Traditional folk art is something any nation wants to preserve but it's not always simple. I remembered one evening in 2013, we went to watch a Japanese Noh play "AMA" in a famous Noh theatre near Heian Jingu in Kyoto. The play was opened for free in order to introduce this special kind of Japanese traditional performance art to people, Japanese or 'gaijin' (foreigner). Even so, not all the seats were occupied. The reason is, even with the free leaflet that guided you how to enjoy the show, not many people in the theatre understand what's going on with the show. A native Japanese lady sat next to us said even she didn't fully understand the lyrics, which seems to be in old Japanese. Also, most of my Japanese friends say that they have never been watching a Noh play before.
Back to Vietnamese traditional art, "Chầu Văn" is a similar example. Originated around 16th century, it purpose is to serve Vietnamese traditional religious ritual (Đạo Mẫu), the genre once became a very popular kind of art. Now a day, Chầu văn is one of the national heritages of traditional culture. And again, not many people, especially young people, understand this genre. I've watched and listened to Chau Van many times before, but I didn't understand or enjoyed it either. Most other people simple don't care about this special art.
Until one day, this little kid showed up in the finale of Vietnamese's The Voice kid, 2014. Her beautiful performance and maybe her innocence, some how made the Chau Van song "Cô Đôi Thượng Ngàn" became so lively and enjoyable. Countless of young people gave whole hearted compliment to the performance and started to be interested in this type of art. Thien Nhan (the girl) became the champion of the show, and somehow give out this kind of art to many people, especially youngsters.
If you have no idea of what Chau Van is, then enjoy watching this
