The small house is located right next to the road connecting to the commune center. The owner of the house is Mr. Le Van Ban, nearly 60 years old, living with his wife and two sons. His life is like that of many other Muong men, a life of hard work and hardship with a few fields of contracted rice and a few skinny buffaloes. But few people expect that hidden behind that austere and hard-working appearance, this man still preserves a traditional art, a unique intangible cultural heritage of the Muong people in Yen Lap, which is the Drum Dance.
At the age of 13, during a village festival, the boy Ban witnessed the image of an old man with white hair and beard, bare-chested and wearing a loincloth; next to him was a small but agile boy. The two of them, with a drum, were beating and performing impressive spinning moves. The boy Ban was captivated from that moment. And when the festival ended, following the old man and his father, Ban begged the old man to teach him the art of drumming.
The Drum Dance is also called the racing drum or the joking drum. Its meaning comes from a true folk story. The story goes that: There was a Muong couple who were living together very happily. Unfortunately, the wife suddenly fell seriously ill and passed away. The husband was very sad, missing his wife endlessly; and his little son kept crying for his mother. Feeling sorry for his son, he went to the next village to buy a drum to play for his son and to ease his longing for his unfortunate wife. From then on, the drum became a comfort, connecting father and son until the father passed away, the son brought out the drum again to entertain, to say goodbye to his father. The name Drum Dance comes from that. From beating the drum for fun, drum dance has become an art. The movements of beating the drum, rotating the drum, rolling the drum, rhyming the drum, hugging the drum express the husband’s longing for his wife, the father’s love for his son. The drum beats urge the people to go far away and welcome the people to return. From being just a family service, through the ups and downs of time and its positive nature, the Drum Dance has been popularized and elevated to become an indispensable form of community cultural activity of the Muong people in Hung Long commune, Yen Lap.
The original Du Drum Dance had only two people symbolizing the father and the son; later, it was raised to serve the people during cultural activities or when Tet or spring came, so it was supplemented with 4-5 people. Among them, one person was the main dancer, the main drummer; one was the supporting dancer; one was the Sona trumpet player, one was the clapper player and one was the drummer keeping the rhythm. The drum is made of buffalo skin, about 30 cm in diameter and 45 cm long, enough for the drummer to toss, roll and rotate the drum easily. When dancing, the main dancer and the supporting dancer stand in the middle, dancing and beating the drum to ensure that the drum beat matches the dance movements and the surrounding supporting instruments. The costumes for the Du Drum Dance art are very simple, designed according to the daily clothes of Muong boys. The main dancer wears a red costume and a red turban; the supporting dancer wears a reddish-brown costume and turban. The rhythm of the Du drum dance is sometimes intense, sometimes graceful. Although they are just ordinary props, their harmonious coordination has created sounds with the typical nuances of the Muong ethnic group, both passionate and intense. It expresses the desire for a prosperous and happy life; the solidarity between neighbors, reducing the boundaries between the rich and the poor in society; the aspiration for a happy, peaceful and prosperous future of the working people.
The most difficult thing about the Du drum dance is not only the level of performing art but also requires the dancer to have good health and a deep understanding of the meaning of the dance to be able to perform such difficult movements. Artist Le Van Ban has been dancing the drum for nearly half a century, but for him, each time he performs is a time for him to gain more experiences about life. Watching him dance the drum, when he tosses the drum up as well as when he spins the drum, lying down and dancing the drum, he still exudes a steady spirit and expression, graceful movements, and skillful techniques. His sweat as well as that of the Hung Long commune art troupe members shows the passion and hard work of a generation with the desire to preserve and maintain this unique and typical cultural heritage. His Du drum dance troupe now not only participates in serving the political tasks of the locality and the district; not only limited to village festival performances, but now it has reached further, participating in festivals and performances of the province and the region. That is the pride not only of Mr. Ban but also the common pride of the Muong ethnic group in Phu Tho.
Spring has come to the green leaves of the acacia and eucalyptus forests, which are about to be harvested. The people of the ancestral land are excitedly preparing for the new year festival season. Not only the Du drum in Yen Lap; there are also the Bell dance, the Turtle dance, the Lap Tinh dance in Thanh Son, the Shrimp dance, the Woof dance in Doan Hung… all will create a colorful picture in the endless cultural flow of the ancestral land.
Nguyen Thi Tuyet Chinh – Returning to the Festival of the Origin of the Vietnamese People (Volume 2)
