People’s Artist Dang Hung passed away

The Office of the Ho Chi Minh City Dance Artists Association informed VietNamNet, People’s Artist Dang Hung passed away at 5:30 am on May 8, at the age of 87. His funeral was held at his home (Binh Thanh, Ho Chi Minh City) at 3pm on 8/5. The burial ceremony took place at 7am on May 11, then cremated at Phuc An Vien Cemetery (District 9, Ho Chi Minh City). The family asked for exemption from accepting cigarettes and offerings.

People’s Artist Dang Hung was born in 1935 in Binh Dinh – a land imbued with Cham culture, the art of tuong, Bai Choi, folk songs… so the “blood” of art permeated him since childhood. In 1954, he started artistic activities, after 1975 he worked at Thuan Hai Dance and Dance Troupe. Since then, he has embarked on his passion, exploring art as a dancer and choreographer.

Over time, Dang Hung increasingly marked in the Vietnamese dance village. He currently composed nearly 300 dance works and 4 works of different dramatic genres: Single dance; Double dance; Collective dance, dance drama… He patiently explores and creates based on the material of ethnic folk dances such as Raglai, Co Ho, Khmer and Cham. The People’s Artist spent more than 10 years going into Cham villages in Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan “sanding for gold” on this land containing many cultural treasures.

The result of Dang Hung’s diligent research and creation process is a series of impressive works such as Aspirational dance, Cham fan dance, Ma-aom scarf dance… help him become a People’s Artist.

Dance work “Ma-aom scarf”

In addition to dance, People’s Artist Dang Hung is also the general director of many large-scale festival programs. He has won many major domestic and international awards such as 2 international gold medals, 41 national gold medals, 32 national silver medals and 21 awards from the Vietnam Dance Artists Association in more than 50 years of dedication.

Dang Hung said, because of his passion for art and love for Cham dances in Binh Dinh, he continued to study and research. The deeper he digs, the more he finds that Cham culture is an invaluable spiritual heritage that needs to be carefully and seriously exploited. It can be said that People’s Artist Dang Hung is a person who has made a great contribution to making Cham dance known today.

My Le