music and wide ranging discussions to interested audiences, and for a modern dance performance there is Fanglao, one of the region’s best dance troupes, which was founded by Lao choreographers Ounla “Kaka” Pha Oudom and Noutnapha “Nout” Soydala in 2013.
It’s easy enough to characterise them as a breakdance group, and yes they are proud of that tradition. But Fanglao blends breakdance and its mad, mind blowing physics, with traditional and contemporary dance. And rather than lots of clever acrobatics, each dance is choreographed and tells a story. They are sardonic and astute observers of the human condition, playing out games in dance. One recent performance was about male relationships; the smiles followed by a shoulder shove, plying out the tension, the ambiguity. Not only are the night’s performances symbolic, strong and breathtakingly courageous, they are invariably physically skillful. Fanglao combines breakdancing with Lao finger-stretching traditional dance, to bring
