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Prof. Hoang Chuong gives a presentation of Tuong art at Bard College. |
Recently, Prof. Hoang Chuong, a leading expert in Tuong (Vietnamese classical drama), was invited to talk about Tuong art at an international seminar on Asian folk art held in Bard College in New York. Below are his memories of the visit.
Prof. Dr. Nguyen Thuyet Phong and his wife picked me up at the airport in New York at 9 pm. He introduced me to David Badgnani, a lecturer in music at Kent State University in Ohio.
Knowing me as an expert in traditional arts, he was always with me, asking me everything about Tuong and Cheo (popular opera) arts. I, therefore, spent a sleepless night with him talking about Vietnam’s traditional arts in the first night in America.
The seminar lasted for two days, including a program on Vietnam’s traditional arts hosted by Prof. Phong. I was in charge of the presentation and illustration of Tuong art, which is very strange in America. I, to some extent, got nervous in a hall having seating capacity for about hundreds.
Prof. Phong, his wife, Rmah Doc (an overseas Vietnamese in America), and David Badagnani presented and performed Vietnamese traditional arts together.
Rmah Doc performed solo T’rung (a musical instrument of 5-7 bamboo stems graduated in length and tied together with two parallel cords) and Khen ( a wind instrument consisting of several small bamboo tubes, arranged close together with one end connected to a wooden sound box).
David beat the drum and played a clarinet while Prof. Phong’s wife played Dan Tranh (a 16-chord zither). Prof. Phong played solo the monochord, Vietnamese 36-chord zither, and Vietnamese 2-chord guitar.
All his performances won rapturous applause from the audience. Prof. Phong has not only introduced Vietnam’s traditional arts in America but also taught Vietnamese folk music to many Americans, including David Badagnani.
I myself presented and performed Tuong art then. Thanks to experiences of teaching American students for many years, I felt very confident on the platform.
At first, I briefed on the history and stage features of Tuong. I then performed the way of drinking alcohol in Tuong art, both natural and stylized ways. I saw the audience watching me with concentration. They were laughing when I finished my performance. What’s more, the whole audience were very excited when I suddenly invited Prof. Mercedes Dujunco, head of the organisation board, to drink alcohol.
Then I both explained and illustrate how to ride a horse in Tuong art with a riding-whip. The horseback riding in Tuong performance was only a riding-whip but it could describe all characters and situations in many minutes, I said. If we used a real horse, it would do nothing; moreover, it could make water if being kept so long on the stage. The audience sounded excited to hear that.
I started to make gestures of climbing on a horse, falling from a horse, and riding horse. With only a set of performing clothes, I tried to introduce the costume and make-up in Tuong art.
Next, I presented the art of stylization in Tuong with a long-handled spear and a horse in an extract entitled “Kim Lan crosses the mountain pass”. With the help of Ms Minh Huong, Director of HCM City Academy of Music, playing the role as a ghost guiding Kim Lan through the mountain pass, the audience could develop their imagination.
Professor Hoang Chuong was born in An Lao District, Binh Dinh province. He was assigned to take the post of Director of Vietnam Institute of Theatre. Now he is General Director of the Centre for Research, Preservation and Development of National Culture. |
I combined dancing, singing, and performing this time. When I finished the performance, the audience warmly clapped their hands.
Ms Lauren Meeker, a lecturer in music, congratulated me at the end of the performance. I asked her if she understood what I had presented. She said that she understood but not much. Prof. Peter Laki, also congratulated me and talked about his thought.
Among the audience, there were three Vietnamese students who met me later. I also asked them if they could understand Tuong art. All said understood.
The program planned to last in one and a half hour but most audience were still excited even when it lasted over two hours. At the end of the program, they still stayed there to learn about Vietnam’s unique musical instruments.
I was successful in introducing Tuong art in America with the great help from Prof. Nguyen Thuyet Phong. I couldn’t sleep later because I felt that I risked performing alone in America. Fortunately, I didn’t fail. That was the right stuff of those who study Vietnam’s traditional culture.
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