Cải Lương (Cairojess) Lives Forever

Today, I would like to introduce to everyone a typical art form of Vietnamese people in the South. This traditional art form is the lifeline and soul of the people of the South. That is cải lương (in English means cairojess).

Source: Google Doodle

I remember when I was a child, my grandmother was fond of watching cải lương. In the time when TV did not have the type of YouTube streaming, people often bought DVDs to watch a certain movie. My grandmother bought a cải lương disc to watch. At that time, there were few places to sell cải lương discs in the North, but it was not impossible. I never paid attention to cải lương because I found it too boring for me even when I was young; I had to listen to the popular genres of music these days. But unfortunately, I'm not Gen Z even though I was born Gen Z. I wouldn’t say I like listening to popular music right now or EDM. I have been faithful to jazz for a lifetime. But when it comes to cải lương, I've liked it for almost a year.

Before 1975, cải lương was the number one people in the South. Some people even liken cải lương as the lifeline of the townspeople at that time. Everywhere in the South, a cải lương singing troupe comes and goes. They brought music and lyrics to entertain the audience at that location. They never missed the performance. They saw it because they love cải lương. In the past, there were no microphones like now, so the artists had to sing loudly, even scream, to let the audience hear the lyrics because sometimes they performed on the river, but the people on the bank were paying attention.

An excerpt from the classic cải lương of Empress Dowager Duong Van Nga

The acting profession is likened to a silkworm. They always have to spin the thread to death. So is the artist. Burn with passion. The stage is where they shine and where they die. The ancients used to think that "species singers" were performers who were never respected in society. But there is a paradox: if it needs to be taken more seriously, why does the audience still spend money to watch it even though they are still passionate about their singing? The singing profession is a career, but it is also a predestined thing that the Heavenly Father has given that singer or actor to shine. One particular thing I like about cải lương is how they sing a line, and the audience applauds. Their tone went up and lowered the pitch to hit that last letter hard. Oh my gosh, it sounds amazing.

Cải lương came from the South and is understood as the formation of đờn ca tài tử and Southern folk songs. According to Professor Tran Van Khe, a Professor of Traditional Vietnamese Instruments, cải lương is the modification to become better expressed through theatrical art, script, performance, and music. It is true that so. It's not just about singing the right tone that the reformation is done. Along with that is the stage performance technique.

Perhaps cải lương often goes deep into the audience’s hearts because of its social nature. It is very ordinary. It can be stories about a love affair, a family with many conflicting events, a daughter-in-law being rejected by her husband's family, a woman's status in the old society, or something in social life, or a father-son, mother-child relationship. All of them can become materials to write a sensitive and deeply reformed book into people's hearts. It can be said that in addition to spoken drama, cải lương is a unique art form that exploits all genres. From ancient times to modern times. From fairy tales from China to real historical heroes. All were conquered by reform.

A cải lương artist once said that. “Cải lương will never die because of the Vietnamese language, but cải lương will.” That is the strong affirmation of an artist who has devoted his life to cải lương. She said that because she still believes that after her generation, there will still be generations after and after the fire of wealth. And I hope the reformation is still alive.