Echoes on the lake's waves

Việt Nam•13/08/2023

07:46, 13/08/2023

Lien Son town (Lak district) recently held its first ever Folk Art Festival in 2023 with the theme "Towards the Central Highlands".

The festival featured 12 amateur art troupes from communes and police units in the district, with over 300 performers and artists. 66 performances encompassing various genres including solo singing, duets, group singing, dance with accompaniment, dance illustration, "independent dance," instrumental ensembles, skits, short plays, and costume shows showcased the cultural diversity of a district that has a prominent place on the world tourism map. Although only 4 out of 12 groups developed themes for the program (My Homeland's Great Forest - Bong Krang; For the Peace of the Villages - District Police; The Beauty of the Central Highlands - Buon Tria; The Renewed Central Highlands - Buon Triet), the content and genres of songs included a wide range from revolutionary songs ("Uncle Ho, a boundless love", "Singing the Marching Song Forever", "Uncle Ho's Gratitude to the People of the Central Highlands", "The Sacred Words of Uncle Ho", "We Are Police Officers", "The Unforgettable Song"...) to M'nong folk songs (Tơ Tông melody, Unity of the Villages), Chèo melodies (Building New Rural Areas), ancient Then songs (Butterfly Guiding the Way), modern Then songs (Moonlight Guiding Uncle Ho's Way), and Tinh lute music...

Although there weren't many outstanding voices, the female solo performance of "The Unforgettable Song" from Lien Son town, and especially the male vocalist from Yang Tao commune with the song "Passionate Highlands," impressed the audience not only with their beautiful voices but also with their expressive singing and subtle interpretation of the piece. The "skillful" appearance of the young rock singer H'Han Yang Hi (Dak Phoi commune) delighted both the judges and the audience, promising a talented new generation in Lak. However, many beautiful voices sang off-key (out of tune, off-key, out of tune), or in the wrong pitch (too high or too low for their vocal range); the duets and group performances, despite their best efforts in staging, mostly lacked backing vocals, and some even lacked call-and-response singing, making the performances less appealing and lacking in diverse performance styles.

Performance at the festival. Photo: Thanh Binh

The performances were the fewest, perhaps due to the tight rehearsal and performance schedule, resulting in only four pieces. The "Girl Sharpening Bamboo Stakes" ensemble by the District Police was quite well-coordinated, but unfortunately, it only showcased the organ's technique, while the ching kram's performance was merely accompaniment, failing to live up to the "orchestra" genre. The solo performance of the five-note Lới lơ two-stringed fiddle by Buôn Triết commune brought the clear, fresh sounds of the Northern Vietnamese countryside, contributing its own unique voice to the highland harmony. The melodious bamboo flute of Buôn Tría in "Girl Sharpening Bamboo Stakes" unfortunately couldn't keep up with the rhythm of the accompaniment. The group of five women playing Du Đing (đing tut), despite their best efforts, still had discordant sounds and rhythms. Another regrettable aspect was the scarcity of folk melodies and musical instruments made of bamboo, wood, and stone xylophones of the Êđê and M'nông ethnic groups, which are incredibly diverse...

In contrast, the abundant sounds of gong ching ensembles – six knobless chings (M'nong Gar), three knobbed gongs (M'nong Rlam), jho chings (Bih), and knah chings (Ede) – demonstrate the enduring strength of gong ching culture, powerfully present in the villages of Lak. Seven out of twelve participating groups showcased their best gong ching ensembles. The performance by the jho ching ensemble (Ea R'bin commune) was charming, lively, and unique, a stark contrast to the leisurely rhythm of the Bih group's jho ching ensemble from Buon Trap (Krong Ana district). Particularly noteworthy was the female drummer who kept the rhythm for the entire ensemble – a highly skilled and feminine artist, earning immense admiration from the audience. The gong and ching ensembles of Dak Lieng, Nam Ka, Yang Tao, Lien Son, and Buon Triet, whether performed by the elderly or middle-aged, still give their all for the "flag and colors" of their ethnic groups and localities. The competition is both enthusiastic and skillful.

The most prominent genre in the delegations' programs was dance. As mentioned above, there were performances of all kinds: Dances based on instrumental music were chosen by the units in Lak District to suit the themes and were quite successfully staged, such as the Gong Dance (Yang Tao), the Central Highlands Gong Festival (Buon Tria), the Bamboo Pole Dance (Dak Lieng), the Central Highlands Gong Dance (Krong No), Afternoon by the Lake (Ea R'bin)...; dances accompanying songs such as "Thanks to Uncle Ho for the People of the Central Highlands" (Buon Tria), "The Vibrant and Vast Dak Lak Plateau" (District Police)...

The organizing committee awarded the first prize for the overall team performance to Yang Tao commune. Photo: Thanh Binh.

A highlight of this festival was the highly successful art form: the fashion and traditional costume performances. Eight out of twelve delegations presented this, all with great creativity. These included simple traditional costumes of 5-7 ethnic groups living in the area (Dak Phoi, Buon Triet, Buon Tria); charming traditional and modernized brocade fashion for adults and children (Bong Krang); and M'nong costumes accompanied by the graceful movements of the gong ensemble (Lien Son)... The graceful Hmong girls with their pink scarves and umbrellas from Dak Nue commune were particularly noteworthy. Most notably, the fashion show from Yang Tao commune showcased not only traditional costumes using familiar village pottery and gourds, but also incredibly charming outfits made from brocade combined with tissue paper, newspaper, and plastic garbage bags to convey their message: "Protecting the Colors of the Central Highlands."

Even more wonderful is the reappearance of the original M'nong dresses of the Rlâm and Gar M'nong groups, which were thought to have been lost for decades. Their form and patterns are distinctly different from the dresses of the Preh M'nong group (Dak Nong province), which have been improved in color and have long been considered the traditional M'nong women's attire. This is welcome news not only for the M'nong people in Dak Lak but also for the cultural sector. Hopefully, this reappearance will prompt Lak district to implement concrete measures to preserve and promote the authentic weaving, patterns, and costumes of the M'nong people, spreading them throughout the province.

The sounds of traditional drums, gongs, ching knah instruments, M'nong folk songs, and even the melodies of Chèo opera, Then songs, and the sounds of the Tinh and Ching Kram stringed instruments spread far across the surface of Lake Lak. These sounds carry the joy of unity and the value of precious cultural heritage, carried by the sun and wind to every waterfront near and far…

H'Linh Niê

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