DI SẢN VĂN HÓA MỸ SƠN VIỆT NAM

On the temporary territory of Vietnam, the Cham people scatter in some provinces such as: Gia Lai, Bình Định, Phú Yên, Khánh Hòa, Ninh Thuận, Bình Thuận, Đồng Nai, Tây Ninh, An Giang… Champa culture is deeply influenced by Indian civilization, along with the association to Dai Viet, Sa Huynh, Oc Eo, Khmer, etc… Champa culture has been made distinctive and unique from refining quintessence of those cultures, and Cham dance partially expresses the trait.

Apsara dance: According to Indian mythology, Apsaras are fairy dancers in the heaven. The contemporary Apsara dance has drawn inspiration from Apsara sculptures at the Simhapura citadel of ancient Champa Kingdom. The movements of dances which are performed gently, graceful express different meanings through hand moves.

When the arms of the dancer are held chest level, it means the happiness; and a sequence of hand movements are performed at the same time: while the left hand of the dancer is facing back, another one is holding in front of the chest with three fingers upwards and the index finger meets the thumb, it means a symbol of holy Nagar snake.

Hand-fan dance (tapnha tapti): This is a ancient traditional dance. The main tool is the hand-fan, which is opened or folded in pairs or one opened and one folded. It is either performed by individual or by team during festivals. The dancers perform gently or eloquently sometimes according to the beat. The audience are attracted by moves of dancers and then they feel fascinated with beats and performance…

Cham people consider dance as an important part of their spiritual life. It adheres to traditional festivals as: Rija Nưgar, Katê, Rija Praung, etc… They are occasions that the Cham people express their tribute to those national heroes or worship to the god-kings. Traditional instruments used in ritual dance are: Ginang and Paranang drums, Ceng gong, Saranai clarinet, Grong tambourine, Kanhi strings. Among the popular instruments, the most popular wind instruments are the trio Gi-nang, Ba-ra-nưng and Saranai, in which Gi-nang is the main role because of its strong and eloquent sound.

The art performance has reflected partially vividly Cham culture in the general Vietnamese cultural life. Apsara, hand-fans (tapnha-tapti), Doa-phu (carrying jared-water by head) are the most typically impressive.

Preserving of Cham traditional dance plays very important role of conservation and development spiritual values in the Cham daily life and tourism promotion. In the past years, the art of Cham dance is performed daily for visitors’ enjoyment, which is as a part of their visit at My Son sanctuary.

Doa Phu dance: This dance is a combination of the Thong hala dance (co bong trau - betel leaves in tray) which performed in the spiritual ceremony and the activity of carrying water by head in Cham daily life.

Beside, one of the most impressive items to visitors is the Saranai clarinet performed by an indigenous Cham artist. The mysterious sound of clarinet at My Son sanctuary which seems to bring visitors to the timeline of thousand years back.

Thuyết Minh