A desire to elevate puppetry to a higher level.

Throughout his career dedicated to preserving, developing, and elevating the art of puppetry, People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung has experienced a 26-year journey filled with many memorable moments.

People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung. (Photo: Viet Cuong)

People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung is a familiar name to those who love Vietnamese puppetry. Currently, in addition to his role as Director of the Vietnam Puppet Theatre, he is also a talented puppeteer and a mentor to many actors and artists in the puppetry industry.

Inheriting the family legacy

Born and raised in a family with an artistic tradition, Nguyen Tien Dung was exposed to various forms of theatrical art, especially water puppetry, from an early age.

Growing up in the Theater Workers' Housing Complex, his childhood memories are intertwined with images of puppets, folk performances, and the joyful laughter of his peers. This was his early experience, helping him understand and love the art of puppetry. From this practical experience, the movements and skills of puppet manipulation gradually became ingrained in him.

However, People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung's career did not begin with puppetry. He joined the Army Drama Theatre as a stage actor and achieved considerable success.

By chance, the young man returned to puppetry and became an actor at the Vietnam Puppet Theatre in 1998. With his passion and diligence for puppetry, he quickly mastered this art form.

Besides self-improvement and training, his family background in puppetry gave him an advantage, allowing him to easily grasp the knowledge and skills of water puppetry. He quickly adapted to and mastered various puppet styles and developed his own unique performance methods.

In 2007, he studied directing, and from a puppeteer, he gradually established himself as a director, bringing unique creativity and new vitality to this traditional art form.

Preserving the essence of the nation.

In his journey to preserve this traditional art form, People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung has contributed to bringing puppetry to almost every corner of Vietnam, from major cities to remote areas.

In particular, the Vietnam Puppet Theatre has preserved and promoted 16 typical traditional puppet shows from various traditional craft villages. At the same time, the artists have also created and improved these performances with more advanced techniques, adapting them to the tastes of modern audiences while still maintaining national identity. Thanks to this, the art of water puppetry is developing sustainably and has become a source of pride for Vietnamese culture.

Besides the advantages, the theater faces many challenges, from operating costs and performance conditions to the current trend of young people showing less interest in traditional art.

Recalling the difficult period of the Covid-19 pandemic, People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung said: "For two years, the theater had to freeze all performance and rehearsal activities, and its existence and development almost came to a standstill. The question for my colleagues and the director was, 'What will happen next? How will we recover?' However, having overcome that period, the artists of the theater continued to produce new works, hone their skills, and constantly strive to create and preserve national art."

It can be seen that the 26-year journey of People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung in the art of puppetry is like a performance with a full range of emotions: joy, anger, love, and sorrow. Along that path, he has faced countless challenges, but with the love and ambition poured into each puppet, he remains steadfast in his journey to preserve Vietnamese traditional art.

Some overseas tours of People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung with the Vietnam Puppet Theatre. (Photo: Provided by the artist)

The ambition to take puppetry to the international stage.

Water puppetry remains unique because it originates from daily working life and has been elevated to become a unique performing art form of Vietnam. It is also a source of pride for the artists as they showcase their national identity internationally.

People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung shared: "When I go to other countries, from the atmosphere to the way people receive and express their admiration after each performance… it's truly wonderful."

He stated that the Vietnam Water Puppet Theatre has toured more than 70 countries and territories, organizing hundreds of performances abroad and attracting thousands of viewers each night.

On the other hand, foreign tourists, whenever they come to Vietnam in general and Hanoi in particular, always try to witness and enjoy this quintessential Vietnamese performing art firsthand.

When asked about memorable experiences while touring abroad, People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung shared: "The most memorable times were in Croatia and France. When we were unpacking the props to set up the performance, we discovered that the water tank was missing. How can you perform water puppetry without a water tank?"

That very night, the entire organizing committee had to meet and devise a plan to find a water tank. That same night, the team used iron swords, wooden swords… or any usable materials to construct it. By the next day, we had created a water tank that met the standards for the artists to perform in, without affecting the schedule of the artistic program.”

In recent years, water puppetry has reached a point of saturation. People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung believes that: "Even the most delicious dish becomes boring if you eat it many times... Therefore, we need to re-cook this dish in a new way to better suit the tastes of the international audience."

According to him, to create a more perfect image for Vietnamese water puppetry in the context of current global integration, the requirement for those working in the profession is to breathe contemporary life into the art of puppetry; to be more versatile in control and performance techniques; to be more elaborate in exploring the form and anatomy of the puppet mechanism; and to be more subtle and sensitive in conveying traditional music .

That process is certainly a long journey ahead for water puppetry artists like People's Artist Nguyen Tien Dung. They desperately need young people with passion and ambition for traditional art in general and puppetry in particular, to become the next generation, continuing to take Vietnamese puppetry further to the international stage.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/nghe-si-nhan-dan-nguyen-tien-dung-khat-khao-nang-tam-mua-roi-294690.html