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Dao Tan. Photo Dao Tien Dat |
Talking about Dao Tan, who is considered as the innovator of Tuong (Vietnamese classical drama) art, many people still remember heroine Lan Anh’s two verses in his famous play entitled Ho sinh dan: “Lao xao song vo ngon tung/ Gian nan la no anh hung phai vay” (Waves hubbubly crash on the top of the pine/ Miserably hard fate is the hero’s debt).
The poet Xuan Dieu when reciting two verses of the poem, wrote : “Dao Tan showed that when we are determined to be against the immoral intention, the flatterer, the hard life is as a matter of course.” (extracted from Xuan Dieu’s essay Dao Tan-the poet of “waves crashing on the top of the pine”.
After a century since Dao Tan passed away, hundreds of scholars, researchers, and artists nationwide flocked to Binh Dinh to attend the anniversary and the conference on Dao Tan’s Tuong art held by Binh Dinh province People’s Committee.
The incense offering ceremony was solemnly held at Dao Tan’s house of worship in Phuoc Loc Commune of Tuy Phuoc District and a two-day-conference was also held in Quy Nhon city.
The meeting of Vu family names and conference on Dao Tan’s Tuong art
The professor-hero of labor, Vu Khieu emotionally called the meeting “a solemn ceremony”. “Thanks to the blessing of our great grandfather Dao (Dao Tan), our Vu family names fortunately met in the hometown of the legendary “Chang Lia” who also adopted Vu family name,” added Prof. Khieu.
On this occasion, many well-known people with Vu family names, including Prof. Vu Khieu, Prof. Vu Hoang Chuong, the ex-Chief of the National Assembly Secretariat, Vu Mao, Vice-Chairman of Binh Dinh province People’s Committee, Vu Hoang Ha, and Tuong art researcher, Vu Ngoc Lien.
When addressing, Prof. Vu Khieu mentioned Binh Dinh as a cradle of Tuong art originated from Dao Tan. He also affirmed that thanks to Dao Tan, Tuong art has become an academic classical and folk art.
To people who love Vietnamese classical drama and justice, it was Dao Tan who made Tuong art become not only classical and modern but popular and noble, growing in stature. Characters with distinguished and complex features in his plays has been all-time classic.
Dao Tan’s Tuong was an art of world stature and Dao Tan was deserving of being honored as other well-known playwrights in the world, said Prof. Nguyen Thuyet Phong after coming back from the U.S. Dao Tan’s way of teaching Tuong is also very unique and modern and his “hoc bo dinh” (schools to teach Tuong art is an initiative for us to open a Dao Tan university in Vietnam.
Also, when delivering the speech at the conference, director of Binh Dinh Information and Culture Departmen, Van Trong Hung, emphasized Dao Tan’s credit in nurturing Binh Dinh people’s love for Tuong art.
There are 11 amateur classical drama troupes in Binh Dinh and every night they perform Dao Tan’s plays in rural areas. At the 100th death anniversary of Dao Tan, one of these troupes performed an extract of the play Ho sinh dan. In fact, they performed simply but attractively.
Vietnamese classical drama art is still alive in Binh Dinh
Prof. Vu Ngoc Lien, who is now 83 years, devotes himself to study Dao Tan’s Tuong art. This was the 4th a conference on Dao Tan’s Tuong has been held in Binh Dinh. He would never forget the image of the poet Xuan Dieu arguing for upholding Tuong art and Dao Tan at a conference 30 years ago, said Prof. Lien.
Such a master of Tuong art as Dao Tan will never be consigned to oblivion in Binh Dinh. In the hearts of Binh Dinh people Tuong art in general and Dao Tan’s Tuong in particular strongly exist,, which can be considered as a good sign for Vietnamese traditional arts. In the journey to the future of national art, Dao Tan still travels with us.
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