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Shadow puppetry - a form of folk performance associated with the worship of the Goddess in Southern Vietnam.
In the treasure trove of Southern Vietnamese folk art, Bóng Rỗi dance is a unique performance art form, originating from the period of land reclamation and settlement in Southern Vietnam more than 300 years ago, closely associated with the worship of the Goddess in the spiritual life of the people of the South. Not purely a dance, Bóng Rỗi is a combination of ceremonial singing, ritual music, dance movements, and performance techniques with a ritualistic character, often appearing during temple ceremonies, Goddess worship festivals, and thanksgiving ceremonies at temples, shrines, or private homes.
The Bóng Rỗi dance is closely associated with the worship of female deities, commonly known as the worship of Bà (Goddess) in Southern Vietnam. Within this belief system, the most popular are five goddesses: Chúa Xứ Thánh Mẫu (An Giang), Bà Đen (Tây Ninh), Bà Rá (Bình Phước), Chúa Ngung Man Nương (widespread throughout Southern Vietnam), and Mẹ Thiên YA Na. Therefore, Bóng Rỗi dances are not only performances but also part of a ritual, aimed at offering prayers for peace and blessings for the community.
Shadow puppetry is often performed during temple ceremonies, thanksgiving rituals at temples and shrines, or the festival honoring the Goddess.
In terms of performance style, Bóng Rỗi consists of two main parts: the shadow dance and the singing. The shadow dance signifies offering gifts to the deities, with movements mainly focused on the head, neck, and forehead to express reverence to the Goddess. Popular offering dances include the offering of trays (gold trays, silver trays), the offering of flowers, and the offering of lamps.
The golden tray is essentially a tray of offerings to the Goddess. On the tray is usually placed a tower of gold leaf, made of paper and gilded with gold, resembling Cham towers. The use of this gold leaf tower in the offering ritual evokes the ancient cultural layers of the Southern region of Vietnam, where indigenous, Cham, and Vietnamese religious elements intertwine in the formation of this performance art form. During the dance, the female spirit medium not only manipulates the tray as a prop but is also performing an offering ritual within a sacred space.
"Golden trays" are trays of gold leaf used for offerings, shaped to resemble Cham towers.
The performers of the "Cô Bóng" dance, often called "Cô Bóng," will sing temple prayers while performing dance movements with golden trays, flowers, pillars, chopsticks, etc. The performances require not only beautiful choreography, dexterity, and physical flexibility, but also a good sense of rhythm, a clear singing voice, and the ability to flexibly combine singing, dancing, and acting. The "Cô Bóng" costumes are usually brightly colored, and their heavy makeup creates an appearance that is both solemn and striking in the ceremonial space.
With its unique historical and cultural value, the Southern Vietnamese shadow puppet dance art was recognized by the State as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016.
Shadow puppetry has become an indispensable form of folk performance in the worship of the Goddess in Southern Vietnam.
When ceremonial music resounds in the Son Tra pavilion
Within the framework of the Ma Dao Nam Xuan event, taking place from February 2nd to 8th, 2026 at Son Tra communal house, in addition to the exhibition space showcasing traditional Tet altars of the Kinh, Hoa, and Khmer communities of Southern Vietnam, visitors will also have the opportunity to directly experience the shadow puppet dance through a performance recreated in the communal house setting.
Visitors come to Son Tra communal house to watch the shadow puppet dance during the Ma Dao Nam Xuan event.
Before the main dance performance began, the Cà Rắc Show band opened with some familiar ceremonial melodies such as Hơi Ai and Hơi Oán. These melodies, often found in religious ceremonies, have a slow, melancholic tone, helping listeners visualize and become familiar with the atmosphere of a traditional ceremonial music performance.
Afterward, the band performed an excerpt from a familiar temple ceremonial music piece. Representing the group, La Pham Quoc Huy briefly introduced the two important instrument systems in Southern Vietnamese ceremonial music: literary music and martial music. Literary music includes bowed, stringed, and wind instruments such as zithers and flutes – playing a leading role in the melody and creating atmosphere. Martial music consists of percussion instruments such as drums and gongs – creating rhythm, emphasizing climaxes, and supporting the performance.
The Cà Rắc Show band performed ceremonial music during the shadow puppet dance.
The space of Son Tra communal house, with its traditional architecture, gentle incense smoke, and the sounds of ceremonial music, becomes an ideal setting to recreate a part of the communal house worship ritual - the birthplace and origin of the shadow puppet dance.
A golden tray spins above the head, evoking memories of ancient traditions.
After the ceremonial music, Ms. Nha was invited to the center of the temple courtyard to perform an excerpt of a temple worship song. Her singing, harmonizing with the music, marked the beginning of the shadow puppet dance - the golden tray dance.
Ms. Nha - the female shaman in the shamanic dance performance at the communal house.
Under the watchful eyes of the audience, Ms. Nha sang while performing graceful and fluid dance movements. The climax of the performance came when she began to execute difficult techniques, a hallmark of the shadow puppet dance: flipping a golden tray in her hands, balancing the golden tray on her head, and then balancing the golden tray on her mouth.
Not stopping there, the golden tray was then transferred to a chopstick, the other end held in her mouth; then transferred to a long pillar about one meter long, the other end placed in her mouth, creating a series of challenging movements. The climax was when Ms. Nha balanced two branches of dahlias, arranged horizontally and vertically, in front of her mouth, allowing the audience to place money in the gaps between the branches – a familiar detail in traditional shadow puppet dances.
The performance ended with prolonged applause. This was not only due to the technical skill of the performance, but also because of the rare feeling of seeing a seemingly unfamiliar form of folk performance brought back to the village communal house, amidst the festive atmosphere of Tet.
Golden tray dance with sticks
Flower offering dance
Spectators can insert money into the center of the flower while the medium balances on her mouth.
Efforts by the younger generation to preserve traditional culture.
In her post-performance sharing, Ms. Nha shared that she was born and raised in Bac Lieu. Initially, she learned about the shadow puppet dance through social media, and then coincidentally watched videos of a shadow puppet artist. From curiosity to passion, she researched and learned on her own, and when she moved to Saigon, through a fortunate encounter, she met someone who taught her the craft systematically.
To date, she has been involved with the shadow puppet dance for about 10 years. Although the performance at Son Tra communal house wasn't entirely smooth due to space and time constraints, she still expressed her gratitude to the organizers for dedicating a special space to the shadow puppet dance – a form of folk performance that is increasingly rare in contemporary life.
Ms. Nha expressed her gratitude to the organizers and the audience after her performance.
La Pham Quoc Huy, a representative of Ca Rac Show from An Giang province, shared that the group consists of about 10 students from the Communication and International Studies department at Hutech University, all sharing a desire to explore, revive, and introduce Southern Vietnamese folk culture to young audiences. Thanks to the connection with the organizers of Ma Dao Nam Xuan, the Ca Rac Show team had the opportunity to bring the shadow puppet dance to the audience at Son Tra communal house, creating a bridge between the past and the present.
La Pham Quoc Huy - representative of the Ca Rac Show band - shared his thoughts after the shadow puppet dance performance.
The artisans, artists, musicians, organizers, and audience members took a commemorative photo after the performance ended.
As the ceremonial music faded and the golden tray stopped spinning, the shadow puppet dance came to an end. But the echoes of the beliefs, the memories of the village, and the efforts of the young people to preserve the craft remain, quietly but persistently, just like the very way the shadow puppet dance has existed for centuries in Southern Vietnam.
