Hát Bội: Vietnamese Classical Opera Workshop

Led by veteran artist Ms. Dương Ngọc Bầy

Written records trace the Vietnamese classical opera tradition of hát bội back to the 13th century, when it was performed for both nobility and the general public. During the peak of its development and up until the 1950s, hát bội served as a functional art form for educational, ethical, or political purposes. However, due to the popularity of more modern genres such as cải lương, hát bội, which uses esoteric conventions and symbolic gestures, began to decline in the 1950s. This workshop will be led by veteran artist Ms. Dương Ngọc Bầy, who has 25 years of experience teaching hát bội at the Saigon Conservatory of Music. In 2009 she was awarded a Kenneth Picerne Foundation Artist Grant to teach hát bội in Southern California. Ms. Bầy will lead participants in a hands-on demonstration/workshop of the music, symbolic gestures, makeup, costumes, and themes found in hát bội plays.

Free admission

Sponsored by the Ethnomusicology Graduate Students Association (EGSO) and funded by Campus Programs Committee of the Programming Board.