The Art of Cheo: On the Way to World Fame

In 2023, Thai Binh Cheo art was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage. In 2024, the Cheo art dossier was submitted to UNESCO for consideration as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. In the current period, in order to continue to preserve and promote the value of traditional Cheo art, especially in the mass movement, Thai Binh province has implemented many solutions, including listening to the opinions of scientists and artisans who have been persistently attached to and researching Cheo inside and outside the province.

The activities of mass art clubs contribute to creating a vibrant cultural and spiritual life for all classes of people. In the photo: Performance of the Khuoc village Cheo club (Dong Hung).

Preserving Cheo from its close association with people's lives

In November 2023, for the first time in Thai Binh, an international scientific conference took place with the theme "Preserving and promoting the value of folk performing arts heritage and Cheo art in contemporary society". More than 70 presentations by domestic and international scholars at the conference analyzed and clarified the emergence, formation and development of Cheo art through historical periods of the nation, especially the current period when it is taking root and deeply rooted in the rural areas of Thai Binh in particular, the whole country in general and is a traditional cultural activity of the masses. At the end of September, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism continued to organize a scientific conference "Preserving and promoting the value of Cheo art in Thai Binh province" with nearly 20 presentations by many scholars.

As the chair of the workshop, a native of Thai Binh, Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long, former Director of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, with his research on folk culture, is concerned: Cheo needs to be preserved at all levels: state management agencies, professional art units, mass activities such as clubs, teams, groups and especially among the people. Heritage must live in the hearts of the people, if the people see it as necessary, they will participate, the people will protect it. Only with synchronous coordination in art preservation activities from professional agencies to all classes of people can heritage fully promote its value in contemporary life.

According to Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long, the Project on developing Cheo art in Thai Binh province in the period of 2022 - 2025, with a vision to 2030, and the Project on developing Cheo art in preschools, general education institutions, vocational education centers - continuing education in Thai Binh province in the period of 2022 - 2025, with a vision to 2030 are important foundations for Cheo art to be increasingly spread and promoted.

“I see that Thai Binh has many solutions and those solutions are sufficient and necessary for the current period, but we will always have to supplement, always innovate, always find more practical solutions because Cheo is an art form that comes from the people, associated with people's lives. Cheo art is relatively static, but life is moving, people's needs are increasingly changing, so we have to find the laws of Cheo, see the movement of life and meet the demands from both sides, both preserving the art and the needs of people's lives" - Associate Professor, Dr. Pham Quang Long emphasized.

Generations of artists from the rice fields preserve and promote the art of Cheo.

"There is a new story to translate into a game"

Thanks to the active participation of authorities at all levels and functional sectors, in recent years, the number of rowing clubs in the province has increased rapidly on the basis of inheriting traditional artistic values.

According to the inventory, there are 234 Cheo clubs operating in 8 districts and cities, in addition to more than 300 folk art and literature clubs with Cheo singing. Thai Binh province has set a specific goal for the period 2022 - 2025 that 100% of Cheo clubs in the province will be supported with expertise, additional equipment, props, and costumes to become typical models; by 2030, 100% of villages and residential groups in the province will have Cheo clubs. Implementing the province's project, every year, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism coordinates with localities to organize training courses and professional development for the core of grassroots art clubs; in 2023, for the first time, a contest was held to compose scripts for stage skits and Cheo songs to meet the needs of enriching art programs and improving the cultural and spiritual life of all classes of people.

Being attached to the art of Cheo in the mass movement, and also being the author of a work that won an award at the competition, Ms. Nguyen Hong Van, former Director of the Provincial Central Cultural House, shared: Since the institution of village cultural houses and residential groups has been increasingly improved, mass arts have more and more convenient places to meet, singing and performing Cheo has become an indispensable spiritual food, many grassroots clubs have staged Cheo plays, Cheo scenes to propagate the Party's policies and guidelines, the State's policies and laws, local regulations, and to commend good people and good deeds... very effectively. The old people taught "Only with a story can you translate a play", this is to emphasize the importance of scripts in art in general, Cheo art in particular. However, the biggest difficulty for Cheo clubs today is that the Cheo writing force is increasingly scarce. Meanwhile, training and teaching on how to write Cheo scripts for non-professional artists is almost non-existent. The authors who write Cheo for the mass movement in the province today mainly mature from self-study. Cheo festivals and performances mainly evaluate singing voice, performance style, costumes... To continue to improve the quality of Cheo Club activities, contributing to preserving and promoting heritage in contemporary life, it is hoped that there will soon be training programs for non-professional authors on how to write stage scripts, singing scenes, composing Cheo lyrics... At the same time, in addition to the artisans and artists who have been awarded titles by the state, non-professional artists also need to be honored and encouraged to continue to make efforts to contribute, pass on, and nurture Cheo nuclei for the future...

In the period when the art of Cheo is increasingly receiving practical attention as it is today, there are many children who have grown up from the mass movement and are gradually confident on their way to the professional stage. That raises the hope of a next generation of famous actors, actresses, clowns, male leads... originating from the rice fields of Thai Binh, who not only preserve and enrich the traditional art but also play an important role in extending the legacy in today's life.

Tu Anh

 

Source: https://baothaibinh.com.vn/tin-tuc/19/211704/nghe-thuat-cheo-tren-duong-ghi-danh-the-gioi