Hoang Bong and his passion for rowing

With over 70 years of dedication to the art of Cheo, composing, directing, and acting in hundreds of plays, Cheo has been as closely associated with Meritorious Artist Hoang Bong as the breath of life. That is why, even at the age of 82, the artist can still release a smooth Cheo melody, composing many good and touching Cheo plays.

Hoang Bong and his passion for rowing At the age of 82, Meritorious Artist Hoang Bong is still diligently composing cheo. Photo: Van Anh

The small house of artist Hoang Bong is nestled in alley number 8, Do Hanh street, Dong Son ward (Thanh Hoa city). When we visited, the artist was still working hard to compose a new cheo excerpt for the ward's art troupe.

Meritorious Artist Hoang Bong came to Cheo when he was young, although no one in his family followed this traditional art form. At that time, the young Hoang Bong often watched Cheo performances with his friends at Dai An village yard (Hoang Son commune, Hoang Hoa). The deep, soulful Cheo melodies left a deep impression on the young man. After each time watching, Hoang Bong memorized the melodies, lyrics and performed them again, some of which he remembered when listening to on the radio. Over time, with the guidance of many people, Hoang Bong mastered most of the Cheo melodies, some singing and performing techniques such as pronunciation, enunciation, vibrato, rhythm, basic dancing according to the Cheo character's personality and the melodies in ancient Cheo plays. Along with his handsome appearance, Hoang Bong became a "hard" factor in the village's art troupe, a favorite actor of the masses.

When he grew up, following everyone's advice, Hoang Bong went to a teacher training college with the intention of becoming a teacher, but his love for Cheo kept clinging to him, forcing him to drop out to follow his true passion. Just like that, Cheo and he went hand in hand on every path and followed him even in his military career. With his natural artistic talent, youthful enthusiasm and directing ability, Hoang Bong was always trusted and elected as the leader of the unit's art troupe, developing the mass art movement. In particular, in 1965, when he re-enlisted in Regiment 57, Division 304 stationed in Bim Son town, as the leader of the art troupe, Hoang Bong and his comrade Le Soai co-wrote many cheo plays such as "Chiec hat nan", "Dan luoi", "Tro ve dao", the play "Nhung nguoi tren dao"... Cheo plays not only expressed deep love for the Fatherland but also portrayed the image of a loyal, indomitable soldier, ready to sacrifice for the independence and freedom of the nation, demonstrating the indomitable will of Uncle Ho's soldiers. Besides, Hoang Bong's acting made the plays even more emotional and impressive. He was chosen many times to perform for delegations and high-ranking leaders.

With each role, artist Hoang Bong has his own way of "entering" to properly express the character while still carrying his own unique traits. To play the role of Thuy Kieu in the cheo scene "Thuy Kieu sells herself to redeem her father", he had to research the character, memorize hundreds of Kieu verses, and at the same time learn about the career and life of the great poet Nguyen Du. Playing the role of Thach Sanh in the cheo play "Thach Sanh", he expressed his freedom and courage in every line of the song, gesture and strong gaze... But according to Hoang Bong, the role he likes best, and also the role of his life, is Nguyen Viet Xuan in the cheo play of the same name. To this day, the artist still remembers every lyric and scene of the play. While recounting the play, the artist sang melodies and in the emotional scenes we noticed tears welling up in his eyes. “There are many emotional scenes such as the scene where hero Nguyen Viet Xuan says goodbye to his wife to return to the battlefield, the scene when Nguyen Viet Xuan sacrifices himself... The emotions at that time were so real that the actors playing the extras, colleagues and the audience all cried. This role of mine left a deep impression on the audience, some people still remember it after many years. This is the happiest thing for an actor because in a life of art, having roles that are deeply engraved in the hearts of the audience is the greatest success”, Meritorious Artist Hoang Bong shared.

Throughout his military career, Cheo has always been with the artist as a close friend. The artist and his “friend” held guns and sang loudly, destroying enemies and bringing joy to their comrades.

In 1980, due to family circumstances, he was transferred by his superiors to work at the Thanh Hoa Provincial Military Command, as a political commissar and leader of the unit's art troupe. He continued to contribute and develop the unit's art movement for 10 years before retiring.

After retiring, the artist had time to research, collect and revive many ancient Cheo melodies that were gradually fading away. Up to now, he can sing about 100 ancient Cheo melodies and adapted Cheo melodies. In particular, he continues to compose many Cheo plays associated with major holidays of the province and the country such as: the Cheo scene "Revisiting Hac Thanh" performed on the occasion of Thanh Hoa City celebrating 200 years as Thanh Hoa provincial capital (1804-2004), 10 years of Thanh Hoa City's establishment (1994-2004). The Cheo play "Love of Nam Ngan People" won First Prize at the Provincial Mass Arts Festival. The cheo play “The Joy of Welcoming Uncle Ho” on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of Uncle Ho’s first visit to Thanh Hoa (February 20, 1947 - February 20, 2012) was performed at the President Ho Chi Minh Memorial Cultural Area... In addition, he also composed new lyrics for folk songs and traditional music on natural disaster prevention and control organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and regularly choreographed cheo scenes for the ward’s art troupe.

The characteristic feature of the Cheo compositions of Meritorious Artist Hoang Bong throughout the wartime until the restoration of peace is the love for the homeland and country. In wartime, it is the beauty of sacrifice, of the determination to gain independence for the nation; in peacetime, his compositions praise the beauty of nature, famous landscapes and positive changes in the homeland.

For young people who want to learn Cheo, Meritorious Artist Hoang Bong is always ready to teach. His wish is that more and more people will know about traditional arts, so that the festival days of the ward will continue to resound with the sounds of wooden fish, drums, Cheo melodies... "That is the greatest happiness for me and folk artists like me", Meritorious Artist Hoang Bong shared.

Van Anh

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