Showing posts with label traditional. Show all posts
Showing posts with label traditional. Show all posts

Thursday, January 20, 2011

An elegant symbol of Vietnamese culture

An elegant symbol of Vietnamese culture

The image of the Ao dai (Vietnam’s traditional long dress) is often
associated with images of the country and is a beautiful symbol of
Vietnamese culture.


Bich Hue Boivineau, wife of the
French Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, shared her feelings on
Vietnam’s traditional long dress, on the eve of the first ever
“non-border Ao dai festival” scheduled to be held in Ho Chi Minh City on
January 21.


She said that she and her husband and
two children agreed to take part in the festival because it is a
charitable cultural event that aims to raise funds for 70 poor
households in Phong Dien district in the central province of Thua
Thien-Hue. The funds will also be used to buy a boat for pupils in Quang
Trach district in the central province of Quang Binh to go to school.


“One interesting thing when we wear the Ao dai is
that it highlights the strong points and hides the weak points of our
body,” she said, adding that women in Ao dai look graceful, shapely and
elegant.


She said she owned a big collection of Vietnam’s traditional long dresses and wears them on both festive and normal days.


When presenting the Ao dai to international friends, we will take a
variety of dresses to portray the non-borders characteristic of the
Vietnamese traditional dress, Bich Hue Boivineau noted.


The festival, organised by the Vietnam Long Dress Association, will
draw the participation of representatives from the consulate generals of
ten countries, including the US, France, Russia, Germany, Cuba, Japan,
the Republic of Korea, India, Indonesia and Laos as well as five foreign
organisations and businesses operating in Vietnam./.

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Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Traditional music of capital to be released

A DVD set featuring the traditional music of Hanoi will be released
later this month in honour of the capital's millennium in October.


The set, which is the first of its kind, includes
four DVDs featuring the history of Hanoi 's traditional music,
including songs and music works in different styles performed by veteran
and young singers and musicians. Most of them work for the city's
traditional theatres.


The DVD-producer Music
Publishing House invested a great deal of money and human resources to
record and film the artists on stage and in daily life.


The film's directors, People's Artist Tran Van Thuy and Nguyen Si
Chung, perfected the film with beautiful scenes and music.


Veteran artists Thanh Ngoan, Xuan Hach, Minh Anh and The Dan, four of
the region's leading traditional singers and music players, perform at
their best in the film.


"Our artists'
performances and talks provide audiences with the knowledge and beauty
of traditional music and instruments," said Chung, the film's director.


He also added that through the DVD audiences
could improve their knowledge of the different forms of music and could
sing traditional tunes.


The film will be
available in bookstores to celebrate 1,000 years of Hanoi . The film
highlights Ca Tru, Hat Xam and Canh Hong Tu, three popular genres of
music in the royal citadel of Thang Long (former name of Hanoi ).


Ca Tru (also known as Hat A Dao or ceremonial
singing), an ancient genre of chamber music, features female vocalists
who sing while playing music on bamboo tablets.


This was associated with a geisha-like form of entertainment.


The music was inscribed on the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage
in need of Urgent Safeguarding in 2009 by the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).


Hat Xam (blind buskers music) is a type of folk music dating from the Tran Dynasty in the 14th century.


It was generally performed by blind buskers who travelled around the
citadel to earn their living by singing in common places like markets.


Xam artists often play Dan Bau (monochord) or Dan
Nhi (two-chord fiddle) to accompany the song themselves. The most
famous surviving artisan of the art form is Ha Thi Cau, a Hanoi
resident.


Canh Hong Tu is the kind of music used in religious ceremonies which dates back thousands of years ago in Thang Long./.

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