HCM CITY — People’s Artist Bạch Tuyết, a cải lương (reformed opera) guru, is working on a new project to release videos on TikTok. 

Tinh Hoa Cải Lương (Beauty of Vietnamese Theatre), showcases videos featuring dramatic and historical plays performed by Tuyết and her younger colleagues. 

Using the TikTok platform, she hopes to attract and encourage young people to learn more about cải lương, a 100-year-old art genre of Vietnamese theatre in the South. 

“I hope my videos on TikTok will help young fans understand why and how cải lương is the spirit of the Vietnamese people," said Tuyết, who has been performing cải lương for more than 60 years. 

The project’s two first videos are scheduled to be released in March. 

The videos feature famous extracts from the historical play Thai Hậu Dương Van Nga (Queen Mother Dương Van Nga). 

It portrays the life of Dương Van Nga, who served as Queen Regent of the Đinh dynasty after her husband, King Đinh Tien Hoang, was assassinated in 979 and when her son was six years old.

Tuyết’s videos feature Nga's views after she decided to cede the Đinh dynasty’s throne to General Le Hoan in 980 in order to defend the country before the invasion of the Chinese Song dynasty.

Gen Hoan led his army to win the Song invasion in 981. He  later became the first emperor of the Early Le dynasty, named Le Đại Hanh.

“Cải lương is a very unique and old genre of traditional theatre from the south. The art should be released on YouTube and TikTok to attract younger audiences,” said Tuyết. 

Tuyết began performing on YouTube in 2018.  

In her videos, Tuyết combines cải lương and pop and rap music, which have dominated the Vietnamese music industry. 

Her latest video, Mang Tiền Về Cho Mẹ (Bring Money to Your Mother), is a cải lương version of the same song by rapper Đen Vau. 

It was released on YouTube on January 3, and has attracted more than 247,800 views. 

Tuyết began singing cải lương when she was a young girl. She was a theatre star in the 1960-70s and performed at several leading cải lương theatres in the region 

She has offered training courses providing young people with performance skills singing vọng cổ (nostalgia tunes) and cải lương, and has wrote many books and documents on the operatic art form.

Cải lương is performed at traditional festivals and anniversaries in the Mekong River Delta provinces of Cần Thơ, Sóc Trăng, Ca Mau, and Bạc Lieu.

The art features the hopes and dreams of southern people, who love singing cải lương after a day of hard working in the fields.  VNS