VietNamNet Bridge – Dù kê is a popular form of folk art created by the Khmer in the Southwestern region of Vietnam. All performances praise the good and condemn the bad.

In the large yard in front of an ornamented Khmer pagoda in Trà Vinh Province, a crowd gathers to watch dancers, dressed in beautiful costumes, performing the dù kê – a traditional art form of singing and dancing.

"From such performances, Buddhist and popular beliefs are preserved and developed," says Thạch Chân, a former deputy director of the Trà Vinh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism who has written many dù kê scripts.

Dù kê performances take place in the pagoda yard during the New Year holidays as a heart warming tale of the Khmer community.

The art has been listed among the 12 intangible elements of cultural heritage nominated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to UNESCO for the 2012-2016 period.

Sang Sết, a member of the Vietnam Stage Artists Association, says the art originated from Cambodia’s royal art of dancing, but has been influenced by the Cải lương (Renovated Theatre), as well as the art of singing by the Hoa ethnic group in the region.

The Khmer elders living in Tiểu Cần District, Trà Vinh Province, recall that in the 1920s there lived a novice named Kê who loved singing. After enjoying a performance, he often invited friends to the backyard of the pagoda to imitate but in his own scope for creativity. By word of mouth, local Khmer and Vietnamese people kept coming to enjoy Kê dancing.

“In Vietnamese, Kê dancing is called vũ kê, but it has gradually become dù kê in local dialect,” Sết explains.  

The art has been further developed by Kru Cô, a Khmer man in the province. In 1920, he established a dù kê troupe named Nhật Nguyệt Quang for both performing and training purposes.

Kim Suông, an artist of the Sóc Trăng Khmer Art Troupe, says the art consists of singing, dancing, and poem readings in the folk customs.

“In the old days,” she says, “before starting a performance the troupe had to worship God Tà and ask for permission. Sacrificial offerings were laid on the altar, divided into two equal parts: the left for the founder, and the right for Buddha”.

They included a chicken, two coconuts, three eggs, fresh chicken blood, a pig head, and cigarettes for the founder of the art, and cakes, fruits, and tea for Buddha. After preparing for the ritual, everyone gathered and sang a song together in praise of the founder, and invited a monk to ask God’s blessing.”

Up to now, a version of the ritual remains in practice with just a boiled chicken and one egg in the offering, Suông affirms.

Actors take turns burning incense and praying, and the troupe leader anoints their bodies with aromatic oil given by the monk like a touch of magic to protect them from fatigue and pull in a big audience.

The ritual is an embodiment of Brahmanism and Buddhism that the Khmer always respect with deep faith. It includes the characteristics of religious actions and the existence of supernatural forces, gods, evils, and ancestors,” Suông says.  

The troupe often plays excerpts from their folk story Reamker that has a strong influence on Khmer culture, or a selection of different extracts due to the story’s length.

There are three main groups of characters: the Prince’s group who represent the heroic spirit, talent and virtue; the Evil’s group who represent the bad existing in nature and society; and the Monkey’s group who represent courage, loyalty, intelligence, and strategy.

The appointment of actors for rehearsal depends on the troupe’s playwright.

"It is not easy. It requires senior members to design a very detailed training plan. For one night’s performance, the troupe must practise for half a month so they can remember all lyrics and dancing steps to the tune of traditional instruments," she says.

All performances are in praise of the good and beautiful things in life and critical of the forces of evil, but always with a happy ending. Audiences who do not understand the Khmer language can still comprehend the story thanks to the professional skills of actors.

In the 1920s, the art developed in leaps and bounds with many troupes taking shape in Tra Vinh.

After the 1930s, however, because of fierce wars, many Khmer residents of the Mekong Delta were forced to evacuate and establish new troupes in Cambodia.

In 1960, when revolutionary bases were set up in Trà Vinh, the Ánh Bình Minh Troupe made its debut with strong support from the revolutionaries to stimulate mass uprisings and many artists laid down their life for the cause.

The troupe has recently won four golds and one silver for participating in five national art performance competitions.

Thạch Chân, former deputy director of the Tra Vinh Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism and head of the troupe, has done a lot to make performances more relevant to a modern society of today.

Source: VOV