Shanghai, January 18 (Xinhua) -- To overcome the pressure of the epidemic, 18 municipal state-owned literary and art academies in Shanghai recently joined hands to hand over a report card against the trend: 6,865 performances in 2021, an increase of 81.4% year-on-year; performance revenue was 328 million yuan, an increase of 75.4% year-on-year, an increase of 8.25% over 2019 before the epidemic.
State-owned academies and troupes are the "main force" of Shanghai literature and art. With this strength and confidence, Shanghai's pace of building Asia's performing arts capital is steady and progressive. With the 2021 municipal state-owned literary and art academy group "one group, one policy" assessment held, the "leaders" of each academy and troupe have also ushered in the annual "big test". Shouzheng innovation, brave to climb the peak - in order to Shanghai "the whole city has a drama", they have been working hard!
The epidemic does not reduce vitality There is drama in Shanghai
At the beginning of the 2022 new year, Shanghai took the lead in releasing the city's 2022 annual "performance calendar", which is refreshing. According to the standards of famous troupes, premiere launches and market word-of-mouth, Shanghai selected 394 key projects and released the performance schedule to the public in advance.
Shanghai Performing Arts World was listed.
To build Asia's performing arts capital, Shanghai's enterprising pace has not been messy by the epidemic. "The Eternal Electric Wave", "Crested Ibis", "National Wind Music Scene", Yue Opera Classic "Dream of the Red Chamber", Haipai Acrobatic "Time and Space Journey 2", immersive drama "Sleepless Night"... In detail, Shanghai already has a number of well-known works of resident performances, which continue to enhance the originality and recognition of the city's culture.
In 2022, Shanghai will also create a theme performance season and a new show venue for performing arts, and will launch 9 opera and opera arts, 8 parent-child and 18 comprehensive theme performance seasons throughout the year. Some of these seasons are based on the central urban area, and some radiate five new cities. In addition, 100 new performing arts spaces throughout Shanghai will also launch immersive performances, small special concerts, LIVE shows and other performing arts content that are loved by young people.
The full performance calendar and the dazzling art menu are the most intuitive "barometers" of shanghai's cultural vitality. During the epidemic, Shanghai still maintains the standard, efficiency and pursuit of Asia's performing arts capital.
Looking back on 2021, it's unforgettable. This is the centenary of the Communist Party of China and the beginning of the 14th Five-Year Plan. The Shanghai Academy of Literature and Art launched a number of high-quality works around the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China.
According to statistics, a total of 11 works in Shanghai have been selected by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism as "Stage Art Creation Project celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China". Six large-scale works, including the symphony "Ode to the Red Flag", the Shanghai opera "Dunhuang Daughter", the acrobatic drama "Battle shanghai", the drama "Shang Martingale", the dance drama "The Eternal Electric Wave", and the ballet "White Haired Girl" have successively appeared on the stage. Folk music works "Drinking Rivers and Rivers Together", Kun opera "Have Their Own Descendants", Peking Opera "Red Agent", "Changing People", opera "Morning Bell" and so on have also received good responses.
Stills from the Yue opera "Dream of the Red Chamber". Photo by Ren Long of Xinhua News Agency
Stills from "The Eternal Wave". Photo by Ren Long of Xinhua News Agency
Stills from the Peking opera "Red Agent". Profile picture
Behind the undiminished cultural vitality of the epidemic is the hard work and efforts of the literary and art academy. Behind the city's "whole city drama" and "year-round drama", the people's city will enshrine the people's happiness and sense of gain as the original intention of "supremacy".
"One group, one policy" Big examination institute group leader "accepts the recruitment"
Shanghai's state-owned literary and art academies and troupes handed over beautiful report cards last year, which is inseparable from the "one group, one policy" reform that Shanghai began to implement since 2015 - tailor-made development strategies for each theater group, and stimulate vitality with performances as the central link, so that talents and masterpieces continue to emerge.
The policy is powerful, but the assessment is extremely strict. Every year, Shanghai "comes to the real thing", on the one hand, with "hard indicators" to conduct annual work performance inventory of the hospital, on the other hand, it adopts the mode of "self-talk, peer evaluation, expert points, and judges' discussion" on the spot, so that the head of the academy and group can "accept the recruitment" on the spot.
Talk less about achievements, talk more about deficiencies; talk less about difficulties, talk more about solutions and plans for the next year; not only look at the income and profit amount of performances on the appraisal table, but also talk about repertoire creation, talent training, and influence "breaking the circle"... At the scene of this year's examination, the reporter saw that several senior "examiners" were fiercely fired and merciless.
"Performance revenue has increased, why doesn't profit increase but decline?" "The number of performances of some literary and art theaters is still not enough, and the performance income of a few theaters and troupes accounts for too low a proportion of the overall income!" "Some works created in anticipation of the centenary of the founding of the party, since they have been repeatedly polished, should be enjoyed and seen by more audiences, and they should not be able to perform a few performances to stop the flag" "For the existing repertoire, they should be well inventoried, and those works that are still unsatisfactory should be decisively abandoned and made trade-offs" "We should think about our own clear positioning, integrate resources, plan well for creation, and operate more projects that can enter the head of the national performance circle..."
The assessment experts look for problems and gaps on the spot, and the leaders of the academy and group need to respond quickly - in this back-and-forth "passing move", the real level is fully displayed.
The Shanghai Grand Theatre Art Center opened up internal resources last year, so that its Chinese Orchestra and the Shanghai Concert Hall jointly launched the resident performance of the "Sea Folk Music" and the large-scale 3D wall show of the National Wind Music Scene.
Performance of "Folk Music on the Sea". Profile picture
Although the results are good, the experts have not blindly praised: "Why is the performance of the Sea Folk Music Group successful?" Because innovation is the soul of art. But if we benchmark CCTV's "National Treasures" program and Henan TV's creative Spring Festival Gala, we will find that there is still a lot of room for combining folk music, traditional culture and technology. The cultural treasures left by the ancestors, we must have a new style for the audience... The creation of folk orchestras can be bolder, the steps can be a little bigger, and there must be a bigger breakthrough to meet the appreciation tastes of young people. ”
Shanghai Kunqu Opera Troupe has been full of vitality in recent years, with a record performance income of 11.92 million yuan last year, and the number of online and offline "insects" continued to grow steadily; the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra launched the "Ode to China" series last year, with an overall performance income of more than 60 million yuan. For such a "bellwether", the experts' "provocation" is more specific and meticulous.
"We're trying to extend the life cycle of popular IPs. The drama "The Age of Awakening" will be rehearsed in July and premiered in November..." The Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center launched the stage play "Wave", the musical "The Book of beacons", the drama "Dream of the Red Chamber" and other works last year, and the performance income also exceeded 60 million yuan.
In the face of experts' doubts about when to produce fine products, Zhang Huiqing, general manager of Shanghai Dramatic Arts Center, was confident: "In the next few years, Shangyu will focus on the difficulties in the development and creation of local realist themes in Shanghai, including the incubation of the script of "Heart Residence", the development of "Midnight", and the new revision of "Long Hate Song". ”
Bravely climb the peak of literature and art, and chase dreams day and night
The sword blade comes from the grinding, the plum blossom fragrance comes from the bitter cold - the most difficult moments, the most tenacious efforts, often bring the strength to grow.
In 2021, Shanghai will take the resident performance as an important carrier and grasp to launch the "Shanghai Culture" brand, helping to comprehensively enhance the soft power of the city. Chen Feihua, head of the Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe, sighed: "Last year, our song and dance troupe had two works , "The Eternal Airwaves" and "Crested Ibis" as resident performances, from the beginning of the difficulty, to now more than 90 performances, it is not easy, but also a lot of gains ..."
"Radio Wave" and "Crested Ibis" are the original works of shanghai stage that have swept the country, but opening the "resident mode" under the pressure of the epidemic still brings new challenges to the "market excellent student" of the Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe.
Facing difficulties and self-transcendence - After unremitting efforts, the dance dramas "The Eternal Airwaves" and "Crested Ibis" completed 84 performances in half a year, with a box office of 34.52 million yuan. Chen Feihua found that among the more than 50 young actors recruited for the resident performance, more than 20 wanted to apply for the song and dance troupe to stay, and the momentum was very strong!
"This is the demonstration effect of the resident performances of Shanghai's fine literary and artistic works." Shanghai is providing a place for young literary and artistic talents across the country to pursue their dreams. Chen Feihua said that on January 11, the Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe recruited new actors for the whole country and has received nearly 200 professional dancers. It is worth mentioning that Zhu Jiejing, a dancer who has been polished by "electric waves" and shines brightly, has also embarked on the post of deputy head of the song and dance troupe. The talent relay and artistic inheritance of the works also constitute another "sample" of Shanghai literature and art.
After years of hard work and near joy, the "Chinese Small Theater Opera Exhibition" of Shanghai Jingkun Art Center has become the center stage for gathering the innovative power of domestic opera; the "Youth Runway" of the Shanghai Peking Opera Troupe has persisted for 10 years, with the concept of consolidating the pyramid of Peking Opera talents, cultivating a large number of top talents for Peking Opera art, turning the lonely runway into a "Walk of Fame"...
The picture shows the poster of the Chinese small theater opera exhibition.
The picture shows the 10th anniversary performance of the "Youth Runway" in Shangjing. Profile picture
Without a cold bone, how to get plum blossoms - after the pressure of the epidemic, the Shanghai state-owned literary and art academy will take up a heavy burden. It is reported that in line with the construction of The Performing Arts Capital of Asia, further strengthen the "dock" and "source" of performing arts, and start from the dimensions of holding large-scale performances to meet the audience's viewing needs, accelerating the construction of the performing arts world, and helping the development of five new cities, the next 18 municipal state-owned literary and art academies will complete at least 8700 performances of various types every year, which will increase significantly from 6865 performances in 2021! It can be expected that with the "opening" of the 2022 performance calendar, the city of Shanghai will be filled with the light of art of love and hope everywhere, dispelling the gray and dark haze brought by the epidemic...
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Shanghai, there is drama in the whole city. "There is drama" comes from having love and dreams, and it is also Shanghai's soft power of accumulating thick and thin hair and coping calmly! Shanghai, which is accelerating the construction of a more open and inclusive international cultural metropolis with more charm of the times, is calling for more literary and artistic dreamers to climb the peak and travel day and night.
Produced by Xinhua News Agency's "Decoding Magic Capital" Studio
Source: Xinhua News Agency