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| A full rehearsal of a royal court tuong excerpt, combining singing, dance, and performance in the traditional style |
Love for the Long Run
Wiping beads of sweat from her forehead after a rehearsal, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huyen Nga, a tuong performer at Hue Royal Traditional Arts Theater, shared: “The more I practice and learn, the more I realize that tuong is not as rigid as I once though. Every movement and every role carries in it a story and a deeply layered cultural meaning”.
Pursuing traditional arts since 2018, Mr. Huyen Nga went through periods of uncertainty and pressure, especially when she was assigned to tuong performance despite having little prior foundation. At times, she even considered leaving the profession. “When I stopped, I felt very sad; it was as if I had abandoned a part of my soul,” she recalled.
She then returned. From the initial, awkward rehearsals to gradually grasping the dramaturgy, plots, and roles, she came to realize that, like royal court music, tuong cannot be appreciated in haste. This art only reveals itself when performers are willing to slow down, learn deeply, and remain patient. The more she committed to this kind of art, the more her passion grew, strengthening her resolve to continue along this challenging path.
For those within the profession, every movement and every dramatic sequence goes beyond mere technique. They embody ritual, order, and emotional depth distilled through history. Performers do not simply “act”; they must fully embody the art form, carrying its spirit within each performance.
According to choreographer Mai Trung, Deputy Director of Hue Royal Arts Theatre, training a court arts performer is a demanding and long-term journey. “Artists must first master precise techniques, then gradually delve into the content and spirit of each dance and performance sequence,” Trung said.
In conversations with many artists, they shared that court arts leave no room for superficiality. Every gaze, hand gesture, and step carries specific ritual significance, reflecting the ideology, order, and spiritual life of the feudal court. Performers must not only learn movements, but also understand royal culture and aesthetics, even the philosophical foundations of Confucianism and Buddhism, elements that form the very soul of this art form.
Letting Heritage Live on
Since the Nguyen Dynasty, particularly in the first half of the 19th century, royal court music was established by the royal court as a fully developed system of classical music, comprising hundreds of compositions with lyrics in Classical Chinese, closely tied to royal rituals. This structured legacy has made its transmission today more challenging, as learners must not only master performance skills but also cultivate cultural sensibility and a deep understanding of ritualistic thought.
Within the exhibition space at Duyet Thi Duong Theater, costumes, musical instruments, documents, and performance images are arranged as an “open classroom”. Here, young artists and the public can gradually engage with and gain deeper insight into the foundations of Hue Royal Court Music. “Only when artists truly understand the meaning behind each composition, can they bring the heritage to the stage with genuine emotion and authentic spirit,” choreographer Mai Trung emphasized.
Preserving Hue Royal Court Music is not merely about the number of performances or venues, but fundamentally about training and passing the craft to the next generation. In reality, while recruitment from training institutions has helped form an initial pool of performers; later, many drop out and do not pursue the profession to the end.
According to People’s Artist Bach Hac, Advisor on Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Hue Monuments Conservation Center, the reason lies in the lack of connection between formal training and real-life professional practice. Meanwhile, becoming a true artist, especially in royal court music and royal court arts, requires years rather than months of study. Only after at least 2-4 years, or even longer, can practitioners truly master the profession.
People’s Artist Bach Hac believes that heritage preservation cannot remain an internal concern of practitioners alone. From the school, students should be introduced to local traditional arts to better understand the cultural values of the place they live in. With understanding there comes appreciation, enabling the younger generation to preserve and promote heritage within the wider community.
From this perspective, Hue Monuments Conservation Center is working toward developing experience and training hubs that integrate exhibitions with the presentation of royal court arts. These spaces will allow learners not only to hear about heritage, but also to observe, practice, and experience it firsthand. Deeper understanding will foster a growing appreciation and love for the arts.
When young people study in Hue, grow up in Hue, and dedicate themselves to Hue, Royal Court Music will not exist solely on the stage; instead, it will live on in contemporary life. Furthermore, it will be carried forward and sustained by those who day by day have preserved and passed on the heritage.
And perhaps, as People’s Artist Bach Ha affirmed, the most sustainable path for Hue royal court music to endure through time begins with two fundamental words: understanding and love.