The person who brought the Then Tay Binh Lieu dance across the ocean

After more than 2 months of bringing the Then Tay melody to faraway France, Mr. To Dinh Hieu, Director of the Communication - Cultural Center of Binh Lieu district, is still moved that in the midst of splendid Paris and beautiful Nice, the sweet, profound sounds of the Then singing and the Tinh lute have been so well received and appreciated by the audience.

Mr. To Dinh Hieu participated in Then Tay performance in France.

Then Tay is my life source

Proud to be born in the heart of the Tay village, the sound of the Tinh lute and Then singing has been associated with To Dinh Hieu's childhood. Hieu shared: I am a Tay from Binh Lieu, I grew up listening to the Then singing of my grandmother and mother. From the time I could not speak until adulthood, Then Tay became an indispensable spiritual food for me as well as many generations of ethnic children. Then the melodies and singing seeped into my blood without me realizing it, I was fascinated by the beautiful lyrics and began to choose Then singing for the school and class's art programs. When I became a teacher, in each school where I worked, I established Then singing and Tinh lute clubs to teach students. My purpose at that time was simply to satisfy my passion for Then singing and to preserve the beautiful cultural features of the ethnic people for the next generation.

The Then heritage of Tay Binh Lieu has existed for a long time, firmly existing in the cultural life of the Tay people, preserved and passed down as an indispensable spiritual treasure. The Tay people sing Then to wish each other health, well-being, and good crops; to share their feelings; to wish each other good things in life.

Loving Then Tay, Mr. Hieu considers Then as his source of life.

Then singing of the Tay people in Binh Lieu is also called Then performance, expressed in two forms: Then art performance and Then ritual performance. The deep and gentle melody along with the lyrics describe each stage of the Then army's journey: Sometimes urging in a hurry, sometimes leisurely stopping to rest on the side of the road, sometimes earnestly praying, sometimes bustlingly crossing the sea... Not only that, Then performance art is also a place to preserve and display the beauty of behavioral culture, personality culture, human ethics, a place where unique and distinctive cultural values in the treasure trove of traditional culture and art and the community cohesion of the Tay people converge.

“According to folk beliefs, “then” means “heaven”, “heaven” means “sky”. Legend has it that Then is a song passed down from the gods. The Tay people believe that there are three levels of heaven, each level is inhabited by people. They believe that when the Tinh lute and Then lyrics are played, the Then ladies are starting their journey with each Then melody leading the army and soldiers through the three levels of heaven and the Then melodies help send prayers to heaven. The resounding Tinh lute and the sweet and warm Then lyrics are spiritual food better than all other spiritual foods” - Mr. Hieu said.

From his passion and concern for preserving and promoting the value of Then Tay Binh Lieu, Mr. Hieu has continuously collected, researched, and worked hard to affirm the value of Then in contemporary life.

Mr. Hieu participates in Then Tay performances at important events of the district and province.

“My turning point was when I was assigned to work at the District Cultural and Communication Center. As a cultural officer, I have given many advices to local leaders on preserving, conserving and promoting the values of Then Tay Binh Lieu. Initially, it was developing Then singing and Tinh lute clubs; then integrating Then performances into art performances at festivals and major cultural and political events of the district. Most recently, I advised on organizing a workshop on preserving and promoting the Then performance heritage in the context of developing community tourism in Binh Lieu district. Through the workshop, Then Tay Binh Lieu was positioned in the flow of Vietnamese culture. At the same time, I proposed solutions to protect, transmit, promote, promote and develop Then values of the Tay Binh Lieu people in the current context, as well as solutions to exploit Then performances to serve the development of community tourism in the locality,” said Mr. Hieu.

Journey to bring Then melody far and wide

In October 2024, Mr. Hieu and a number of typical Then singers from the provinces of Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen... were invited by the Vietnamese Cultural Center in France to participate in performing Then singing art in the two cities of Nice and Paris (France).

Foreign audiences watched the performance of Mr. Hieu and Then artists.

To prepare for this event, Mr. Hieu spent a month traveling back and forth between the two provinces of Quang Ninh and Lang Son to practice with People's Artist Trieu Thuy Tien, so that each lyric was polished and perfect. He also carefully polished each musical instrument and costume so that the cultural beauty of the Tay people in Binh Lieu could be displayed in the most neat way in the eyes of foreign guests.

“The audience was mainly French, they came with curiosity and excitement. Although this is a completely new art form, Vietnamese music and culture deeply touched the hearts of the audience with endless applause. I was really moved, along with the long applause there were also words of praise from the audience. There were even tears in the eyes of the Tay people far away from home, when they heard the melody of their village and homeland again” - Mr. Hieu recalled with emotion.

This performance is very meaningful to Mr. Hieu, when Then Tay is no longer limited to the scale of villages, communities, and localities, but has shown its beauty to international friends. “The reception of foreign audiences shows me that the path I am on is the right one. That is to respect the original culture, not only Then Tay, but also other cultural beauties of the people. Those original things will be the best conductor for culture to touch the hearts of each person.”

Mr. Hieu participated in a Then singing performance at the Binh Lieu Flower Festival. *Photo: Vu Ngoc Thao*

Sharing about his future plans, Mr. Hieu said: Tay Then or any cultural value, if kept intact, is only suitable for a position in a museum, but if we want cultural heritage to "live" with time, we need to exploit and promote its value. I am collecting and recording ancient Then melodies to serve as a basis for developing Then performances in the community, aiming to bring Tay Then into tourism programs, to both honor the cultural identity of the Tay people in Binh Lieu and create conditions for Then to "live" and develop.

The Then practice of the Tay, Nung, and Thai people in Vietnam has been recognized by UNESCO as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity. This requires the joint efforts of the whole society, especially the ethnic communities, to preserve, conserve, and constantly innovate so that the Then singing becomes increasingly rich, unique, and has lasting vitality.

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