Thang Long’s ancient dances, a treasured intangible culture of Hanoi, once faced the threat of being lost. However, thanks to efforts made by the Hanoi Association of Dance Artists (HADA), many ancient dances have been restored and revived.

Years ago, people thought that Hanoi did not have a rich tradition of dancing arts. But things have changed since field trips made by HADA members in 2010 to attend traditional festivals around the capital city.

Through the visits, dance researchers and artists found that Hanoi possesses a rich treasure of dances that a few people know about. They also found that most of the ancient dances have maintained strong attachment to traditional festivals or spiritual activities of the local communities.

The discovery led to the launch of a project on restoring and restaging Thang Long-Hanoi’s ancient dances in 2006. Under the project, HADA members travelled to many suburban areas of Hanoi in search of ancient dances that were modified or lost.

After 15 years of research, the cultural experts have completed a collection of 59 ancient dances. It is the first time the city has systematically recorded such a large number of ancient dances.

Based on descriptions of local artisans, the experts had to systemize collected information and grasp the purpose of the dance in order to restage it into specific movements in a space where the dance used to be performed.

The work has been done not only for research purpose but also to provide documents for local residents to restore and preserve their traditional dances.

The collection includes popular dances such as the ‘Con Di Danh Bong’ (a drum performance in which men distinguish themselves as women) and ‘Chay Co’ (flag dance) from Trieu Khuc village festival, Thanh Tri district; ‘Giao Long’ (a dance featuring the battle against a giant snake) from Le Mat village, Long Bien district; as well as ‘Luc Cung’ (a six floral lamp worship offering) and ‘Giai Oan Cat Ket’ (a requiem to pray for peace and happiness) from Dao Xuyen pagoda, Long Bien district.

According to Doctor Dang Chi Thong, the ancient dances provide a deeper understanding of cultural life in communities around Thang Long citadel in the past. The dances often criticise the evil, praise the good and encourage people to pay respect and tribute to ancestors.

Meritorious Artist Hoang Ha, who has made huge contributions to collecting and restoring ancient dances, said that aside from worshipping gods, the Buddha and national contributors, ancient dances also consolidate the connection between people in the community as well as the bond between human and nature.

The association has staged performances of the ancient dances in order to introduce them to the public and hosted symposiums to seek ways to preserve and uphold the treasured values of the dances.

It also plans to release a VCD with English subtitles and a book on Thang Long’s ancient dances.

There are dozens of ancient dances that have not been fully researched and recorded, such as the ‘Phuong’ (phoenix) dance at Thanh Chua pagoda’s festival in Cau Giay district and the ‘Coi Yem Mo’ (a dance recalling the moment when female soldiers take off armour after war to return to normal life and to find the right men for a happy family).

Since the practice of ancient dance is strongly attached to the cultural and spiritual life of communities, the development or the loss of the dances is based on the communities.

While many dances are waiting for to be uncovered and documented, folklore artists who have a deep understanding of the dances are getting older. Many of them pass away with their knowledge on their homeland’s traditional dances before handing it down to researchers.

Another difficulty facing the researchers is that local authorities and residents themselves are not yet fully aware of the value of the traditional dances in their localities. Dancers have not yet received enough enthusiastic support from them while trying to preserve the dances.

The HADA has called for more actions to raise public awareness of the ancient dances, encouraging them to preserve and uphold the heritage. Local residents are owners of the ancient dances, and researchers and dancers can only play a role as supporters in the safeguarding of the heritage.

People’s Artist Ung Duy Thinh affirmed that as ancient dances convey educational messages of calling on people to pursue the true and the good, the preservation and promotion of Hanoi’s ancient dances not only aim to safeguard the country’s art of dance but also targets to maintain human dignity in today’s life.

Nhan Dan