Provide more and better spiritual food for the people (adhere to the "two innovations" to write epic poems)

Pictured: Stills from the dance drama "The Eternal Airwaves". Pictured: Stills of the dance drama "Xiu Shui Yang Yang". Pictured: Stills from the opera "Yimeng Mountain". Pictured: Stills of the modern Kun opera "Mei Lanfang Mei Lang of that year". Pictured: Stills from the acrobatic drama "Battle of Shanghai". Data source: "2020 Statistical Communiqué on Cultural and Tourism Development of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China"

Stills from the large-scale sitcom "The Great Journey" instrumental music, children's chorus and dance "Destiny and Togetherness". Photo by reporter Zhang Wujun

In recent years, the vast number of literary and art workers have deeply studied and implemented General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on literary and artistic work, taken the prosperity and development of socialist literature and art as the glorious mission, adhered to the people-centered creative orientation, promoted the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture, and used rich art forms and means to launch a large number of stage art masterpieces, praise the spirit of the times, paint colorful pictures, and write magnificent chapters. These works have distinct themes, diverse themes, vivid images, and novel forms, singing songs for the motherland, praising the people, and condensing the majestic strength of the new journey of endeavor.

Record the history of the party's struggle for a hundred years with vivid brushstrokes, and create a large number of high-quality works with profound thinking, exquisite art and excellent production

In a series of major activities held by the party and the state, the vast number of stage art workers have demonstrated the powerful appeal of literature and art in praising the national spirit and the spirit of the times with a high spiritual outlook and superb artistic level. Advocating virtue and art has become a consensus, and it has become a common practice to grasp works and produce talents.

The creation of major themes is upright and innovative, and it has reached a new height of aesthetics in the fusion of history, drama and poetry. In order to celebrate the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up, the large-scale literary and art evening "Our Forty Years" was solemnly staged, the majestic picture scroll of the sons and daughters of China inheriting the past and forging ahead was slowly unfolded in the Great Hall of the People, and the symphonic poems of the east surging and turbulent winds vividly reproduced the vicissitudes and great changes of China's reform and opening up. In order to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the large-scale music and dance epic "Struggle for the Sons and Daughters of China" takes struggle as the theme and shows the great process of the Communist Party of China uniting and leading the Chinese people from standing up and getting rich to becoming strong through typical images and magnificent scenes. In order to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the large-scale situational epic "The Great Journey", which was created and performed, is full of surging artistic passion, and composes a grand epic of the CPC uniting and leading the Chinese people to carry out revolution, construction and reform in the past 100 years with the artistic structure of great opening and great integration, cross-border integration of art forms, and innovative aesthetic imagery, and plays a majestic movement of forging ahead into a new era and striding forward in a new journey. Major literary and artistic activities have greatly condensed the wisdom and strength of the vast number of literary and art workers and fully embodied the innovative spirit and fighting spirit of the literary and art front.

Inheriting the red gene, highlighting the spirit of the times, recording the party's century-old struggle history with vivid brushstrokes, and taking patriotism as the main theme of literary and artistic creation has become the conscious pursuit of the vast number of literary and art workers. In recent years, revolutionary historical themes have been the top priority of stage art creation. A large number of key works, such as the dance drama "The Eternal Radio Wave", "The Legend of the Hero of LüLiang", "Xiushui Yangyang", the opera "Yimeng Mountain", "Daughter of the Party", the drama "Yuhuatai", the Fujian opera "Life", the Peking Opera "The Story of the Red Army", and the acrobatic drama "Battle shanghai", used the red stories of different revolutionary historical periods to interpret the firm beliefs of the revolutionary ancestors, leaving a deep party history memory in the hearts of audiences of all ages, and obtaining good social benefits. A large number of artistic figures full of heroic spirit appeared on the stage, such as the drama "Gu Wenchang", Hebei Zizi's "Li Baoguo", the opera "Youyou Luming", "Poverty Alleviation Road" and other works, using literary and artistic forms to erect monuments and write portraits of contemporary heroic models such as Gu Wenchang, Li Baoguo, Tu Youyou, and Huang Wenxiu who were fighting on various fronts.

Artistic creativity and artistic imagination have been further enhanced, and high-quality works with profound thinking, exquisite art and excellent production have continued to emerge. The original songs with the theme of "Chinese Dream", such as "Navigator" and "China in the Lights", not only have a distinct atmosphere of the times, but also are full of vivid artistic creations, singing the voice of the people. The China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Dramatists Association sponsored the "Song for the Times -- China Federation of Literary and Literary Circles and the China Drama Association Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Reform and Opening Up" peking opera famous duan concert" and "Singing for the Motherland - China Federation of Literature and Literature and the China Drama Association celebrating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China"; the China Federation of Literary and Literary Circles and the China Dancers Association carried out the theme of "going deep into life and taking root in the people", successively held the "Tianyu Dance Style", "Blue Sky", "Walking in the Four Directions" and other creative achievements, and launched "Alone Tree", "Old Goose", "Walking in Four Directions" and other creative achievements. The China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Musicians Association launched large-scale symphonic choral concerts such as "Striving for a New Era" and "A Hundred Years of Singing", which focused on displaying a number of outstanding original achievements closely related to the theme of the times; the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Acrobatics Association held "Celebrating the Centenary of The Centenary of The Party - Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China National Excellent Acrobatic Works Exhibition", acrobatics "Colorful Car Skills", "Nine-Level Wave - Pole Skills", "Inheritance - Ballet on the Shoulders" and other wonderful appearances.

Articles are written for the times, songs and poems are written for the sake of things. Stage art creation is wonderful and bright, and it has become an important artistic carrier that vividly displays the Chinese spirit, Chinese values and Chinese strength.

Taking the people as the center, facing the times, we will discover moving images from the depths of real life and refine the poetry of beauty

Excellent stage art works come from the creator's in-depth excavation and careful creation of real life. The people-centered creative orientation has inspired literary and art workers to discover moving images and refine aesthetic poetry from the depths of real life.

The creation of realistic themes has become the focus, the point of force, and the foothold, and a large number of newly created realistic theme works have attracted attention. In the past five years, the winning works of the "Five Ones Project" Award, the Wenhua Award and the Chinese Drama Plum Blossom Award for the construction of spiritual civilization have fully reflected the distinct realist creative orientation. The drama "Saihan Long Song" uses the story of three generations of the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm in Hebei Province to create the world's largest plantation sea in the alpine desert area, interpreting the profound connotation of "green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains"; the opera "Ma Xiangyang Goes to the Countryside" shapes the image of Ma Xiangyang, the first secretary of the village, through the comprehensive opera style of singing, Shandong fast book and Jiao dongfang dialect; the Yu opera "Chongdugou" takes poverty alleviation as the theme and writes about the great changes in the mountains and countryside with a strong comedy style; the burlesque play "Chen Yisheng's Eating Problem" Reflecting the earth-shaking changes in China's rural areas in the past 40 years, it is vivid and lively and thought-provoking. These excellent works on realistic themes have become vivid witnesses of the party's unity and leading the people's unremitting struggle.

The vast number of stage art workers have gone deep into life, rooted in the people, entered, loved, and entered the heart, and obtained rich creative inspiration and strong creative motivation. The creation and rehearsal of the national opera "Poverty Alleviation Road" lasted for two years, and the main creative team went deep into the Baise region of Guangxi several times to collect style, take root in the grassroots, and repeatedly adjust the script. In Maigeti County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, artists have personally felt that under the leadership of the party, the appearance of local villages has undergone tremendous changes, inspired by creation, and finally compiled warm and true stories into their works. In the process of fighting the new crown pneumonia epidemic, literary and art workers have played the role of art in comforting people's hearts and inspiring the spirit, and have quickly devoted themselves to creation, creating and performing a large number of stage art masterpieces that record anti-epidemic stories, such as the drama "Retrograde", "People First", and the modern Kunqu opera "Qijiang City".

Reflecting the theme of the times and full of true feelings, the exquisite masterpieces are sent to the people through various forms, so that the people can share the cultural achievements. In the outstanding stage art works exhibition and performance activities celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, 140 outstanding stage art works from all over the world competed to perform, integrating into the cultural life of the city in the form of performances that benefited the people, so that more people could enjoy the influence of art. Innovate performance methods, through online stage broadcasting, with excellent stage art works as the carrier, combined with the characteristics of repertoire performances, vividly carry out party history study and education. Yu opera "Jiao Yulu", opera "Zhang Fuqing", drama "Branch Built on Lianshang", Sichuan opera "Sister Jiang", Guizhou Lantern Opera "Red Meizan", children's drama "Stars in the Fire" and other plays have successively entered university classrooms and public welfare theaters, sending the audience a vivid "art party lesson". The "Culture into Ten Thousand Homes" activity organized a literary and artistic detachment with capable personnel and exquisite standards to rush to the grass-roots level to carry out literary and artistic performances, literary and artistic training, and cultural services with diverse forms, rich contents, and rich connotations, and to send cultural products that were generally welcomed by the masses.

Promote the inheritance and innovation of stage art, attach importance to drawing nutrition from China's excellent traditional culture, and highlight the spirit of Chinese aesthetics

In the past 5 years, stage art creation has been rooted in the fertile soil of Chinese culture, attaching great importance to drawing nutrients from the soil of China's excellent traditional culture, basing itself on the locality, and facing the world, adhering to creative transformation and innovative development.

In order to promote the creation of opera, display famous opera troupes, and further promote the prosperity and development of opera, the Central Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism jointly sponsor activities such as the national grass-roots theater troupe opera performance, the national local opera southern performance, the national local opera northern performance and the exhibition and performance of excellent repertoire of the zizi sound cavity, vigorously carry forward traditional culture, promote the transmission of opera art, and enrich the cultural life of the masses. Since 2018, the Xiqu Hundred Operas (Kunshan) Festival has been held for three consecutive years. This year, 348 drama genres and representative classic works of puppet drama and shadow puppet opera have achieved "great reunion", and the construction of national opera drama has entered a new historical stage. A number of drama works based on historical and cultural resources, such as the drama "Li Bai", "Lanling Wang", "Beijing Fayuan Temple", the opera "Wang Gui and Li Xiangxiang", "Spring and Autumn Erxu", and "Mei Lanfang Meilang of the Year", have been widely disseminated. At the same time, a large number of classic reserved plays are staged in turn, fully reflecting the continuation of cultural traditions and the refinement of classic works by contemporary theater art. The "Chinese National Opera Inheritance and Development Project" implemented since 2017 has launched a number of outstanding national opera works, which has effectively promoted the creation and prosperity of national opera art and played a demonstration role in high-quality creation.

The creative concept and stage form are constantly innovating, and the design vision of stage art is becoming more and more broad. In the stage space, you can see a large number of new structures, materials, installations, multimedia images, etc. participating in the creation of stage images with specific artistic elements, presenting composite visual effects. The dance drama "The Eternal Electric Wave" adopts the narrative means of film montage; the acrobatic drama "Battle Shanghai" closely and skillfully combines a variety of artistic expression methods such as acrobatics, drama, and dance with the storyline of espionage; the opera "Red Boat" skillfully uses push-pull curtain, turntable and light projection technology to transform nearly 50 complex scenes in two hours in a multi-scene manner, complementing the dramatic structure, musical expression and video images, artistically highlighting the inevitability of historical choices China's first original symphonic street dance work "Yellow River" won the 11th Chinese Dance "Lotus Award" Contemporary Dance Award with strong artistic explosiveness and appeal. These innovations and creations have achieved good performance results.

Literary and art workers will promote the prosperity and development of literature and art with heart and soul, create and produce more and better outstanding stage art works, open up a new atmosphere and new outlook of Chinese literature and art in the new era, and meet the growing spiritual and cultural needs of the people. (Feng Shuangbai, Song Baozhen, Zhang Meng)

Layout design: Zhao Kairu

People's Daily (20th edition, December 14, 2021)