Dance the classics and interpret the beauty of Chinese culture

Author: Chen Yuanyuan

Recently, the first round of the tour of "Dancing for the People" - "Dancing Classics" ended at the Beijing Tianqiao Art Center. The performers are young dancers from the Beijing Dance Academy Youth Dance Troupe, who rely on their excellent basic skills and unique understanding to interpret the beauty of Chinese culture with dance language, bringing people visual aesthetics at the same time, but also making people get the touch and resonance of the soul.

Stills from Dancing Classics. Profile picture

Long sleeves swirling, fan dancing, such as pen and ink flowing clouds and water; armored soldiers, volleying in the air, showing heroic spirit; the music is getting denser, and the dancers take turns to show their dance skills, which is dazzling...

The curtain fell and the applause went on. "Dancing for the People" - the first round of the tour of "Dancing Classics" recently concluded at the Beijing Tianqiao Art Center. Within 90 minutes, the audience felt the classic charm of different periods and different types of Chinese dance. The performers are all from the Beijing Dance Academy Youth Dance Troupe, and most of them have won the "Tao Li Cup" and "Lotus Award". With excellent basic skills and unique understanding, young dancers use dance language to interpret the beauty of Chinese culture, bringing people visual aesthetics at the same time, but also making people get the touch and resonance of the soul.

Find a way to reach the present moment for the classics

Dance variety shows have received wide attention, frequently appearing in the circle on short video platforms... In recent years, the "visibility" of Chinese dance has become higher and higher. This stems not only from the charm of Chinese dance itself, but also from the inheritance and innovation of classic works by young dancers.

"Xianghe Song", "Fan Dance Danqing", "Dotted Lips"... The "textbook-level model" works in the minds of many dance students are from the Beijing Dance Academy. Founded in 1987, the Beijing Dance Academy Youth Dance Troupe is composed of outstanding graduates of the Beijing Dance Academy and currently has 23 young dancers.

"Dancing Classics" combines classics and innovations, and the dancers are both inheritors and creators, injecting new life into the works with youthful energy. Pu Yu, a dancer in the dance troupe and a national second-class actor, is a post-90s actor who is 21 years old when he performs the work "Wind Yin". Recalling the mental journey of the rehearsal, he said: "In the classroom, I was in contact with the choreographer and the original performer, and I learned the details of the creation, not only in terms of movement, but also in emotional and physical feedback. Dance with the wind, explore different body expressions in the classics, and pursue eternal artistic charm in the classics. ”

A spotlight, a person, a goose and a chair, the old man who has gone through a thousand sails looks back on his life. It is hard to imagine that the old man who plays the old man in the double dance "Old Goose" is actually the most "new" actor in the dance troupe. Lu Kedi, 23, joined the dance troupe for less than two years after graduation. He said: "If life is a sentence, "Old Goose" is talking about the word in front of the period. Zhao Shan, another actor in "Old Goose", sighed: "New bottles of old wine can also brew different flavors." ”

The reason why the classic shines is inseparable from the tireless efforts of the older generation of dancers. On the screen of the performance, many works are specially written with "rehearsal guidance", and the names correspond to most of the actors or choreographers of the original version of the dance.

"In 'Dancing Classics', classics and innovation try to form a kind of dialogue, the understanding of tradition and body between different dancers, the exchange of intergenerational creations, both the review of classic dances and the exploration of a new generation." Ren Dongsheng, deputy head of the dance troupe, said.

As one viewer left a message: "It's like a folding play, looking for a way for the classic to reach the present." Young dancers may still have lack of emotion, understanding, and experience outside of skill, but the inheritance itself is precious. ”

Build a platform for young dancers to grow

What does 17, 27 and 37 mean for dancers? On the Weibo of Wang Yabin, a dancer and national first-class actor, 3 photos are frozen in the same posture, and if you look closely, you can find the difference. The photos are stills of her performance of "Fan Dance Danqing" during her 3 ages. Some netizens said: "After 21 years, "Fan Dance Danqing" has more maturity and heroism in the softness. ”

On the stage, in addition to interpreting the classics, Wang Yabin also brought his own modern dance "Woman and the Sea". Today, she has different identities such as actress, choreographer, teacher and so on. "Teaching is mutually beneficial, creative and eclectic, and the transformation of identity is a process of continuous refinement and improvement, and my persistent pursuit of art has always remained unchanged." Wang Yabin said.

Graduating from the Beijing Dance Academy, entering the Youth Dance Troupe, and setting up a personal studio – Wang Yabin's dance career of more than 30 years is a microcosm of the company's exploration of the establishment of a growth mechanism for actors from introduction, training to flow. Ren Dongsheng introduced: "In recent years, the dance troupe has promoted the construction of high-end performance talents in the form of 'young dancer studios' and 'actor transfers', and is committed to becoming a research and development base for teaching and scientific research, a demonstration base for experiments and traditional repertoire of innovative repertoire, an artistic practice base for overall teaching, and a reserve base for outstanding teachers. ”

Ren Dongsheng said: "We hope to give each young artist a personalized plan for the road of artistic growth to solve their worries. Members enter the dance troupe after 5-10 years to obtain a master's degree, 15-20 years after the consideration of transferring to the teaching post, the mature experience back to teaching. "If you are passionate about creating and performing, dance troupe members can also strive to set up a studio and receive support from the platform and funding.

The classical dance "Aoyama Yuandai" in this performance was choreographed by Pu Yu, who is also the youngest of the 3 new creative choreographers. He said: "Everyone can find a suitable positioning in the dance company. We are not only learning how to be performers, but also learning choreography and even stage design, teaching skills, etc., and striving to grow into comprehensive artists. ”

"True art comes from the people, from life. Only by broadening the channels of artistic dissemination and supporting young artistic talents can literary and artistic creation go deep into life and take root in the people. Beijing Dance Academy Party Secretary Batu said.

Open up a broader stage for Chinese dance

"Contemporary Chinese dancers should use dance as a world language to tell Chinese stories well." We must not only do a good job in the inheritance of Chinese classical dance, but also keep pace with the times and actively innovate. Wang Yabin said: "We can not only display the excellent traditional culture on the stage, but also let more audiences intuitively feel the charm of excellent traditional culture." ”

In recent years, the company has carried out a number of performance exchange activities in France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and other countries. Last year, the Beijing Dance Academy opened a cooperation mechanism with the National Centre for the Performing Arts and the China Performing Arts Theater Line, through the accurate setting of performance display channels, strengthening school-enterprise cooperation, etc., to tell a true and comprehensive three-dimensional Chinese story, highlighting cultural self-confidence.

Moving from the campus to a larger stage requires not only the strength of the team, but also the tenacity of the dancers themselves. The highlights on the stage are only a few minutes, and the boring training day after day, the hard taste of tears, sweat and blood soaking, is the daily life of the dancers. If it is not love, how can it be persevered?

Talking to dancers, "happiness" and "love", always hanging on their lips. Pu Yu said: "We have been doing our favorite things under the love of the academy, how lucky. Dance troupe actor He Linqian blurted out: "Every day that has not danced is lonely." "Dance is one of the best ways I can communicate with the world." Wang Yabin spoke to the hearts of many dancers.

When Lu Kedi rehearsed "Old Goose", under the inspiration of choreographer Tian Lu, he gradually had a new understanding: "People's ability to perceive memories and love is connected, and the charm of dancing to touch people's hearts is also the same." "The young man sat upright, with a straight posture, wanting to spread his wings and soar.

"It is necessary to open up a bigger stage for the youth dance troupe, go out from the campus, and display it on the national platform and even the world platform, so that this team can go out of the academy and go to the world, and become a new force for the development of the college's cause and the cause of Chinese dance." Batuu said. (Chen Yuanyuan)

Source: People's Daily