Living on the wooden floor, gathering around a blazing fire, when tipsy with intoxication, the melodious music and singing of the Ba Na people resound, full of charm and infatuation...
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| Artists performing with traditional Bana instruments. |
Recently, Thai Hoc yard of the special national relic site Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam attracted many tourists to enjoy Ba Na music - a meaningful activity organized by the British Council in collaboration with the Vietnam National Institute of Culture and Arts.
In the musical space of the Ba Na people, the most typical artists of Mo Hra village, Kong Long Khong commune, Kbang district, Gia Lai province bring love stories, scenes of hard but exciting working life with bright hopes for a prosperous and fulfilling life.
Music in the head, dance in the body
In the daily routine, wooden floors, fire stoves and wine baskets are indispensable for the Ba Na people. When they are drunk, they start playing the K'ni, singing and swaying to the music, and when there is no one left to drink with, they lie there all night long with the sounds still echoing.
Ba Na music often expresses the love of couples, and in love, one night together is too short, so the song "The sky is bright too quickly" was born with the music of the Ting Ning (or in common language, the Goong) performed by artist Dinh Van Minh.
The Ba Na people follow a matriarchal system, so the love lyrics in the songs are often actively expressed by Ba Na girls to the boys in the village.
Starting from the working life, the song "Khai thien muong rai" talks about the difficulties in the first season, the budding love at this time urges the girl to express her feelings: "At this time you go to the fields to work, cut down trees to build huts, I feel very sorry for you".
And when she really liked him, the girl sang a song expressing her desire to marry him: "I like you, you are very good, let's get together, let's love each other to take care of our children in the future, so that the family can be complete."
Then when the boy accepted his love, the girl continued singing with a smile on her lips.
During those sweet melodies of love, the Ba Na people rhythmically follow their unique Xoang dance of the Central Highlands. One step forward, two steps back, when the fire flares up and the hands clasp, forming a large circle, the Ba Na people blend together, regardless of age, gender.
It is unclear where it started and when it was formed, but the music and dance have permeated the blood of Ba Na boys and girls.
All we know is that the Ba Na people pass down the story of their grandparents getting married “the husband was 45 years old, the wife was 32 years old, gave birth to a child 7 years ago and then composed that song, then this man passed it on to that woman, that woman passed it on to the paternal grandmother, maternal grandmother, father, son, brother, younger brother, when the younger brother was weak, then passed it on to the grandson…”. There are songs that are up to 100 years old, passed down from generation to generation.
During a performance in Hanoi, artist Dinh Van Minh shared that every time he was invited by the village elders to sit together, he would play the music, they would sing, and then he would play along: "I always keep it in my head and then practice the whole song again, when I have the chance I will bring it out."
Whether performing inside or outside the village, these melodies remain the same in his mind: “The music is in my head, the dance is in my body, no matter the location, there is no difference.”
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| Artist Dinh Thi Menh and artist Dinh Van Minh perform the song "Exploiting Muong Ray". |
“To keep it, you must let it live”
Each melody, lyrics with rustic, traditional instruments such as the K'ni, Ting Ning, bamboo tubes... are preserved by the Ba Na people from generation to generation in a very special way.
They are not recorded in musical notes on paper, but through daily communication and living activities of the village such as worshiping occasions, festivals, new rice festivals...
The children grew up surrounded by the melodious sounds of dances, songs, musical instruments, and gongs, and began to imitate, dance, and sing along. The sounds of music and dance gradually permeated their bodies, and when they reached adulthood, they knew how to perform on their own.
The Ba Na people live in a rather hidden location in the district and live in village communities, with little contact with outside society. Therefore, their cultural values and customs remain almost intact, unaffected by foreign cultures and the development of current information technology.
More importantly, the Ba Na people cherish and are conscious of preserving their traditional values.
Not only preserving, the Ba Na people also constantly promote those cultural values by composing new songs, encouraging people to go to school and then pass them on to their children and grandchildren, enriching and enriching the cultural treasure for the community and society. For example, the Song about Brocade is sung during the daily brocade weaving activities of the Ba Na girls; the Traffic Song encourages people to obey traffic laws.
Sisters, children and grandchildren passed on to each other the songs "Thanks to the Party and the State", "Celebrating the Liberation of the Country", "Celebrating the Party and Celebrating Spring" and many other songs to celebrate the country's great festivals.
Musical instruments have also been improved to express different genres of music and songs. According to Minh, the Ting Ning used to have only one string, but now it can have up to 13 or 18 strings.
The local government in Kbang district currently has many activities to support people in preserving and developing current cultural values.
Mr. Dinh Dinh Chi, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Kbang District, Gia Lai Province, shared: “When organizing programs and events, local authorities always include the gong singing and dancing activities of the Ba Na people. The first 30 minutes of the local art program are given priority for Ba Na people to perform.
We also include Ba Na music in extracurricular activities at school. Currently, almost all villagers know how to play gongs, and there are 24 recognized artisans in the village.”
Sharing more about the village development plan of the Ba Na ethnic group, Mr. Chi said that community tourism is currently a hot topic in the area. With available resources and favorable tourism exploitation conditions, Mo Hra village has great potential for expanding tourism development in the future.
The story of preserving heritage and bringing heritage to performance is really of great interest to the village elders and artisans. They sit together to choose suitable performances.
Mr. Chi emphasized: “The most important thing to preserve Ba Na folk songs with strong national influences is the performance environment. To preserve it, we must let it live, make it closely connected to life, from spiritual life to daily activities, eating and living... we must create songs closely connected to life, rituals, and festivals so that the young generation can inherit, live in that environment and let Ba Na music permeate their bodies naturally.”
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Odessa from Ukraine could not hide his joy at being one of the people experiencing this culture: “This is an interesting experience and the second time I have been conquered by this traditional melody. I learned that Bana music is performed in village temples. The place where they live and the connection between spirituality and nature of this traditional music are very interesting.”
In the final song, the audience at the Temple of Literature was invited to the stage to join the experience. They held hands and danced the Xoang Tay Nguyen dance rhythmically to the music, without distinction of age, skin color, or ethnicity. All blended into the melodious tune of the Tinh Ning and K'ni instruments...
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