For the first time, people in Nha Trang City could see live performances of Bai Choi performed by the artists and actors from many provinces in the central region. The distinct music styles presented in the performances partly helped to promote the values of this cultural heritage.
For the first time, people in Nha Trang City could see live performances of Bai Choi performed by the artists and actors from many provinces in the central region. The distinct music styles presented in the performances partly helped to promote the values of this cultural heritage.
Diverse characteristics
Khanh Hoa Province’s Bai Choi Art Open Festival 2022 took place at 2-4 Square (Nha Trang City) from May 1 to 2. The festival brought together around 300 artists and actors of 11 Bai Choi delegations in and outside Khanh Hoa, including Khanh Hoa Provincial Traditional Art Theater, the provincial Culture-Cinema Center, Nha Trang City Bai Choi Art Group, Ninh Hoa Town Ancient Bai Choi Club, and Region 5 Bai Choi Club, Quang Binh Province, Huong Thuy Town (Thua Thien Hue Province), Hoi An City (Quang Nam Province), Quang Nam Provincial Social Insurance, Binh Dinh Province, and Phu Yen Province. The festival left a good impression on the people loving the traditional art form.
|
The delegations introduced the typical characteristics of Bai Choi of their localities to the audience in Nha Trang. Quang Binh Province incorporated local folk verses into their repertoire. Quang Nam Provincial Social Insurance impressed the audience with the coordination between Bai Choi art form and propaganda on voluntary social insurance policy. The second Bai Choi delegation of Quang Nam Province, Hoi An City delegation, interested the audience with Bai Choi game played in many sessions. Each audience was given a card with a name on it. The card holder won the session when the name of his or her card matched with the name sung by the game leaders (called Hieu); the winner was given a cup of wine and a prize. The performances of Hoi An City Bai Choi delegation partly showed why Bai Choi game has become an popular tourism product in Hoi An Ancient Town. The Bai Choi artists and actors of Binh Dinh Province, Phu Yen Province and the host Khanh Hoa also presented the instinct beauties of Bai Choi art form of each locality. The performances of the delegations showed the regional diversity of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity recognized by UNESCO.
Need more Bai Choi playgrounds
According to Le Van Hoa, deputy director of Khanh Hoa Provincial Department of Culture and Sport, after Bai Choi was honored by UNESCO, the provinces where Bai Choi is practiced have to implement activities to protect and promote the values of this art form. The Bai Choi Art Open Festival of Khanh Hoa was an action to concretize the commitment to this cultural heritage with UNESCO. The active response of Bai Choi delegations in Khanh Hoa and other five provinces in the central region proved the need to organize playgrounds for those who are preserving the art of Bai Choi in the region.
After the ceremony held in Quy Nhon City to receive a certificate from UNESCO recognizing Bai Choi as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity four years ago, there has almost been no occasions or activities for Bai Choi artists and actors in the central region to meet and exchange with each other. Therefore, the artists and actors were happy to participate in the Bai Choi Art Open Festival of Khanh Hoa. “Through this festival, we can introduce the Bai Choi verses of our homeland to the people from other places. We hope that more and more Bai Choi festivals and performances will be organized to promote, introduce and popularize this cultural heritage,” said artist Hoang Viet of Binh Dinh delegation.
Artist Nguyen Thi Thu Uyen of Ninh Hoa Town Ancient Bai Choi Club considered the festival as an opportunity to learn about Bai Choi performance skills of the artists and actors in the province and from other localities in order to improve her skills.
Giang Dinh
Translated by H.N
