ENTERTAINING STUDENTS: The programme called Âm Nhạc Dân Tộc- Niềm Tin Và Khát Vọng (Vietnamese Folk Music- Belief and Ambition) launched before 200 students from the Nguyễn Khuyễn Secondary School in District 10 last weekend. More than 50 shows will be offered free for students in HCM City and Thủ Đức City. Photo courtesy of the organiser

HCM CITY — A group of traditional artists are working to offer a new art programme to preserve traditional Vietnamese music and theatre in secondary schools in HCM City.

Theatre stars Kim Tiểu Long, Võ Minh Lâm and younger colleagues will visit and perform cải lương (reformed opera) and tuồng (classical drama) -- traditional genres of Vietnamese theatre which began a hundred years ago, for students from 15 schools from February to December.

Vietnamese folk songs and dances will be also featured.

The first show of the programme called Âm Nhạc Dân Tộc- Niềm Tin Và Khát Vọng (Vietnamese Folk Music- Belief and Ambition) opened at the Nguyễn Khuyễn Secondary School in District 10 last weekend.

Meritorious Artist and cải lương actor Long and young talents Cao Mỹ Châu and Vũ Thu Thảo from the HCM City-based Trần Hữu Trang Cải Lương Theatre performed a series of extracts from famous cải lương plays on Vietnamese history.

They also performed folk music and dances.

Traditional instruments used in Vietnamese theatre were also introduced.

Their performance attracted more than 200 students.

TRADITIONAL CULTURE: Meritorious Artist and cải lương actor Kim Tiểu Long in HCM City is participating in a new art programme for secondary students to preserve traditional Vietnamese music and theatre. Photo courtesy of the organiser. Photo courtesy of the organiser

“We hope our students will learn more and love traditional music and theatre after watching live performances at school,” said Nguyễn Khuyến Scondary School’s principal Võ Thị Hồng Lan. “Through theatre, students will improve their knowledge of Vietnamese history and culture.”

“Our special art programme at schools encourages students to love traditional art, especially cải lương, a symbolic form of Vietnamese theatre that originated and expanded in southern Việt Nam, particularly in the Cửu Long (Mekong) River Delta provinces,” said actor Long, owner of the Kim Tiểu Long Entertainment Limited Company.

He is also a member of the programme’s organising board.

Long has performed in 120 TV shows and videos featuring cải lương, and has worked to expand Vietnamese theatre to young audiences.

He won four top prizes at national traditional theatre contests and festivals launched by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Việt Nam Theatre Association.

Long’s YouTube channel features cải lương portraying southern people and their culture. — VNS