Character dialogue
Yesterday was the second "Chinese Police Day". Last night, the acrobatic drama "Call 4921", written and directed by Huang Hong and Li Ren, was staged at the Poly Theater to pay tribute to the people's police. The acrobatic drama, adapted from real-life deeds, was unanimously recognized by the audience, and the families of the police officers who were invited to watch the performance said that they were both shocked by the difficult acrobatic skills and deeply touched by the true emotions and dedication of the characters. This reporter interviewed Huang Hong and asked him to talk about his experience as a choreographer for acrobatic dramas. Huang Hong, who was still immersed in the state of creation, talked about this special work with great interest and witty words, and his words were full of his love and deep thinking about stage art.
Propose a "gag order" to give yourself a problem
Reporter: What made you choose to do an acrobatic drama?
Huang Hong: Fate. At first, Li Chi, the head of the Chinese Acrobatic Troupe, inspected the cultural tourism project, planning to create an acrobatic performance show with the theme of police bandits, and later changed it to an acrobatic drama as a key project of the Beijing Performing Arts Group. On January 10, 2021 Chinese People's Police Day was born, and this news is an inspiration and motivation for our creation. At that time, Li Chi was in the field, the video call was determined, and on January 10, 2022, this drama was used to present the first anniversary of the Chinese Police Day. Therefore, I asked Li Ren, the director of the drama "Shangganling", as well as actors and choreographers Wu Junda, Huang Zhaohan, Zhang Zhixiong, Tian Ge, etc. to participate together, and began to create a script on the way to the tour of "Shangganling" last year. Li Ren and Li Chi are both very talented young choreographers, and Li Ren has his own unique understanding of drama and has rich experience. Li Chi is the founder of Chimelong Circus, talented and insightful. The three of us formed the creative core, leading the drama choreographer, dance choreographer, and acrobatic choreographer to form a strong creative team. In the creation, we learned about the touching deeds of the heroic father and son of the public security front, so that the drama really found the right direction.
Reporter: What is the special meaning of "4921" in the title?
Huang Hong: The protagonists of this play are He Ping, the leader of the SWAT team, and he Seconds, a young police officer, and the heroic image of their father and son embodies the dedication and sacrifice of the people's police. "4921" is the police number of their father and son, but also the era number, in 1949 the Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China was established, and in 2021 Chinese People's Police Day was born.
Reporter: As we all know, you are an actor who is particularly good at verbal expression, but why did you choose to be the choreographer of an acrobatic drama with almost no lines?
Huang Hong: Acrobatic dramas should abandon verbal expression, otherwise they will be "ventilated and leaky", which is not pure enough. This time, I created the first "gag order", striving not to use a single line, forcing everyone to think of a way. One is to maintain the ontology of acrobatics, and the other is to make the plot simple and clear and accurate. In the past, theatrical creation was inseparable from language, and suddenly abandoning language would increase a lot of difficulties, but it would also increase the strangeness of the creator, which was a rare feeling of artistic creation and should be doubly cherished.
Reporter: Usually a stage work, the screenwriter creates the script, and the actors rehearse according to the script. But acrobatic drama requires the screenwriter to write the script according to the program that the actors themselves are good at, is this creative process difficult?
Huang Hong: In the past, we used to say "tailor-made", and it is really appropriate to use acrobatic drama creation! But what is tangled is that it is necessary to be tailored and cannot be done exactly according to the body. In fact, the key to creating acrobatic dramas is planning and creativity, and at this point we grasp it more accurately, that is, using acrobatics to show swat police, the combination of wonderful and thrilling, and the collision of skills and strength.
Acrobatics can be said to be a kung fu technique that melts into the blood from the top of the head to the tiptoe, and the drama is from the plot to the sincere emotional expression of the characters' hearts, and it is really difficult to organically combine the two. Although the arts are common, the combination of two different arts, who is the main and who is the supplement, is repeatedly proposed, and it is extremely difficult for the acrobats to present a perfect work of art in an unfamiliar way of performing. For this reason, we have even had disputes, seeking common ground while reserving differences, and trying to find commonality and commonality in differences as much as possible, which may be the innovation and breakthrough of acrobatic dramas.
I and Li Ren, Li Chi built a small group, communicate at any time, many ideas are finalized in the middle of the night, such as the character setting of the hero father and son, the plot design of the city's exceptionally heavy rainstorm, the dramatic connection of the birthday cake, etc., a little accumulation, just like building a house, first build the foundation and the four beams and eight pillars, decoration and decoration is not worried. The effective sequence of establishing the plot first, and then selecting the techniques to serve the plot, is the experience of this creation.
Use multimedia to upgrade aerial performances to "save people in the water"
Reporter: You have worked in the acrobatic troupe for a long time and know acrobatics very well. In fact, acrobatic art is not very good at narrative and lyricism, so most acrobatic dramas pay more attention to technique and skill. But why did you create such a realistic acrobatic drama that focused on plot characters and emotions?
Huang Hong: I have worked in the Forward Acrobatic Troupe of the Shenyang Military Region for 19 years, and although I am not an acrobat, I am no stranger to acrobatics. At the age of 20, the first film script I wrote, "Lu Yao", was written by an acrobat. The previous acrobatic performances can be said to be "a national acrobatic drama", and each troupe basically has a silk hanging, springboard, carrying pole, top bowl, empty bamboo, drill circle... The show is much the same. Just look at which regiment has the higher skill, and there is not much change in addition. I think this is also one of the reasons why the acrobatic world is boldly breaking through and innovating plays. Of course, acrobatics must have skills, but acrobatic dramas cannot be skilled first, and who serves whom in terms of plot and skills? In order to lay a good foundation for the play, at the beginning of the creation, we put forward the "four haves": there are stories, emotions, interests, and wisdom. When these "four haves" are established, you can add "one has", that is, "there are skills". The first "four haves" are solid, and the latter "one has" is the icing on the cake. Acrobats have performed in the past to be based on "skill", this time they put forward the requirements for dramatic expression, the two are very different, how to find commonalities in different, to make an analogy, the Antarctic and the Arctic, from the physical space are far apart, but their cold is the same, on the one hand is penguins, on the other side is polar bears, we first consider whether they have common living habits. Find the contrast of art in physical distance, and seek complementarity in the laws of art. Like acrobatic and theatrical performance forms, whether external or connotative, their purpose is to impress the audience and convey the beauty of art. Through the rehearsal of this play, we can see a great improvement in the performance of a new generation of acrobats, and their receptivity, expressiveness, and especially perseverance are worth learning from other art disciplines. If we all have this acrobatic spirit of "ten years of grinding a sword", we will not worry about the emergence of masterpieces.
Reporter: There are a lot of impressive passages in "Call 4921", especially the scene at the end of "Saving People in the Water", which is very creative, both dramatic, but also does not leave the acrobatic body. How did you come up with the idea of behaving in such a way?
Huang Hong: This idea was inspired by multimedia and occlusion screens. Ever since we found the theme of the fifth "Storm", we decided to do a good job of the fifth flood relief and let the realistic theme work shine. Last year's flood relief was impressive, so we thought of making a huge change in the aerial program "Silk Hanging", narrowing the stage with a shield curtain, letting multimedia cast water and light on the screen, showing the style of a well, so that the "air performance" became "underwater rescue", the slow action of "silk hanging" became strength, and the beauty became sad, and with the cooperation of the stage light multimedia music, the symphony of life was formed. Each is beautiful, beautiful and beautiful, which greatly enhances the emotional temperature of the characters in the plot of the drama.
Eclectic creation of the main theme that the people love to see
Reporter: Last year, you wrote and starred in the drama "Shangganling" that left a deep impression on everyone, and this time you created an acrobatic drama, you also chose the main theme theme. How to do a good job in the main theme works and attract more young audiences is a problem that the entire literary and art industry is very concerned about and explored, what experience and experience do you have in this regard?
Huang Hong: The main melody work must occupy the main audience share, otherwise why is it called the main theme? But it's not easy to do well. The main theme of the work must have the correct ideological orientation, but can not rely on preaching, but to use art to infect people, moisturize the silent, let the audience themselves to understand. The common expression of "Shangganling" and "Call 4921" is heroic and tragic, and the most comment I heard from the audience after the end was "shock", especially the acrobatic drama, and it was our initial pursuit to achieve this effect.
Reporter: Music art, sketches, movies, dramas, acrobatic dramas, you have traveled a lot and wide, how did you do it?
Huang Hong: Music art, sketches, movies, dramas, acrobatic dramas, you just say that I am a "grocery store". In fact, interlaced is not separated by mountains, art is connected, sometimes side business is also to serve the main business, as long as you study hard, you will find that the advantages of many sister arts can learn from each other. The sketch "Chaosheng Guerrilla" has the shadow of Qu Yi, the movie "25 Children and a Father" is also a tragic singing, the most evocative part of the drama "Shangganling" is the Shandong fast book of the cooking class elder Ma, and the creation of "Call 4921" is also influenced by the drama "Shangganling". Borrowing is not the same as copying, the most important thing is to find the most suitable way, neither repeating others nor repeating yourself, and coming up with a heartfelt work is a respect for the audience.
Source Beijing Evening News
Reporter Wang Run
Process Editor Wu Yue