New vitality of Hanoi Ca Tru

VHO- From an alarming state of decline, the art of Ca Tru in Hanoi has now seen a significant increase in the number of clubs, singers, and performers, "rejuvenating" the next generation of practitioners and attracting a large audience... This shows the "reversal" of this art form after 14 years of being recognized by UNESCO.

  Ca Tru art in Hanoi has "turned the tide" after being recognized by UNESCO. Photo: ITN

Popular in community cultural life

Hanoi is one of the great cradles of Ca Tru. Since UNESCO recognized Ca Tru as an Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding (in 2009), the city has carried out many active activities to protect and gradually bring this heritage out of the state of “urgent protection”.

According to Dr. Pham Thi Lan Anh, Head of the Cultural Heritage Management Department (Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports ), compared to the time of UNESCO's recognition, Hanoi is now superior in the number of clubs as well as female singers and actors. From only a few struggling guilds, there are now dozens of Ca Tru groups operating regularly and many artists actively transmitting the art.

As in previous periods, the Ca Tru heritage is still held by artisans and artists who are passionate and dedicated to this art. The role of singers and instrumentalists is extremely important, because they are the ones who hold the profession, maintain the flame of Ca Tru to pass on to the next generation. Statistics from the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports show that the capital is the locality with the largest number of artisans who have been awarded the title of People's Artisan and Meritorious Artisan in the field of intangible cultural heritage by the state, including Ca Tru Performing Art. Through 3 times of awarding (2015, 2019, 2022), the number of Ca Tru artisans is 32 people (8 People's Artisans and 24 Meritorious Artisans). They are the important core in Ca Tru clubs in the city, contributing most actively to teaching the younger generation. Up to now, these clubs are still basically maintaining their activities, practicing their heritage regularly, continuously organizing teaching of singing, melodies, styles... Club members actively participate in community activities, performing and introducing Ca Tru to a wide audience at home and abroad.

A typical example is the Lo Khe Ca Tru Club with nearly 40 members, including 15 artists who can perform proficiently. From 2018 to now, the Club has organized dozens of activities (21 sessions in 2018, 19 sessions in 2019, 16 sessions in 2020, 9 sessions in 2021); more than 20 performances serving political tasks in Dong Anh district (5 sessions in 2018, 12 sessions in 2019, 4 sessions in 2020)...

In addition to learning the profession, singers and musicians also organize and build programs, create Ca Tru performance spaces for performances and promotion... Some individuals have made many positive contributions and special responsibilities to this heritage, including Meritorious Artist Bach Van, Head of Hanoi Ca Tru Club; Meritorious Artist Nguyen Van Khue, Head of Thai Ha Ca Tru Club; Meritorious Artist Pham Thi Hue, Head of Thang Long Ca Tru Club; Meritorious Artist Van Mai, Head of UNESCO Ca Tru Club Hanoi...

Regarding the next generation receiving the practice and teaching of Ca Tru, after the 2nd Hanoi Ca Tru Young Talent Festival in 2019, Prof. Dr. To Ngoc Thanh (former Chairman of the Vietnam Folk Arts Association) assessed: Hanoi has a new generation of factors with rich knowledge and ability to practice Ca Tru. The appearance of a team of young singers and musicians has shown experts and audiences the new vitality of this art form in contemporary life. That is a manifestation of the popularity of Ca Tru in the community's cultural flow. The 3rd Hanoi Ca Tru Festival in 2022 with the participation of 13 groups and clubs in Hanoi, with performances by 3 generations in a family, has shown that the activities to promote the teaching and practice of Ca Tru at the grassroots level are developing strongly.

In recent years, the regular performance venues of some Ca Tru clubs in Hanoi have become familiar places, attracting the public and tourists to enjoy such as Bich Cau Taoist Temple, Quan De Temple and Kim Ngan Communal House. Besides, there are also community performance venues at Cao Son Tea House in Tho Quan Alley (Kham Thien, Dong Da, in 2019-2020, 20 A Dao Nights were performed with many different themes); A Dao Night performance venue at But Tea House (Gia Lam); in the Spring Flower Festival at VinUni University Campus... This shows the expansion of Ca Tru's influence to a part of the people.

Persistently preserve and promote according to the roadmap

Although many achievements have been made, the actual survey of the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports shows that, because it only exists in memory and oral tradition, the loss of Ca Tru art is still a very high risk, for example, some words in the ancient songs are incorrect, if the teacher does not carefully correct them, they will be incorrect forever. The risk of loss occurs in the dzong and drum players because too few people study, and learning is also very difficult. The good artisans who pass on the profession have passed away or are old and weak...

On the other hand, those who directly follow the profession and practice the heritage are facing many human resource risks and are unlikely to be able to make a living from the profession. Although it has improved compared to the previous period, the majority of young people are not very interested, have little interest, or are interested in approaching and learning Ca Tru. Although the number of audiences who love Ca Tru has increased compared to the period 2014-2017, due to the profound and scholarly nature of this art, the number of people who understand, listen to, and like it, as with other performing arts, is still a modest number...

The establishment of many Ca Tru clubs in recent times is a positive sign. However, researchers are also concerned that if we only take the majority without thinking about teaching methods and techniques, this will continue to be a significant risk. Formal schools that train in art and music currently do not teach this subject, so it may create amateur clubs that lack professional standards. Therefore, in addition to the results achieved in propaganda, promoting heritage, honoring artisans, discovering and nurturing young talents, creating an environment for practice, training, exchange, and improving skills... in the coming years, according to the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports, the City will continue to implement Ca Tru conservation activities, identifying conservation as a long-term process and need to persevere on a roadmap. In particular, focusing on reviewing and systematizing related legal documents to create a basis for regular and synchronous management and direction; Propose policies, treatment regimes and honor artisans annually. At the same time, create favorable living environments such as performance venues, heritage practices, regular teaching at relic sites, festivals, etc.

At the same time, document documents, support funding for performance and teaching activities, and promote heritage values ​​in the community (introduce and perform Ca Tru at relic sites, and include it in the content of tours). Disseminate the risk of Ca Tru disappearing on mass media, organize training for different audiences to be able to listen and understand Ca Tru, and include Ca Tru in professional training and extracurricular activities of high schools and universities. Organize teaching, learning, and exchange of Ca Tru practice experiences to evaluate the quality of heritage practice of clubs, contributing to improving professional qualifications. For district, commune, and ward levels, it is necessary to create conditions for clubs to regularly meet and practice heritage activities in the area.

From the above efforts, art lovers expect that the value of Hanoi's Ca Tru intangible cultural heritage will be preserved and promoted, making an important contribution to the implementation of the application to transfer Ca Tru heritage from the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding to the list of Representative Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/di-san/suc-song-moi-cua-ca-tru-ha-noi-36070.html