9x girl immersed in Khmer dance

It is her deep love for traditional dance that has helped Thach Thi Ni Ta, a Khmer girl born in 1997, tirelessly pursue her journey of inspiring young people...

Thach Thi Ni Ta teaches dance to Khmer children in Tan My commune, Tra On district, Vinh Long province. (Source: VNA)

Thach Thi Ni Ta was born and raised in a rural area of Tan My commune (Tra On district, Vinh Long province) - where many Khmer people live. From a young age, every time she saw older brothers and sisters, actors from art troupes singing and dancing, Ni Ta really liked it and practiced at home. By the 8th grade, Ni Ta participated in dance activities at school and in gifted classes, from which she gained more motivation and confidence to dance and sing whenever there were local festivals and parties.

After graduating from high school, while many of her peers chose majors in Economics, Agriculture, Law, Pedagogy, etc., Ni Ta was determined to pass the entrance exam to the Department of Traditional Dance at Tra Vinh University. For a long time, Ni Ta practiced every movement of her hands, feet, back, etc., and learned to understand and feel the music in order to convey the “soul” through each dance and gesture. Not only dancing, Ni Ta also knows how to use traditional musical instruments and other forms of Khmer theater.

Leaving the university, Ni Ta "fell in love" with the Vinh Long Provincial Cultural and Artistic Center, participating in many cultural and artistic activities serving ethnic minorities during traditional holidays and New Year of the Khmer people and becoming one of the core dancers of the Khmer Ethnic Dance and Song Group.

Thach Thi Ni Ta practices dancing with members of the Khmer Ethnic Dance and Song Group of the Vinh Long Provincial Cultural and Artistic Center. (Source: VNA)

During her time working at the Center, Ni Ta realized that fewer and fewer Khmer ethnic children knew about traditional dance. From there, she boldly proposed opening dance classes in districts with a large Khmer population such as Tra On, Tam Binh, Binh Minh, and Vung Liem.

Coming to the dance class, Ni Ta not only guides each movement and analyzes each gesture for the children, but also encourages and creates conditions for them to participate in many competitions and performances to both hone their skills and increase their passion and motivation to pursue this subject.

Since the free tutoring classes for ethnic minority children in 2018, through her training, hundreds of children have become dancers at district and provincial cultural centers.

Ni Ta shared that she herself "had the opportunity to study and master many dances, so she passed them on to the children". Moreover, teaching is also "contributing to preserving the identity of our nation. After the dance classes, the children participate in performances and competitions with high achievements, which makes me even more proud".

Commenting on Ni Ta, Mr. Le Hoang Nam, Deputy Director of the Vinh Long Provincial Culture and Arts Center, highly appreciated the contribution of the 9x "dancing girl" to the Center in implementing the National Target Program on preserving national identity that the Provincial Party Committee has concretized into a program for the Center to implement. In particular, the Center has established 2 mass art teams of the Khmer ethnic people.

In the coming time, the Center will continue to create conditions for Ni Ta to attend dance classes to pass on her passion and nurture artistic talents to young Khmer people, organize playgrounds and performances for this force to participate in demonstrating their abilities, thereby discovering and nurturing, contributing to training young forces, building cultural and artistic movements in localities where Khmer people live.

Some awards of Thach Thi Ni Ta:

Gold medal for the performance "Traditional wedding ceremony of Khmer people" in the National Mobile Propaganda Contest "The whole country joins hands to build new rural areas" in Ba Ria-Vung Tau (November 2020).

Bronze medal for the dance performance "Love of the Land" at the "Young Talents of Students of Cultural and Artistic Training Institutions Nationwide 2020" Contest in Thua Thien Hue (December 2020).

Certificate of Merit from the Chairman of Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee for individuals with achievements in winning prizes in provincial, regional and national competitions in 2020 (March 2021).

Prize B: Performance of excerpts from festivals and traditional cultural activities at the 8th Southern Khmer Culture - Sports - Tourism Festival, 2022 in Soc Trang.

1 A prize, 2 B prizes, 1 C prize at the Khmer People's Mass Arts Festival...

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