A class of blowing Saranai clarinets (photo: VOV)

In July Bac Binh district’s Culture and Sport Center started a class for 40 children to learn Cham dancing and a class for 8 children to learn to play the Saranai clarinet and Ghi-nang drum.

Lam Tan Binh, who teaches the drum class, said the free class lasts 2 months in the summer.

“The Bien Xanh Music and Dance Theater created a project to preserve the folk culture and folk arts of the Cham, including singing, dancing, and making traditional musical instruments for ceremonies and festivals. The community should be responsible for preserving our traditional culture.”

Efforts to preserve Cham folk arts led to the establishment of the semi-professional Cham folk art troupe of Bac Binh district in 1990 and the professional Cham folk art troupe of the Bien Xanh Theater in 2006.

The opening of Cham folk singing and dancing classes. (photo: VOV)

Each year the Cham professional art troupe organizes about 100 performances to entertain people in remote mountain areas, holds exchange programs with other provinces, and participates in national singing and dancing contests to promote the traditional culture of ethnic groups.

Performances featuring the Cham, Chau Ro, and Raglai cultures have won high acclaim at national and international art festivals

People’s Artist Mai Trung Kien, Director of the Bien Xanh Theater, said: “It’s necessary to have the correct orientation to preserve the original dances and songs while modernizing the arts to attract people to folk culture. The theater needs Cham artists to improve their professional quality while conserving traditional values.”

In some mountain communes of Hàm Thuận Bắc and Bắc Bình district, the authorities have started classes to teach gong playing to Raglai and K'ho children.

Ka Van Nhon, Vice Chairman of Dong Tien commune, Hàm Thuận Bắc district, says: “Dong Tien commune has a gong team. It’s our tradition to play gongs for ancestor worship. We hope the province will help by buying instruments and costumes for K’ho people who participate in the Cultural and Sports Festival.”

The Binh Thuan provincial People's Committee plans to launch a project on preserving and promoting the folk songs, dances, and music of ethnic minorities in association with tourism development in the 2022-2030 period.

From 2022 to 2025, the project will conduct an inventory and make a list of the intangible cultural heritages of ethnic minorities.