People's Artist Ung Duy Thinh: Father of talented artist Ung Duy Kien, pillar of the country's dance industry

Associate Professor, Doctor, People's Artist Ung Duy Thinh, Colonel, former Director of the Army Music and Dance Theater, who devoted his life to dance works on the theme of revolutionary war. He is also an actor, choreographer, director, manager, lecturer, writer, and scientific researcher.

In 1967, when he was only 15 years old, Ung Duy Thinh started his dancing career for "nothing terrible" but just to "help his family have one less mouth to feed", so his parents wouldn't have to work hard to raise him.

After being admitted to the first class of dancers at the Military Arts School, he kept trying and striving to always be at the top of his class, and was then sent to the Soviet Union to study choreography with students from many countries such as the US, Sweden, and France. In a strange land, next to talented people, and from a poor country that had just emerged from war, he got bad grades in the first semester. Recalling that time, he said:

In the first year, in the position of a person with bad grades, I met some foreign friends in the hallway, I greeted them and with a very arrogant attitude, they slapped my face, tilted their heads to the left and nodded: "uh huh". So angry, I rushed into the changing room, tears falling down, my two hands clenched: "Okay, you guys wait, we'll see each other next semester".

And so he "gritted his teeth" and determined to study. He said that at that time, he did not know whether it was love or passion, but when his pride was aroused, he had to study hard so as not to be looked down upon. And indeed, the next semester, with the highest score in the class, he also calmly nodded "uh huh" to those arrogant young men before.

He still clearly remembers the advice of his Soviet teacher when he saw him off to his country: Thinh, when you return to your country, please compose in such a way that your works will be liked by scholars and famous scientists, and also by the farmers with dirty hands and feet.

That spirit has become a motto for action, which he packed into his luggage to enter the dance career. Therefore, in the works of People's Artist Ung Duy Thinh, we will see that he always finds the shortest way to touch the audience's heart.

Now, at the age of 70, he has a rather large fortune in dance works. After his first dance poem "The Road to the Campaign" received great resonance, he continued to compose a series of famous works of the time such as: "Variations from the Ancient Statue", "Peacock Dance", "Sky and Lullaby", "Home Letters"...

In addition to small works about soldiers, he has many dance dramas: dance drama "Country", dance drama "Fire", dance drama "White reeds", dance drama "Road to Dien Bien", dance drama "Song of the Battlefield", dance drama "Fire",... Those works have contributed to leaving a good mark on the country's revolutionary art, won many major awards and are all works of high quality.

In 2023, he was awarded the Ho Chi Minh Prize for Literature and Arts for two dance plays "Country", "Flame" and the book "The folk path to professional dance creation".

People's Artist Ung Duy Thinh said that the works that brought him the most success were mostly about soldiers, about war, about the country. Until now, he is still passionate about this topic, although he has written many works, but deep in his heart as a soldier, he still aches for it forever.

To make a dance work successful, People's Artist Ung Duy Thinh believes that it is necessary to find the flow, the focus, the main thing that a dance work must have. Therefore, he compares the theme as the first support for the author, the theme shows the author's world view, outlook on life, and at the same time shows the author's ability.

18 years as Head of the Army Song and Dance Troupe (now the Army Song and Dance Theater), he was then transferred to the position of Vice Principal of the Army University of Culture and Arts. Regardless of his role, with the qualities of an artist - soldier, in a calm, standard demeanor, wise thinking and scientific, dedicated working style, he left behind works that will last forever, many of the students under his guidance have become successful in the dance industry, recognized as Meritorious Artists and People's Artists.

Recently, sharing at the program Talented Call Center, director Kien Ung (Ung Duy Kien - son of Colonel, People's Artist Ung Duy Thinh) felt regretful for being one of the first 3 people to leave Anh Tai after overcoming thousands of difficulties.

Sharing about the "professional passion" passed down from his father, Kien Ung admitted that he is who he is today thanks 100% to his father.

"Since I was little, when I followed my father to play rehearsals, I often played behind the stage. I was able to observe and follow all the activities of the actors and singers and see what they did and what their production plans were like. I lived in such an environment since I was little, so that's all the energy and motivation I have from there," he admitted.

Since he was a child, Kien Ung wanted to grow up and do what his father did. However, he loved photography so he gave up learning piano as his family wanted. After listening to his father's advice, he decided to study filmmaking.

"When I took the entrance exam to the theater and cinema school, my father advised me to study filming, because in the filming profession they teach photography, so if no one hires me to take photos in the future, I will still know how to film," Kien Ung recalled.