Study traces dance’s journey from temple to court

      The most comprehensive study to date of Luc Cung Hoa Dang, a Buddhist worship dance turned into a royal dance under King Minh Mang’s reign (1820-40), has been completed.
Researchers from Hue Monuments Conservation Centre have worked on the study for more than one year gathering historic documents, interviewing artists who performed the dance and monks who understand all versions of the dance.
Luc Cung means six worship periods. Each stage corresponds to one of six worship objects including flowers, incense, candles, tea, fruit and music. The dance expresses deep gratitude to Buddha, for the spread of Buddhism and for serving the people.
According to the book titled Great Ceremonies and Royal Dances in Vietnamese Reigns by researcher Do Bang Doan and Do Trong Hue, the dance was originally brought to Viet Nam by Indian monks.
The dance has been performed ever since at worship ceremonies held in big pagodas in northern localities like Thuan Thanh, Van Lam, My Hao, Yen My and Thuong Tin.
It is still not clear how the dance found its way from northern areas to the central region and Phu Xuan (Hue) in feudal times.
Today, most older monks in Hue city can perform the dance, which they learned from master monks.
King Minh Mang reportedly ordered the Royal Academy to learn and revise the dance and Luc Cung Hoa Dang became the official name for the dance.
The dance had been performed in royal ceremonies, as well as in various Buddhist ceremonies.
Under the Nguyen kings since Minh Mang’s reign, the dance has been performed by groups of 16, 32, 48 or 64 female and male dancers, who are costumed as imaginary little boys and girls serving male and female fairies. They all wear lotus-shaped caps, green under vests, pink trousers and carry lotus-shaped candle holders while singing and dancing.
Now, the dance is usually performed in a nha nhac (royal music) show at Hue’s Duyet Thi Duong Theatre for tourists. The researchers said that the dance has been significantly altered with the song made much shorter, with more modern dance gestures and quicker rhythms, which reduces the meditation features of the dance.
Le Thi Mai Phuong, deputy head of the centre’s Royal Art Theatre Research Department, told Viet Nam News that the centre had also completed research on Tam Quoc Tay Du dance (a royal dance based on the contents of Chinese stories namely Stories of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West) and Long Ho Hoi dance (Festival of Dragons and Tigers).
Phuong said that the centre was also trying to restore other ancient royal dances to propose to the UN’s Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) that Hue’s royal dances be recognized as masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.