Published:  00:00 Friday - December 18, 2009

Ancient dances, an exceptional art genre that stems from the old capital city of Thang Long, are being revived after falling into oblivion.

Nguyen Van Bich, President of the Hanoi Dancers’ Association, said Hanoi has nearly 100 ancient dances closely linked with the city’s history that fall into three categories: folk, royal and religious dances.

Some of the dances, however, no longer have merit after a long period of historical upheavals. Only about 30 dances remain popular, mostly folk dances that take place at traditional festivals in villages around Hanoi.

In a wish to preserve this unique cultural trait, the Hanoi Dancers’ Association has cooperated with relevant agencies to implement a project on restoring and promoting ancient dances of Thang Long-Hanoi. Under the project, amateur dancers from villages in Hanoi are encouraged to restore and perform ancient dances in local communities.

Several dances will be on stage to celebrate the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi next year, among which the “Luc cung” dance will be performed by the Most Venerable Thich Quang Hy, the master of Minh Quang pagoda in Dong Da district and other monks at the monument of Kinh Ly Thai To.