VAALA Launches Free Hát Bội Classes Taught by Artist Ngọc Bầy 

WESTMINSTER – The Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA), with  support from the Kenneth Picerne Foundation, will launch two Hát Bội classes conducted by veteran artist Ngọc Bầy.  These classes are FREE and open to everyone. Students older than 12 are encouraged to register.  One class will be held every Sunday, from 2pm-3:30pm; the second class every Thursday, from 6:30pm-8:00pm.  

To register for these classes, please email vaala91@yahoo.com or call VAALA (714) 891-8172. Classes will be taught in Vietnamese. Students are required to read Vietnamese fluently.  No prior experiences in theater or Vietnamese traditional music required.  

Each quarter lasts 3 months.  The entire program runs one year.  After each quarter, students will have opportunities to perform Hát Bội excerpts in a recital.  Students will learn the various modes of Hát Bội singing, movement, dance, make-up, and costume making.  

Hát Bội is similar to Chinese opera. It was imported from China to Vietnam in the 13th century.  The performing art was then transformed to a unique Vietnamese drama and musical theatre that became very popular and well received by the royal courts.  The music, dances, and even the make-up are different from the Chinese opera.  Since the dawn of the 20th century, Hát Bội as an art form has been slowly fading because of competition from Cải Lương (a Southern Vietnam traditional drama and music theatre with more contemporary themes), and much later, the cinema.   

Artist Ngọc Bầy states, “Recognizing that Hát Bội needs to be preserved for the next generations, I’d like to pass on what I have learned from my teachers – the artists who lovingly dedicated their time to teach their students.  I hope that many community organizations will help to keep this tradition going,”  

“We especially would like to have artists working in different areas participate in these classes so that they could incorporate some of the Hát Bội techniques in their own art. This is a way to keep Hát Bội alive,” says Ysa Le, VAALA’s Executive Director.  

Ngọc Bầy graduated from the first class of Hát Bội at the Conservatory of Saigon in 1964.  She studied under artists Võ Văn Tài, Dương Ngọc Đắc, Huỳnh Hữu Thạnh, and Nguyễn Thị Nhỏ.  After her graduation, she became a Hát Bội professor at the Conservatory of Saigon.  She has trained several generations of Hát Bội artists.  Settling down in the U.S. since 1992, Ngọc Bầy has performed in many community events and has conducted workshops at UCLA and San Diego State University.  

“Ms. Ngọc Bầy has almost fifty years of experience as an accomplished performing artist and teacher.  She is uniquely prepared to pass on the traditional Vietnamese performing art of Hát Bội. We were inspired by her enormous motivation to preserve this art form, her strong collaboration with The Vietnamese American Arts & Letters Association (VAALA), and VAALA’s support of her project.  The Kenneth A. Picerne Foundation is very pleased to support Ms. Ngọc Bầy’s efforts with an Artist Outreach Grant,” says Victor Nelson, Executive Director of the Kenneth Picerne Foundation.   

The Kenneth A. Picerne Foundation is a social entrepreneurial operating foundation.  The Foundation's mission is to develop innovative programs that promote human development. These programs provide unique opportunities for individuals to fulfill their potential.   Through the Artist Outreach Project, the Foundation awards grants to accomplished visual, performing and literary artists, age 55 and older.  These grants support the artists in giving back to their community.  Each artist spends six to eight hours a week with the non-profit organization of their choice, sharing their talent in arts-based services that are both educational and therapeutic. Website: www.picernefoundation.org. 

Established since 1991, VAALA is a non-profit art and cultural organization.  VAALA has organized many exhibitions, recitals, plays, book signings, the smART Program (providing free art workshops for non-profit youth organizations in Orange County and Los Angeles), and the biennial Vietnamese International Film Festival (ViFF).  Website: www.vaala.org.