“The Next Episode” - Writing a New Chapter for Traditional Art

With the desire to create an attractive artistic playground - a place that not only connects generations of stage artists with young audiences but also brings profound cultural experiences to the community, the project "Ha Hoi" has been operated, as a way to bridge the contemporary and traditional.

Artists interact with the audience at the event "Talkshow Finale".

One afternoon in mid-July, in the open space of COMPLEX 01 (Hanoi) - a place "revived" from an old factory, "Ha Hoi Talkshow" with the theme "When tradition touches a new chapter" took place, recreating the lively beats of the art of Tuong - a hundreds-year-old scholarly theater form. Not only can "touch" Tuong through the space displaying collections of hats, clothes, and ancient Tuong props, art lovers can also "live" with the breath of Tuong through the excerpt "Ho Nguyet Co turns into a fox" performed by People's Artist Xuan Quy and Meritorious Artist Bich Tan. In particular, the open and enthusiastic talk by former Deputy Director of the Vietnam Tuong Theater, Ta Van Sop - who has been involved in Tuong for the past 45 years, helped the audience gain a lot of interesting knowledge, from the content promoting the ideology of loyalty to the country, respect for morality to the rules, principles, stylized methods, conventions, symbols of Tuong and the unique beauty expressed through the system of dialogue, music , fine arts, singing, dancing, makeup, performance...

The most interesting thing is that whenever artist Ta Van Sop talks, the two artists Xuan Quy and Bich Tan are ready to "demonstrate" it, sometimes swinging their whips to show the scene of a galloping horse, sometimes performing the movements of "lia", "be"... combined with the Tuong drum, giving the audience vivid visual images. Not only creating a space for dialogue connecting experts-artists-public, "Ha Hoi Talkshow" also suggests new approaches so that traditional art does not lose pace with the flow of the times.

Surprisingly, this special event is just the beginning of a series of activities in a long-term project called “Ha hoi”, conceived and implemented by a group of young people who share a love for national culture. Head of the organizing committee Bui Yen Linh said that in traditional theater, “ha hoi” means the next act, the next part of a play or story. With this name, the project hopes to follow in the footsteps of our ancestors on the journey of preserving and reviving traditional artistic heritages.

With the support of a team of experienced experts in the fields of culture, art and creativity, “Ha Hoi” focuses on exploiting and researching traditional performing arts, from tuong, cheo, cai luong, hat xam, ca tru…, to lesser-known local genres such as Xuan Pha play, Ba Trao singing, Oi Loi puppetry…; at the same time, promoting the development of experiential and interactive art spaces, helping traditional arts to prolong their vitality and be able to “adapt” to modern audiences, especially the younger generation.

Yen Linh said that this year, “Ha Hoi” will mark the first season focusing on the art of Tuong - the oldest theatrical form in Vietnam. Following “Ha Hoi Talkshow” is a series of activities carried out on multiple online and offline platforms to convey the quintessence of art and bring contemporary perspectives on Tuong in today's context. The most recent is “Ha Hoi Tour” with the theme “The Flow of Tuong” which will take place on August 16, 2025, bringing tourists who love Tuong to Bac Ninh, to enjoy an excerpt of the play “On Dinh chops Ta - Kim Lan over the pass” on a live stage staged by the Organizing Committee. The project follows “Ha Hoi Podcast” with the theme “The Dream of Tuong”, expected to last for 3 months (from September to December 2025), recounting professional memories, behind-the-scenes stories... of artists and experts in audio and video podcast formats. And concluding with the premiere of the documentary "Ha Hoi - Mong Ky Man Tuong", contributing to spreading love and inspiration for Tuong through the language of cinema.

At the opening event of “Ha Hoi Talkshow”, the first footage was officially released, bringing emotional slices of the meeting between the quintessence of traditional art and the perspective of young people. Le Yen Linh said that the film is a product that the crew has specially invested in, and will take the audience along the path of young artist Thanh Phuong (Vietnam Tuong Theater) - a talented DJ in modern life, and also a talented actress who is striving to become a complete Tuong artist in terms of “elevation-beauty-virtue-spirit-spirit”. The film revolves around Thanh Phuong's training process to play the role of Khuong Linh Ta - a character in the classic Tuong excerpt "On Dinh chop Ta - Kim Lan qua deo" - an extremely challenging role for a female artist.

Clearly, today's young generation is not turning their backs but is making efforts to "give wings" to traditional arts to flourish. Particularly with Tuong, recently, there have been consecutive projects that have caused a stir, typically the dance play "Doi Dien Vo Vo Cui" - a collaboration between the Vietnam Tuong Theater, the Interdisciplinary Cultural and Artistic Project Len Ngan and choreographer Tu Hoang, opening up a sophisticated combination between Tuong and contemporary dance; or the event "Ai Long Dia 3: Tuong meets Techno", bringing about a surprising encounter between Tuong and electronic music. Mr. Pham Ngoc Tuan, former Director of the Vietnam Tuong Theater, commented that these are positive signals showing that traditional stage arts are not only preserved, but also become a source of creative inspiration for young people. Projects like "Ha Hoi" are effective ways to ignite interest, love, and responsibility in preserving the cultural values of our ancestors.

Article and photos: TRANG ANH

Source: https://nhandan.vn/ha-hoi-viet-tiep-chuong-moi-cho-nghe-thuat-truyen-thong-post895074.html