When Saint Giong rode his horse out into the world

From Vietnamese Bamboo to Dang Thuy Tram's Diary

In less than a week, Vietnam received two good news at the same time. In the early morning of September 21 (Vietnam time), singer Duc Phuc spectacularly won the championship of the international music competition Intervision 2025 held in Russia with a performance that was evaluated by Russian newspapers as "a brilliant performance". Before that, on September 14, Vietnamese dancesport also won the bronze medal for the first time at the World Championships Showdance Latin at the competition organized by the World Dancesport Federation (WDSF) in the US with a dance by the pair of champions Phan Hien - Thu Huong.

Both of these two performances that caused a stir at the two international competitions were inspired by famous Vietnamese literary works, filled with national pride in Vietnamese values and spirit.

Two months before Intervision 2025 took place, the song Phu Dong Thien Vuong was composed by musician Ho Hoai Anh under an "order" from Duc Phuc and the crew, with the theme: the image of Saint Giong. "Immediately, in my head suddenly echoed the opening verses of the poem Tre Viet Nam by poet Nguyen Duy: "Green bamboo/ Since when has it been green/ The story of the past... there was a green bamboo bank/ Skinny trunk, fragile leaves/ But how could it become a rampart, oh bamboo?" . Although that was only the intro to the song, it played a very important role in inspiring and suggesting me to write the next lyrics and I wrote it very quickly, in just one day", musician Ho Hoai Anh shared with Thanh Nien .

Khi Thánh Gióng cưỡi ngựa ra thế giới- Ảnh 1. — Singer Duc Phuc won the Intervision 2025 international music competition with the performance *Phu Dong Thien Vuong.*

Khi Thánh Gióng cưỡi ngựa ra thế giới- Ảnh 2. — Singer Duc Phuc won the Intervision 2025 international music competition with the performance *Phu Dong Thien Vuong.*

"The image of the Vietnamese bamboo tree in the poem of the same name by poet Nguyen Duy is a beautiful symbol of the Vietnamese people with their tenacious, upright, and resilient vitality... And in the song Phu Dong Thien Vuong , it is also a symbol of Vietnamese youth, with the positive energy they receive from tradition and the breath of the times," the song's author added.

The first inspiration for coach Khanh Thi, who choreographed Phan Hien - Thu Huong's dance, was the echoes of the A50 and A80 celebrations, and the idea of creating a performance about a love story during wartime started from there. But the final choice of the female nurse and the wounded soldier also involved the choice of performance costumes.

"To inspire us, Coach Khanh Thi mentioned the image of Doctor Dang Thuy Tram in the diary of the same name and the film Don't Burn by director Dang Nhat Minh. A month before the competition took place, I also happened to read the third Diary of martyr Dang Thuy Tram, which had just been published. The love story of martyr Dang Thuy Tram, full of struggles and twists, created strong emotions for me when performing the test through each inner expression on her face and in each dance move," dancesport champion Dang Thu Huong shared with Thanh Nien .

3 minutes 30 seconds for stories from Vietnam

Both Duc Phuc's performance and Phan Hien - Thu Huong's dance were scheduled to last 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

"To tell a complete story about Vietnam in such a short amount of time with dancesport and a competition that requires the integration of 3 dances is not easy. But that does not mean it is impossible when we really want to tell that story to the world ," said coach Khanh Thi, who choreographed the performance of Phan Hien - Thu Huong (with French coach Frederic Mosa).

Khi Thánh Gióng cưỡi ngựa ra thế giới- Ảnh 3. — Bronze medal-winning performance at the world championship of dancesport masters Phan Hien - Thu Huong

"When I saw the bronze medal-winning dance performance of the world championship pair Phan Hien - Thu Huong, I was extremely surprised. I didn't think they would "dare" to tell such a story, with such expressions at a competition taking place in the US. Although the book Dang Thuy Tram's Diary has been translated into 19 languages and published in 23 countries, the moment I saw "Ms. Thuy" on the dancesport stage, I still believe that messages that transcend language barriers through audio-visual elements always impact today's viewers faster, stronger and have a much wider reach," Ms. Dang Kim Tram (sister of martyr Dang Thuy Tram, editor of the book Dang Thuy Tram's Diary ) told Thanh Nien .

Vietnamese identity and the breath of the times are two factors that go hand in hand for Vietnamese music to reach the world, musician Ho Hoai Anh emphasized. "It is necessary to balance these two factors, because if it is too trendy, it will become bland, and if it is too original, it will be difficult to reach the masses," he said.

Prime Minister sends congratulatory letter to singer Duc Phuc

Upon receiving the news that singer Duc Phuc - Vietnam's representative - had won the championship at the Intervision 2025 international music competition, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh sent a congratulatory letter.

In the letter, the Prime Minister emphasized that this achievement is not only a great honor for singer Duc Phuc personally but also a common pride of contemporary music and Vietnamese culture.

"We hope and believe that this victory at Intervision 2025 will be a driving force for singer Duc Phuc in particular and the Vietnamese artists in general to continue to promote their talents, constantly create, make positive contributions to the country's music industry and promote Vietnamese culture to the world, while creating a strong source of inspiration for Vietnamese youth to continue to contribute and create, contributing the quintessence of Vietnam to the flow of human civilization," quoted from the Prime Minister's letter.

Mai Ha

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/khi-thanh-giong-cuoi-ngua-ra-the-gioi-185250922212631111.htm