On the evening of May 17, the musical "Dharma Blossoms" performed by the Gannan Prefecture Tibetan Song and Dance Theater in Gansu Province premiered in Lanzhou. Photo by Ren Lei
Lanzhou, May 18 (Reporter Ding Si) "How deep the poverty is, you see the uncle's face, carved with wrinkles, deep and shallow, rain hit the wind, just looking forward to the sun outside the mountain..." On the evening of the 17th, the musical "Dharma Blossom" performed by the Tibetan Song and Dance Theater in Gannan Prefecture, Gansu Province, premiered in Lanzhou. On the stage, "Zhang Xiaojuan," former deputy director of the Poverty Alleviation Office of Zhouqu County, Gansu Province, ran through 208 villages in 19 townships and towns in the county, leaving countless footprints on the poverty-stricken mountain villages and fields.
Zhouqu County, with its deep mountain ditch, was once a state-level poverty county and one of the "three districts and three states" deep poverty areas in the country. Born in Zhouqu to an ordinary Tibetan family, Zhang Xiaojuan was admitted to the Central University for Nationalities in 2003 with the first place in the county's liberal arts, and settled in Beijing after graduation. In 2008, when she learned that Zhouqu was seriously affected by the Wenchuan earthquake, Zhang Xiaojuan resolutely returned to her hometown and devoted herself to grassroots work.
The drama is set against the backdrop of Zhang Xiaojuan, an outstanding member of the Communist Party of China and former deputy director of the Poverty Alleviation Office of Zhouqu County, Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province. Photo by Ren Lei
She has successively served as a cadre stationed in the village, deputy township chief, secretary of the township discipline inspection committee, and deputy director of the county poverty alleviation office, running in the front line of poverty alleviation all year round, running through 19 townships in Zhouqu, visiting all poor households in 87 poor villages, becoming a "mobile database" and "living dictionary" of the county's poverty alleviation situation, and helping the people solve their worries and difficulties with their hearts. On the evening of October 7, 2019, Zhang Xiaojuan was on her way back to the county at the end of her poverty alleviation work in the countryside, and her vehicle flipped into the Bailongjiang River and unfortunately died at the age of 34.
Zhang Xiaojuan is affectionately known as "Xiaojuan's most beautiful poverty alleviation person" by countless Zhouqu cadres and poor people. The play is based on Zhang Xiaojuan, an outstanding party member in the country, and after more than a year of intense rehearsals, hundreds of literary and art workers of the Gannan Prefecture Tibetan Song and Dance Theater have used an innovative stage art form to commemorate Zhang Xiaojuan, a heroic model of the times who "loves Sangzi and Fanghua will always exist".
The drama takes Zhang Xiaojuan as the prototype and comprehensively shows the image of grass-roots poverty alleviation cadres. Photo by Ren Lei
The play breaks the conventional artistic expression methods, and uses integrated and innovative forms of expression to create a collection of various stage forms such as song, dance and music. In the creation and rehearsal, the choreography, composition, costumes, props, lighting, etc., the stage interpretation and stage production are deeply integrated, the music runs through the whole play with the atmosphere of Tibetan music, and the dance choreography is mainly based on the strong ethnic style dance of Zhouqu.
The musical drama "Dharma Blossom" takes the deeds of Comrade Zhang Xiaojuan as the background, takes Zhang Xiaojuan's initiative to give up her work in Beijing, resolutely returns to her hometown of deep poverty, and devotes herself to the cause of poverty alleviation, which is interpreted in seven acts, mainly telling the story of Zhang Xiaojuan running in the frontline of the grass-roots level with enthusiasm, fighting in the battlefield of poverty alleviation, caring for the masses, selfless dedication, and not being afraid of difficulties.
Wang Fanqin, the screenwriter and director of the play, said that from the beginning of the creation and finalization, the script wrote 13 drafts and designed more than 400 pictures. In order to perfectly combine the international style of musical theater and the characteristics of Gannan, the repertoire fully combines the geographical features, ethnic customs and folk music of Zhouqu in terms of music, costumes and choreography, while adopting a large number of international and fashion cutting-edge elements.
"In this play, many forms of expression are innovative." Wang Fanqin said that in music, the original folk music of Zhouqu is combined with orchestral music; in terms of choreography, three slopes are used, combined with lifting and lowering to create a scene from high mountains to deep ditches, showing the topography of Zhouqu; in performance, Zhang Xiaojuan's deeds are restored with seemingly lifelike performances, and at the same time, romantic techniques are combined; in terms of artistic styles, the use of the curtain completes the switch between musicals and small radio dramas, greatly broadening the field of stage information and emotion.
The songs on stage and the plot of the scene made the audience cry. "Today I had the privilege of watching this drama and inquiring about Xiaojuan's story through the Internet, only to get her and I am an alumnus, and I am proud of her and very moved." After the performance, Bai Juan, a teacher in Lanzhou, said in an interview with the media, "It is precisely because of Xiao juan, these ordinary people who silently pay for us behind our backs, that we have a happy life today." (End)
Source: China News Network