Opera "Dam San Aspiration" attracts audiences in the capital

On the evening of April 13, 2025, the performance of the musical "Dam San Aspiration" by the Dak Lak Province Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe attracted a large audience in the capital to the Workers' Theater, 42 Trang Tien, Hanoi .

This performance night is part of the program to promote Central Highlands culture and arts in Hanoi organized by the Department of Culture and Sports of Dak Lak province in coordination with the Department of Culture and Sports of Hanoi.

The performance was attended by many delegates who are leaders and former leaders of central agencies, Hanoi and Dak Lak province: Mr. Dang Xuan Phuong - Secretary of the National Assembly Party Committee; People's Artist Nguyen Xuan Bac - Director of the Department of Performing Arts; Mr. Ha Minh Thang - Deputy Director of the Department of Performing Arts; Ms. Tran Thi Thu Dong - Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Literature and Arts; Mr. Tran Hong Tien - Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Dak Lak province; Ms. Le Thi Anh Mai - Deputy Director of the Department of Culture and Sports of Hanoi...

Located in the center of the Central Highlands, Dak Lak is home to 49 ethnic groups, the main local ethnic groups are: Ede, M'nong, Jarai... with extremely unique folk culture such as long house culture, matriarchal culture, festival culture, gong culture and epic culture... which have been collected and published by domestic and foreign researchers with many valuable works. Dak Lak is known for its epics about the development history of ancient Central Highlands society such as: Khing Ju, Xinh Nha..., in which the Dam San epic is especially worth mentioning.

The opera “Aspiration of Dam San” is based on the epic Dam San – a work collected by French ethnologist Xa-bat-chiê in Dak Lak and published in Ede-French bilingual in Paris in 1927, which has resonated in the folklore circles of Western countries. They evaluated the epic Dam San as comparable to famous European heroic works such as the Iliad, the Odyssey of Greece and the “Song of the Ro Lang” of the French. In Vietnamese literature, the epic Dam San is one of the typical works, a literary genre created from the rich, romantic and soaring imagination of the Ede people of the Central Highlands in ancient times. Through the work, readers and viewers meet heroic chieftains, the most prominent of which is the hero Dam San – who fought and subdued enemies to protect the village and tribe.

The opera "Aspiration of Dam San" is staged with the main content structure of 5 chapters. Chapter 1: Dam San and H'Nhi and their wedding. H'Nhi is the beautiful female chief of the most famous tribe in the region and she wants to capture Dam San as her husband. H'Nhi wants Dam San not only because he is a brave chief but also because of her grandfather's advice to maintain and nurture the traditional ties of the ancient Ede people. Chapter 2: Punishing Mtao Msei. The victory over Mtao Msei helped Dam San expand his village and become the most powerful chief in the region. Chapter 3: Trade and reliance. Because she wanted Dam San, the Sun Goddess made the village fall into darkness. Chapter 4: The place of light. Faced with the danger of the village being destroyed, Dam San overcame danger, determined to marry the Sun Goddess and finally touched the Goddess so that she gave Dam San the magical light for him to bring back to the village. Chapter 5: The sun rises over the vast plateau. Dam San has brought light back to the village, his aspiration is the fire that ignites love and vitality in the majestic Central Highlands mountains and forests.

Written on the basis of the epic Dam San, but in the script, "Khat vong Dam San" was written by screenwriter Hong Hoa with many new details to praise the beauty of human love in harmony with nature, especially praising the desire and romantic but also heroic beauty of the Ede people in the Central Highlands. That is: The desire of the Sun Goddess for Dam San, the danger of destruction of the village when it was immersed in darkness, the desire to protect the village of Dam San touched the Sun Goddess and then the Goddess gave him a magical light so that the land and sky would always be sweet and fruitful. Or H'Nhi (Dam San's wife) in the sacred moment of welcoming the light back to the village, the moment of meeting Dam San again, was also the moment he left forever. H'Nhi bit her hand hoping to save Dam San and from that hand, a red waterfall flowed, the waterfall of the Central Highlands mountains and forests, where the basalt land is forever majestic.

The musical “Khat vong Dam San” by composer Nguyen Cuong; Screenwriter, General Director: Hong Hoa; General Choreographer: People's Artist Y San Alio; Traditional orchestra: Musician Nguyen Cuong; International orchestra: Musician Minh Dao with the participation of actors from Dak Lak Province's Ethnic Song and Dance Troupe: Meritorious Artist Y Joel Knul; Y Ko Nie; H'Lueng Nie, Y Moan Hmok, Hoang Duyen...

The opera “Khat Vong Dam San” has been approved by the Dak Lak Provincial People’s Committee for implementation with the desire to create a great work in Vietnamese music, contributing to the restoration and preservation of Ede culture through music and visual stage. At the same time, the work is also expected to become a unique and special cultural tourism product of the Central Highlands.

Delegates and audiences presented flowers and took souvenir photos with the artists after the show.

It is known that before coming to the audience in Hanoi, the opera “Khát Vọng Dam Sàn” was also successfully performed at many cultural events in the Central Highlands provinces as well as in Ho Chi Minh City. According to the plan, the opera “Khát Vọng Dam Sàn” will continue to be performed in many localities to promote the unique cultural features of the Central Highlands to the people across the country.

PV

Source: https://sovhtt.hanoi.gov.vn/ca-kich-khat-vong-dam-san-thu-hut-khan-gia-thu-do/