Renowned as the land of cheo of Yen Thuy district, Ngoc Luong commune is home to a number of excellent cheo singers and beautiful cheo melodies. Some cheo works composed and performed by Ngoc Luong people have been aired by Radio the Voice of Vietnam such as "Tinh que moi”, "Tien con len duong”, and "Tim ve que me”.

However, due to the influence of modern music, audience has neglected cheo, leading to the gradual disintegration of the cheo of Ngoc Luong. Facing that fact, local people have gathered to revitalise the traditional art. After days of hard work, they gather and are together absorbed in practicing cheo melodies accompanied by the sounds of two-chord guitars and drums. The amateur artists want to share the passion for cheo while preserving and developing the art of the homeland.

With 27 members at its inception, the Ngoc Luong cheo club now has more than 50 members with the oldest 77 years old and the youngest 12. All of the club members are talented and have a passion for cheo. Club leader Quach Cong Son said when it was newly established, the club encountered an array of difficulties. Some members even wondered whether the club would exist when it still lacked funding for buying costumes and musical instruments then. Meanwhile, as the club members hadn’t received any cheo training before, their singing and performing skills were also limited. Nevertheless, with passion and solidarity, the club members have strived to address difficulties. The audience’s concentration and applause in tandem with cheo rhythms gave us momentum to continue practicing to popularise cheo.”

Trinh Thi Khanh, a resident in Lien Tien hamlet, said: "We love cheo because cheo reflects the simple life and the aspiration for a peaceful and happy life of farmers. In ancient cheo plays, good always triumphs over evil. Through humorous and smart clowns of cheo, people criticise bad customs and habits in society. Therefore, after days of hard work, we gather and practice cheo, singing in a passionate manner. Not only singing for one another to listen to, we also often perform in the district and other areas. Aside from ancient cheo extracts, the club has also created many modern works praising the soul beauty, the Party, beloved Uncle Ho, and the love for the hometown and the country. The audience has highly valued those works’ content and emotion which are expressed through each simple and humane word and melody.

With its dedication to each play, the cheo club of Ngoc Luong has helped popularise the commune’s political and social tasks such as building new-style rural areas, land consolidation, keeping solidarity, and building civilized families. For example, the play "Dong que doi moi” (Countryside reforms) successfully encouraged local people to carry out the land consolidation policy. Cheo has been performed more regularly, and more and more people have come to enjoy the art. The club now often makes performing trips so that the cheo of Ngoc Luong can be known not only in Yen Thuy but also charm the audience in many other localities./.

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