Nguyen Thi Loc Huyen is not just a shining star of Vietnam's TuongTheatre. The young actress willingly carries on her slender shouldersthe responsibility to preserve and popularize the art form, said to beone of the oldest theatre arts in the country.
Shecame to tuong by chance, but she is here to stay. She has said she isdetermined to devote her life to maintaining the national art which hasbeen proposed for UNESCO recognition as an intangible culture heritageof humanity.
Huyen's acting, singing and dancingprowess can be seen as the Vietnam Tuong Theatre performs the fullversion of classical drama "Ho Nguyet Co hoa cao" (Ho Nguyet Co turnsinto a fox) to usher in the coming Lunar New Year. Rehearsals are onfor the rare event, but a date has not been decided.
Huyen will play Ho Nguyet Co, a character successfully donned earlierby well-known People's Artists Dam Lien and Minh Gai.
Huyen is not fazed about filling such distinguished shoes. "I'm veryhappy and honoured to act as Ho Nguyet Co. It's a very good opportunityto improve my skills. To be able to portray the character's innerfeelings while singing, dancing and performing some martial arts is noteasy. It has been considered the most heavy and complicated tuongcharacter to play.
"Many of my colleagues havewarned me about fulfilling this task because predecessors havecomplained of severe fatigue and other difficulties while playing HoNguyet Co even in extracts."
Asked why she thoughtshe could do justice to the full version when others have found evenshorter versions difficult, Huyen said she loves the role and has spent alot of time thinking about how to practice and how to improve itsdialogues.
People's Artist Gia Khoan said he is very pleased with Huyen's preparations.
How she became a leading light of tuong is an interesting story.Huyen was born in Dan Phuong district in former Ha Tay province (nowpart of Hanoi). She loved singing since she was a little girl and wonprizes at many contests. One day, artist Van Tho from the VietnamTuong Theatre (VNTT) arrived in Dan Phuong to perform. Hearing Huyen'svoice, Tho told her that she had the potential to sing tuong.
"When the VNTT recruits actors and actresses, I will ask you to jointhe auditions," Tho told her. True to his word, Tho called Huyen ayear later, but she was preparing to get herself enrolled in theTeachers Training College in Hanoi.
Huyen's father,knowing well his daughter's desire to pursue the classical art,travelled to Hanoi and asked his daughter to attend the auditions.
She was selected to work with the VNTT, and later, passed an exam tostudy at the College of Stage and Cinematography in Hanoi. During herfour years at the school, Huyen was able to play several tuongcharacters including Dat Ky in "Dat Ky doi hon" (Dat Ky changed hersoul) and Han To Mai in "Nu tuong Dao Tam Xuan" (Female General Dao TamXuan).
Huyen said she loved playing these roles verymuch, particularly under guidance of renowned tuong artists like DamLien, Man Thu and Minh Gai. She even won a gold medal for playing HoNguyet Co at a national competition for young theatrical talents tenyears ago.
"We recognised then this young woman's talent and potential for making it big in tuong," said artist Gia Khoan.
Huyen said the feelings of that day remained fresh in her soul."Such happy moments have always come along in my career, and they haveencouraged and motivated me a lot to improve my skills and take on allroles no matter how difficult or how less appreciated… I say thisbecause in these times, very few people in the north seem concernedabout this art."
The actress reiterated that despiteall the difficulties, her dedication and devotion to the art willremain because she wants to preserve it for younger generations toenjoy. She has signed contracts with several other art troupes to singand dance to earn a living and to "feed" her tuong career.
She won a gold medal for playing Thi Hen in the play "Ngheu So OcHen", and a silver medal in the 2011 National Tuong Contest in thecentral coastal province of Binh Dinh for her portrayal of Phan PhuongCo in the old tuong play "Son Hau".
Earlier thisyear, in the same province, she won a gold medal for playing PrincessDong Xuan in the play, Nguyen Tri Phuong, at a national tuongcompetition.
"I'm very lucky and happy to have won such prestigious prizes on the national stage," she said.
Artist Gia Khoan said not all artists can win such honours, thatHuyen's tuong talents are a God-given gift. But Huyen said she is notsatisfied with just acting, she plans to become a tuong researcher andcompiler. "If an artist from the younger generation like me does notact now, who will maintain this art. I would feel very guilty if I donot do my best to preserve our national cultural treasure."
Filled with symbolism
Tuong has its origins in the 12th century and was a popular art formin the 17th century. In 1950, it was recognised as Hat boi (classicaldrama). The tuong play combines dialogue, dances, songs and music thatare highly stylized and imbued with symbolism. It invites spectators touse a great deal of imagination when watching the play, using verylittle stage props, allowing for a wider, diverse interpretation.
It has strict norms on speaking, singing and dancing styles, and isdivided into three broad categories - plays that deal with royalty,social and modern themes.
Some of the most populartuong plays are "Son Hau", "Dao Phi Phung", "Tam nu Do Vuong", "Trung NuVuong" and "Ngheu So Oc Hen".-VNA
Shecame to tuong by chance, but she is here to stay. She has said she isdetermined to devote her life to maintaining the national art which hasbeen proposed for UNESCO recognition as an intangible culture heritageof humanity.
Huyen's acting, singing and dancingprowess can be seen as the Vietnam Tuong Theatre performs the fullversion of classical drama "Ho Nguyet Co hoa cao" (Ho Nguyet Co turnsinto a fox) to usher in the coming Lunar New Year. Rehearsals are onfor the rare event, but a date has not been decided.
Huyen will play Ho Nguyet Co, a character successfully donned earlierby well-known People's Artists Dam Lien and Minh Gai.
Huyen is not fazed about filling such distinguished shoes. "I'm veryhappy and honoured to act as Ho Nguyet Co. It's a very good opportunityto improve my skills. To be able to portray the character's innerfeelings while singing, dancing and performing some martial arts is noteasy. It has been considered the most heavy and complicated tuongcharacter to play.
"Many of my colleagues havewarned me about fulfilling this task because predecessors havecomplained of severe fatigue and other difficulties while playing HoNguyet Co even in extracts."
Asked why she thoughtshe could do justice to the full version when others have found evenshorter versions difficult, Huyen said she loves the role and has spent alot of time thinking about how to practice and how to improve itsdialogues.
People's Artist Gia Khoan said he is very pleased with Huyen's preparations.
How she became a leading light of tuong is an interesting story.Huyen was born in Dan Phuong district in former Ha Tay province (nowpart of Hanoi). She loved singing since she was a little girl and wonprizes at many contests. One day, artist Van Tho from the VietnamTuong Theatre (VNTT) arrived in Dan Phuong to perform. Hearing Huyen'svoice, Tho told her that she had the potential to sing tuong.
"When the VNTT recruits actors and actresses, I will ask you to jointhe auditions," Tho told her. True to his word, Tho called Huyen ayear later, but she was preparing to get herself enrolled in theTeachers Training College in Hanoi.
Huyen's father,knowing well his daughter's desire to pursue the classical art,travelled to Hanoi and asked his daughter to attend the auditions.
She was selected to work with the VNTT, and later, passed an exam tostudy at the College of Stage and Cinematography in Hanoi. During herfour years at the school, Huyen was able to play several tuongcharacters including Dat Ky in "Dat Ky doi hon" (Dat Ky changed hersoul) and Han To Mai in "Nu tuong Dao Tam Xuan" (Female General Dao TamXuan).
Huyen said she loved playing these roles verymuch, particularly under guidance of renowned tuong artists like DamLien, Man Thu and Minh Gai. She even won a gold medal for playing HoNguyet Co at a national competition for young theatrical talents tenyears ago.
"We recognised then this young woman's talent and potential for making it big in tuong," said artist Gia Khoan.
Huyen said the feelings of that day remained fresh in her soul."Such happy moments have always come along in my career, and they haveencouraged and motivated me a lot to improve my skills and take on allroles no matter how difficult or how less appreciated… I say thisbecause in these times, very few people in the north seem concernedabout this art."
The actress reiterated that despiteall the difficulties, her dedication and devotion to the art willremain because she wants to preserve it for younger generations toenjoy. She has signed contracts with several other art troupes to singand dance to earn a living and to "feed" her tuong career.
She won a gold medal for playing Thi Hen in the play "Ngheu So OcHen", and a silver medal in the 2011 National Tuong Contest in thecentral coastal province of Binh Dinh for her portrayal of Phan PhuongCo in the old tuong play "Son Hau".
Earlier thisyear, in the same province, she won a gold medal for playing PrincessDong Xuan in the play, Nguyen Tri Phuong, at a national tuongcompetition.
"I'm very lucky and happy to have won such prestigious prizes on the national stage," she said.
Artist Gia Khoan said not all artists can win such honours, thatHuyen's tuong talents are a God-given gift. But Huyen said she is notsatisfied with just acting, she plans to become a tuong researcher andcompiler. "If an artist from the younger generation like me does notact now, who will maintain this art. I would feel very guilty if I donot do my best to preserve our national cultural treasure."
Filled with symbolism
Tuong has its origins in the 12th century and was a popular art formin the 17th century. In 1950, it was recognised as Hat boi (classicaldrama). The tuong play combines dialogue, dances, songs and music thatare highly stylized and imbued with symbolism. It invites spectators touse a great deal of imagination when watching the play, using verylittle stage props, allowing for a wider, diverse interpretation.
It has strict norms on speaking, singing and dancing styles, and isdivided into three broad categories - plays that deal with royalty,social and modern themes.
Some of the most populartuong plays are "Son Hau", "Dao Phi Phung", "Tam nu Do Vuong", "Trung NuVuong" and "Ngheu So Oc Hen".-VNA
