Art and music classes go online in Vietnam amid coronavirus concerns

As authorities ban large gatherings and all non-essential businesses, including gyms, some Vietnamese arts instructors have taken to conducting their lessons online.

Belly dance instructor Than Ngoc Ha Van has moved all her classes online since early March. With just a laptop connected to Internet and a large TV screen, she can interact with up to eight students per lesson via Zoom video call.

Van conducts her classes from her dance studio by showing dancing moves to her students and ask the students, who follow via their smartphones or laptops, to practise.

“The online teaching is very convenient for both instructors and students, as we can conduct the class anywhere.” Van says.

For some lessons, Van pre-records her dancing moves and streams the video footage live on Facebook to her students, and students record their dance moves to send back to Van for feedback.

Not all online classes can conducted smoothly.

Vietnamese traditional music teacher To Minh Cuong holds his singing class to students via Facebook messenger video call on his smartphone, and admits that he prefers the traditional way of teaching.

“Studying directly at class is easier as I only need to show the students once or twice how to sing a long line from the lyrics, but with online studying like this, due to the slow Internet connection, I have to sing every short line from the lyrics about four times for them to practise the song,” Cuong shared from a classroom where he held online “xam” singing class, a form of Vietnamese traditional music.

Vietnam has recorded 169 cases of COVID-19 infection, and officials have moved to curb its spread.

All shopping malls, restaurants, bars and gyms, except those providing food and basic needs, will be shut down until at least 15 April.

Gatherings of more than 20 people have also been banned.

AFP