Singing, singing to the rhythm of the slug, the beat, sometimes generous, sometimes earnest... For many years, that sound has been steadily rising above the sound of the waves in My Nghia village, My Dong ward, Phan Rang city. – Thap Cham, Ninh Thuan province. A couple of times a year, before each big festival of the people in the sea, fishermen temporarily put down their rowers and nets, gather in front of the village communal house, rush to dress, and enthusiastically practice. The dance carried from the time his father boarded a boat to cross the sea to set up a village, experienced many ups and downs, now continues to be preserved and transmitted by the villagers.
 |
|
Exciting fishing festival at the beginning of the year. |
1/ The My Nghia people used to call the song "Ba Chao". As the seniors here explain, ba, read the camp from the cypress, which means hundreds. Chaos means rowers. As in some other seas along the way from Quang to Binh Thuan, people call it ba tro, which means ba, is to hold the rowing hand firmly. Watching practice or when performing in each festival, it can be seen that any calling is conventional and reasonable. Because when performing the song, it is indispensable for the rowers. The cheering team can range from about 20 to 30 members, but the rowers, in performances called cheers, must always have an even number to ensure balance. The soldiers played the role of simulating a boat crossing the sea, while accompanying and singing along to the lead of the three generals, vividly recreating the space of fishermen working at sea. Each position of the characters in the performance of Ho Ba Trao harmoniously uses folk art forms such as tuong performance, recitation, speech, poetry, etc. to portray a life full of hardships, hardships and dangers. danger of water waves. Each layer of the dance is both suspenseful and compassionate in a solemn space of ritual but also has the very appearance and confiding of the fisherman profession.
2/ The team still mentioned the old captain of the cheering team Vo Khoi Vien. Just like other village fishermen, each song and dance has been absorbed into his blood and mind since he was a young boy who followed his father to the communal house to watch and sing, so that after that, he became one of the few people in the village. the so-called "young" people understand, know and perform the best cheers in the region.
In Mr. Vien's account, the bazao dance in his childhood memories is no different from that of seniors like Nguyen Hoa. Ba Chao, no matter how many years have passed, still retains that atmosphere. Mr. Vien often used to talk to the old people, who belonged to the generation of his father and uncle who sang and cheered in the village. As far as Mr. Hoa remembers, the age of the dance is longer than the age of the village. The origin of the song followed people on a boat from Quang to come here. Many people passed by, many ups and downs, and even though they changed more or less, they were never lost. Some time after we arrived at My Nghia, the captain of the riot squad Vo Khoi Nguyen left home. But every time there is a festival, the monk is still present, both making offerings, and also helping the team to perform, and show it to the next generations to sing.
 |
3/ We went to the house of Uncle Sau, a genuine fisherman, is also a general driver "number dzach" of the team that people in the village still call. Uncle Sau is the only person in the village who still retains the handwritten copy of the song that was left by his father. The manuscript is old, the handwriting is fading, but he still keeps it like a treasure. He said, he kept it, so that the next generation would know a cultural beauty of his hometown's coastal village. Notes can be lost, ink will fade over time. But what is transmitted by feeling, seeing and hearing, quietly continues like an endless flow.
The people of My Nghia village keep the tune and teach the dance in much of that way. The seasoned fishermen in the sea, few have time to sit and look at the words and learn to sing properly. Just listen to each other sing, learn to dance, old people teach young people, young people teach younger people, so long songs are like that, many classes are like that, sometimes generous, sometimes earnest, sometimes reciting Bay, sometimes like a conversation… that everyone knows by heart. Following the rhythm of the slug, the rhythm of the captain of the boat is steady and rhythmic, when the chorus echoes the whole.
4/ At the activities of the cheering team, it is easy to see next to the faces that have been imprinted with waves and waves, there are also young faces. The boys are only 10-11 years old, the age is still busy playing, but when they are called to practice, they are all excited, happy and proud to be a soldier, to be able to hold a rowing boat, to be supported. . The older brothers who practice more have mastered rowing and rituals. The younger boys are both watching and practicing, both interesting and thrilling. Mr. Vo Van Hung is now the captain of the village's cheering team, and also the teacher of the youth singing team, both knocking birth and correcting each boy's movements. The children's voices have not had the generosity of the voice that overcomes the waves and the wind, the excitement of overcoming the stormy sea, and the nostalgia for a series of days of turbulence. The boys have not been able to take on important positions such as total driver, general manager and total nose in the singing team, because of their young voices, their ability to perform, and their lack of experience. But the chorus of adolescence sounds both bustling and full of life for the future ahead.
Ho Ba Chao comes from the life of fishermen, simulating life through lyrics, music, and dance. Those who sing Ba Trao are also fishermen who are exposed to rain and sun, overcoming waves and wind, floating on the sea. This helps to bring the joy and enthusiasm of the people of the sea to be sacred and fully expressed through the lyrics and every melodious melody. Perhaps, only when living by the sea, sticking to the sea, facing the roar of the waves, the howling wind in the cold night, in the vast space of the sea, can we fully feel and appreciate the meaning of minerality. reaching but close, sacred but vibrant of the hymns.
Leading us through the village, Mr. Hung said that My Nghia village had changed a lot. In the old village, the creek ran close to the house, boats came back and forth. Over time, the ancient land gradually accreted, the village gradually retreated in, now a few kilometers from the sea. But the villagers still keep the sea craft handed down from their fathers. In the communal courtyard, the rehearsals continued, even into the night. Waiting for the spring day, Nghinh Ong ceremony to come, these rowing pairs, wine glasses, fishing rods will again perform the best singing performances in the hands of fishermen. It is a song of gratitude to the god Nam Hai for helping the boat through the wind and storm, a song of thanksgiving to the tolerant mother's sea. It is also the song of boatmates sharing their life by the sea, hoping to return home full and peaceful.
