Part 1: "Old drunkard" loves rowing

In the "rice and rowing land" of Thai Binh , the art of rowing is not only preserved by art troupes and professional artists, but is also preserved and developed by farmer "artists" and nearly 3,000 mass art clubs.

People's Artist Bui Van Ro performs with artists and actors from the Khuoc village Cheo club.

The title “old drunkard” has been associated with People’s Artist Bui Van Ro since he was 18 years old. With the role of a drunkard in the ancient cheo excerpt “Old drunkard boy” and winning a gold medal at the Thai Binh province mass art performance at the age of 18, now at the age of 72, he still devotes all his passion to cheo.

The keeper of the village's "treasure"

Khuoc village, Phong Chau commune (Dong Hung) currently has about 150 artisans and actors regularly practicing and performing Cheo, including artisan Bui Van Ro, a People's Artist and 3 Meritorious Artists (NNUT). Every time we visit Khuoc village, we have the opportunity to see People's Artist Bui Van Ro perform at the village's Cheo theater. Performances are sometimes in winter, sometimes in summer, sometimes early, sometimes late, but the enthusiasm of the old man over 70 years old always makes the audience admire. There are excerpts where he plays the role of a drunken old man; there are excerpts where he is a disciplined, calm old farmer who loves his village and his country. His lyrics and performance are the soul of ancient Cheo, bringing a space imbued with traditional culture...

Passionate about performing and passing on his craft to the village's descendants through oral tradition, for over 50 years, his Cheo singing voice is still passionate, his hands are still soft following the Cheo melody. With an excited face and high spirit, People's Artist Bui Van Ro confided: I got involved with Cheo from the teachings of my uncle, artist Bui Van Ca, and the artists and amateur actors of Khuoc village. The passion for Cheo art has been in my blood without me knowing. Cheo Khuoc has many unique melodies that cannot be found anywhere else such as: Van co tien, Duong truong thu khong, Tinh thu ha vi, He dom do... The unique melodies of Cheo Khuoc cannot be found anywhere else because of the lyrics and singing style. There are melodies that are similar but the way Khuoc Cheo artists break the rhythm and play the drums is completely different. When tourists come to Khuoc village, they often see ancient Cheo plays such as "Tu Thuc and his wife", "The old fisherman's wife", "Quan Am Thi Kinh", "Luu Binh Duong Le"... Especially the Cheo play "Tong Tran Cuc Hoa", this is a play in which Khuoc village combined about 20 ancient Cheo melodies...

People's Artist Bui Van Ro worries that the biggest difficulty of Khuoc village today is that many artisans are no longer around. The "ancient capital" of the art of Cheo in Khuoc village is being preserved by the elderly artisans. Therefore, despite his old age and limited health, he and artisans such as Mai Van Hong, Vu Thi Thao, Mai Thi Be still enthusiastically perform, pass on the craft, and personally instruct the children and grandchildren in the village. Everyone hopes that with the dedication of old age and the enthusiasm of youth, the "ancient capital" of the village will live forever...

Struggling to multiply love for the art of Cheo

People's Artist Bui Van Ro was the head of the Khuoc village Cheo Club for more than 20 years. Not only famous for his old roles in Cheo, he was also particularly successful with his clown roles. His roles were often the main roles. Like many generations of Cheo artists in Khuoc village, he still persevered every day on his old bicycle, rain or shine, traveling everywhere to teach Cheo to people of all ages. In addition to many noble awards, in 2019 he was honored to be awarded the title of Meritorious Artist by the State. In 2022, he was awarded the title of People's Artist in the field of folk performing arts.

People's Artist Bui Van Ro worries: Many artisans of Khuoc village have been attached to the art of Cheo for almost their entire lives. Despite being at a "rare" age, everyone is still persistently on the journey of teaching the art of Cheo to the children in the village and those who wish to learn about Cheo. In addition, in other localities in the province, there are also a number of artisans with many achievements and great contributions in teaching and preserving the art of Cheo but have not been recognized as Meritorious Artists or People's Artists. People's Artist Bui Van Ro believes that, in order for the movement of practicing and performing Cheo to become more vibrant, it is necessary to consider awarding the title of Meritorious Artists or People's Artists to members of other Cheo teams and groups in the province. He hopes that the recognition of the functional sectors will contribute to multiplying the love and responsibility of each person in preserving traditional arts.

In modern cultural life, many traditional art forms are facing the risk of being lost. If not preserved in time, the ancient capital of our ancestors may be lost. People's Artist Bui Van Ro believes that with the attention and support of authorities at all levels and functional sectors in preserving traditional Cheo art, Thai Binh will forever be the land of Cheo as it has been for generations.