Tuong (Vietnamese classical drama) and folk songs are now facing the risk of sinking into oblivion in Binh Dinh. Bringing them close to young people is one of the most effective ways to preserve these types of traditional art. But how to do this is not easy.
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Performing Tuong in a contest at Quang Trung secondary school.
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Many difficulties
Bringing Tuong and folk songs to schools is not an easy task. “The adults are often interested in Tuong plays, but my friends and I don’t like them as we don’t understand,” said Ngoc Huong, an eighth-grader of Le Hong Phong secondary school.
“The youth often like new and eventful issues, such as hip-hop, pop, and dance,” said Tran Loc, a sophomore of Quang Trung University. “That’s the reason why we don’t like watching Tuong or listening to folk songs.”
Among five programmes of the “Building friendly schools, active students” movement launched by the Ministry of Education and Training in 2008, singing folk songs at school is encouraged.
At present, there is a class of music every week at both primary and secondary schools, according to deputy head of Quy Nhon city’s education and training office, Nguyen Huy Hoang. Vietnamese folk songs and national musical instruments are often introduced in such a class. The “Singing folk songs” programme only could be held at some schools as this requires many things.
The “School theatre” project implemented at some schools in Binh Dinh in 2003 helped discovering several students who have talent for performing Tuong and folk songs; however, nothing new happened after the project had ended.
Alongside the lack of expenses, the project had to stop because it didn’t make student become interested in Tuong. When performing some extracts of Tuong plays, the students just showed what they had been taught; they didn’t understand what they were performing.
Measures
What must be done to bring Tuong and folk songs close to the youth is a big question. According to artist Hoang Ngoc Dinh, director of Dao Tan Tuong Theatre, the biggest challenge is the lack of money. Money could help maintain the long-term projects, particularly for Tuong preservation.
The artist Hoai Hue, deputy head of Binh Dinh’s bai choi troupe, emphasized that it’s necessary to help students understand the beauty of traditional arts. Only when thoroughly understanding Tuong and folk songs are they interested in performing them.
What’s more, teachers of music and those who are in charge of youth unions at grass roots level must be trained in such types of traditional arts as they play an important role in upholding the project at schools.
The composer Nguyen Huu Thuan said there are two ways. The first way is to combine the old melodies with new lyrics while the second one is called contemporary folk songs in which the melodies of Tuong and folk songs are recomposed.
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