THE ONES CONSERVE THE ANCIENT DANCE OF HANOI

Mr. Trieu Dinh Hong was born in 1946 and is a native of Trieu Khuc village.  Watching the dance since he was a child, Mr. Hong was enthralled and memorized the movements of the dance.  When participating in the procession of the festival, he danced, moved following the music. And the shaking movement of the boys of Trieu Khuc village was very flexible and smooth.

Mr. Hong named the dance “trống bồng dance” (a dance with cylindrical drums), but people in the past were still accustomed to calling the dance ” con đĩ đánh bồng” (“a slut dances with cylindrical drums). The dance was performed four times a year in service of the worshipping rituals during the Trieu Khuc village festival held twice a year, in lunar January (from 10th to 12th and on 20th) and lunar August (on 13th and 20th) in Trieu Khuc village.

At present, there are only  Mr. Hong and his brother, Trieu Dinh Van (87 years old), who knows well about the dancing technique. Mr. Hong presides over the Trống bồng Dance Club of Triều Khúc. He also is a teacher instructing ancient dancing techniques to young generations.

The beauty and the strange thing of the dance are the boys dressing up and making up like the girls to perform. Each movement must be rhythmic with each shaking movement of the body and the music.  During the dancing, the dancers must cast the glances of love.  Therefore, people also have a saying ” as slutty as a floozy dancing with cylindrical drums”. In the picture, Mr. Hong carefully instructed the member of Trống bồng dance team before the village festival.  The boys have to wear black skirts, Vietnamese kerchief, and makeup like women.

The boys dress up like women to match the flirtation movements.  This specialty is the unique feature of the dance in which the girly actions are skillfully performed by men.

Trống bồng dance dates back to the period of Bo Cai Chancellor. It is said that when Bo Cai Chancellor defeated the enemy, he and his army organized the victory celebration in Trieu Khuc.  During that celebration, he ordered his soldiers to dress up like women and dance to encourage soldiers’ morale.  The dancers wore a small cylindrical drum (trống bồng) in front of their belly and danced and beat the drum. From then on, people have called the dance “trống bồng dance”.

 

Trống bồng dance dates back to the period of Bo Cai Chancellor. It is said that when Bo Cai Chancellor defeated the enemy, he and his army organized the victory celebration in Trieu Khuc.  During that celebration, he ordered his soldiers to dress up like women and dance to encourage soldiers’ morale.  The dancers wore a small cylindrical drum (trống bồng) in front of their belly and danced and beat the drum. From then on, people have called the dance “trống bồng dance”.

 

The love for heritage, the concern of the loss of the village’s ancient dance have never disappeared in the mind of Mr. Hong.  He took much effort to propagandize and persuade the villagers to participate in his dancing classes to conserve this special dance. Although over 70 years old, he accurately remembers the technical movement of the dance and is always ready to perform if requested.

Mr. Hong helps a member of the dance team to wear the kerchief.  The costumes of the dancers have remained unchanged for a thousand years. There are still the red kerchiefs, the black dress, and the cylindrical drum hanging in front of the belly.

At present, Mr. Hong has established and maintained a 30-member team.  The youngest is in grade 7 and the oldest is 40.

The trống bồng dance has been registered as one of the best and most famous ancient dances in Thang Long.  Despite the ups-and-downs of the time, artist Trieu Dinh Hong has remained his passion for the ancient dance.  He is always enthusiastic about teaching young people, always infatuated with the dance, even though he is old.

Hữu Nghị (Dantri)