Ms. Tran Thi Thanh is a member of the Cheo Club in Hamlet 2, Hoi Ninh Commune, Kim Son District. She came to Cheo quite late and simply because of her love for the traditional art form, but Ms. Thanh is proud that after a period of practice, she can dance and sing many Cheo tunes, including ancient Cheo. In the first days of the new year, Ms. Thanh and the Cheo Club in Hamlet 2 were excited to practice and perform for the people.

Ms. Thanh shared: During the recent Lunar New Year, we performed on New Year's Eve, at longevity celebrations for the elderly... We are happy to spread the love for traditional arts to the masses. To improve our Cheo singing techniques, we actively participated in training courses to improve the quality of Cheo singing, Van singing, and Xam singing clubs organized by the District Department of Culture and Information in collaboration with a number of Cheo and Van singing artists in and outside the province.

Cheo Club in Hamlet 2, Hoi Ninh Commune has 18 members. They joined the club because of their love for Cheo and their desire to contribute to preserving and promoting the value of intangible cultural heritage, especially the traditional art of the nation. Although they have not been trained, the members of the club can still sing some traditional music such as Cheo, Van and recently Xam singing. Although Xam singing is not yet proficient because of the lack of time to study, everyone tries hard to practice so that one day the art of Xam singing can be spread more widely.

Mr. Pham Van Sang, Head of the Department of Culture and Information of Kim Son district, added: Currently, most villages and hamlets in Kim Son district have art clubs. Art clubs are increasingly attracting members of all ages, making an important contribution to improving the quality of spiritual life for local people. Art clubs have focused on practicing and performing traditional art forms such as cheo, xam, chau van, etc. In recent times, Kim Son district has focused on organizing traditional art training courses for grassroots art talents. Students of the training courses are the core force to spread the traditional music singing movement at the grassroots level.

In particular, in response to the desire to bring Ca Tru to the open land of Kim Son of the district's cadres and people, in the coming time, the district's Department of Culture and Information will continue to coordinate with artisans to open classes to teach and build a nucleus for this art form at the grassroots level. Ca Tru has initially received the attention and love of local people, including young audiences. The artisans will teach them from basic fingering, clapping, try playing musical instruments with them, learn more about this art form... thereby fostering love, arousing curiosity and interest in Ca Tru of the audience.

Joining the art club of Truong Son village (Truong Yen commune, Hoa Lu district) at the age of nearly 70, but Ms. Giang Thi Loan's passion for music is not inferior to that of young people. Ms. Loan said: The members of the art club of the village are very diverse, from farmers, workers, teachers, the elderly... Busy and hard-working with farm work, but the members are all enthusiastic to participate in the art team to make life more beautiful and meaningful. Not only performing for the people on holidays and Tet, the club also regularly propagates the policies of the Party, the State, and the locality to the people in the form of dramatization, which is very effectively received by the people.

"Not only familiar songs, the club members also practice and perform the art of Cheo singing, even though it is not the locality's strength. At first, practicing each sound, from breathing, pronouncing words, and vibrato... was not simple, but with the desire to contribute to preserving and spreading the art of Cheo singing, the team members tried their best. Currently, we can sing some Cheo melodies, and even boldly choose Cheo singing repertoire to compete in mass art performances organized by the district" - Ms. Loan excitedly said.

Currently, the economic life of the people of Truong Yen commune has improved significantly. Along with that, people are also constantly improving the quality of their spiritual life and that of their families. Currently, the whole commune has 16 mass art clubs, attracting hundreds of members to participate. With the establishment and effective operation of art clubs, it has partly met the cultural enjoyment needs of the people, especially when they are the subjects of those art programs and performances. Spiritual life is improved, people are more enthusiastic about economic development to improve the quality of life, push back social evils, and join hands to build a happy community.

In recent years, the system of cultural institutions at the grassroots level in our province has developed remarkably in quantity and quality with 7/8 districts and cities having cultural houses; 142/143 communes, wards and towns having cultural houses, 1,616/1,679 (reaching 96.25%) villages, hamlets, villages, residential groups and streets having cultural houses. The completed cultural institutions have met the political, cultural, recreational and entertainment needs of the people, contributing to the construction of new rural areas and civilized urban areas in the province. Cultural houses in villages, hamlets and streets have become places for community activities, places to nurture the passion for singing and the sports spirit of the rural people.

Not as sophisticated as professional art, but with endurance, flexibility and enthusiasm, the mass art clubs and teams keep up very well with the lives of working people in all villages, enriching their spiritual food. Currently, the whole province has over 700 mass art clubs, teams and teams, annually organizing thousands of performances and exchanges, attracting a large number of people to participate in cultural and artistic activities at cultural houses. Thereby, contributing to "keeping the fire" for traditional arts, typical of each region. Typical examples include : Cheo singing club (Yen Mo, Yen Khanh districts); Ca Tru club (Kim Son district); Xam singing club (Yen Thanh commune, Yen Mo district); Drum Dance art (Tan Khan, Kim My commune, Kim Son district); Drum Dance art (Khanh Tien commune, Yen Khanh district); Brass trumpet team (Quang Thien commune, Kim Son district); Muong ethnic cultural and art clubs, Nho Quan district: Bamboo dance, gong, Dum singing, Sac bua, Muong love songs, ancient Muong melodies...

Dao Hang-Minh Quang