Meritorious Artist Diem Hang: The person who "dances on sharp thorns"

(Baonghean) - Vinh, a windy afternoon. The dry southwest easily makes people feel restless and frustrated. I met Diem Hang in the cramped space of a roadside restaurant. It felt like the heat didn't bother her much. "Hot? What's the big deal?" I understood that the rigorous training of a dancer had helped her not feel many other hardships and hardships anymore...

Diem Hang had a chance to join the Nghe An Traditional Music and Dance Troupe in 1994, when the troupe was called Huong Sen Art Troupe. That day, also in the summer, the 14-year-old girl with the birth name Phan Thi Thu Hang timidly and bewilderedly came to Huong Sen Troupe to audition. It seemed that choosing to be in the spotlight was just a temporary whim of a child who had just entered puberty. The "capital" that the skinny Hang brought to the competition at that time was: the "nucleus" of family art and the "tree" of school art. Hang registered for the vocal audition. Everything seemed to go smoothly for the girl with big eyes from Cua Nam ward, Vinh city. Who would have known that it was that summer day more than 20 years ago that changed Diem Hang's life, leading her to a commitment where only passion could overcome hardships, struggles and countless gossips behind the stage curtains.

Meritorious Artist Diem Hang (middle) choreographs a dance performance.

At the age of 14, Diem Hang touched the sky of art. But it was not all rosy as people thought. Even the little girl Hang with dark skin and shy smile could not imagine what was waiting for her ahead. She was accepted into the Huong Sen Art Troupe in the field of vocal music, but for more than 6 months after that, Diem Hang mainly stood behind the stage to watch the actors. And the "role" that Hang was "given" was mainly to cook rice, boil water, and chop firewood every time the troupe toured. The urban girl born into a family with a mother who was a teacher and a father who was a businessman and had never known how to worry had to get used to firewood, cooking, and water in remote areas.

The hands of a young child who has not yet touched her dream have to tremble in the cold stream with countless other named and unnamed jobs. The villages on the high border like Tuong Duong, Ky Son or Que Phong all bear the footsteps of the little girl after each trip of the provincial art troupe bringing songs to the people in remote areas. Occasionally, Diem Hang is allowed by the troupe to go on stage to sing in harmony. That is already a lot of fun. The acting profession is very passionate. It can turn an actor into a wind, a lingering, multi-faceted ray of sunshine. The desire to stand under the stage lights, to shine in the eyes, faces, and smiles of the audience is something formidable, with immeasurable power.

And then, as a strict choice of fate, during her early years studying singing at the Huong Sen Art Troupe, Diem Hang switched to studying dance. The teachers in the troupe all realized that the youngest student in the troupe was truly talented in performing physical arts. From singing, Diem Hang switched to dancing. While professional dancers come to this art form when they are only 7 or 8 years old, Hang entered this challenging field when she was 15. That was the reason why Hang told herself that she had to work 5 or 10 times harder than others to stay in the acting and theater industry. However, it was not easy, even though the little girl gritted her teeth and practiced silently every night. There were 19 people in the dance team and they were all experienced actors, well-trained, so to get a main role was a quiet but fierce competition. Then the opportunity came to Hang. That was the time the troupe performed in Cua Rao (Tuong Duong), the dance team was missing an actor due to his absence. Right in her first appearance, Hang “scored”. She went on stage with a bleeding foot from a piece of glass that had been cut just a few hours before. “Spring returns to the Kho Mu village” was the first dance performance Hang participated in as a professional actor. Hang also believed that this was also the performance where the “professional ancestors” tested the endurance and courage of the young girl who was just beginning to love the art of dance.

In 2000, when Diem Hang was already a well-known name, she was sent by the troupe to study at the Central Dance School. This was the period when she fully recognized and respected the career she was pursuing. The halo only came after loss, pain and gossip from people. Diem Hang said that the art of dance is inherently selective of its audience, dancing in this windy and sunny land is like walking barefoot on sharp thorns. What can be done when body language cannot find sympathy and a common voice? Anything that has entered the blood and entered the subconscious is difficult to shake off. That's why many nights in the middle of the night, Diem Hang jumped up, despite the bone-chilling howling wind, alone in the cramped room, she danced like a possessed person. Her arms stretched out, her feet were numb and her lips were bleeding. In the midst of a life full of human faces and countless sounds, the fragile girl always felt lost and alone. She only truly satisfies her heart's desire with powerful shoter beats or haunting solos in the middle of the night.

Until now, Diem Hang still does not know whether the dance profession chose her or whether it was a predestined relationship from a previous life. She only knows that the art of dance has brought her from one glory to another happiness. Continuously in the years 1995, 1996 and 1999, at the professional music and dance festivals, she and her dance team members all won Gold Medals. There was a Gold Medal at the national festival that left a lasting impression on Diem Hang in 2002, when the highest award was given to the dance: "Weaving beautiful love of the countryside" choreographed by author Kieu Le, in which Hang played the main solo role. After that, almost every year she and her colleagues won Gold Medals for their dance performances. Hang personally won 2 Gold Medals, 2 Silver Medals. As for the regional awards, provincial awards and many other awards, she cannot remember them all. Diem Hang smiled: "It is also thanks to the faith and motivation of the teachers, the seniors who taught and guided me. Thanks to the guidance of the group, otherwise I would have flown to another country."

In 2012, Diem Hang was awarded the title of Meritorious Artist - the youngest dancer in the country to be awarded this noble title. This was certainly a "famous" event in the art world at that time, but what made everyone admire more was that the honored artist came from a land where dance art had never been a strong point. It seemed to prove the vitality of the rigorous dance art form in the burning land of Nghe An, right in 2012, after being awarded the title of Meritorious Artist, Diem Hang continued to bring home a personal Gold Medal for the performance called "The Returning Season" at the National Music and Dance Art Performance.

The art of dance has given Meritorious Artist Diem Hang many things, but also taken away many other things from her. Once, Diem Hang had to worry: as a girl, who doesn't want a shoulder, a hand to protect and hug every sunset afternoon? Who doesn't want to share joy, share sadness after each night the velvet curtain falls. Many men have come to Diem Hang. Because they admire her talent, because they are drawn to each stride, the shoulder of the "swan" pushing waves on the stage. There are also people who have pursued her for more than 6 years, only to all of them cruelly say: "give up dancing, my dear!". But the career she has taken on is so multifaceted, so devoted that nothing can be exchanged. It was not until last year that she agreed to marry the person she trusted. "He is a soldier, the one who "dares" to go all the way with me" - Diem Hang jokingly said about her life partner like that.

Starting in 2006, Diem Hang moved into the field of choreography. It was the transition of someone who dared to bet her life on the visual arts on stage. After finishing the 4-year course at the Vietnam Dance School, Diem Hang could have stayed in the capital at the serious invitations of many art troupes, but she still decided to return to the land where she had cherished so much wind and sunshine in every step she took. The life of an artist is already short, the life of a dancer is even shorter, so she gave up the spotlight to the next generations. As a choreographer and stage director, Diem Hang has passed on her passion to countless young actors who have been sobbing for the profession like she did before. “Whatever you devote all your passion to, live for, and die for, no profession will not be moved” - Diem Hang shared after she won 1 Gold Medal and 1 Silver Medal at the National Professional Music and Dance Competition held in Thai Nguyen City in May 2015. That was Diem Hang’s first success as a choreographer.

I will always remember the time I met Diem Hang when she was staging a play and choreographing a dance for a group of students from Vinh University. On the small practice floor, she almost escaped her usual thorny image. There was only one artist, Diem Hang, under the astonished eyes of the young girls. “LangBiang Gio” is the name of the song and also the work that Diem Hang helped the young group choreograph. I did not understand much about the body language with chests full of vitality, bodies that seemed to want to soar into the air, overcoming all barriers of space and time. I only felt the wind rushing through my heart.

Article and photos:Dao Tuan