Lotus boats, also known as rowing colorful boats, running dry boats, is a traditional folk custom dance, in Ankang, lotus boats are an indispensable form of entertainment for New Year celebrations, loved by the masses. During the Spring Festival, the figure of Yang Zichun, a non-hereditary heir of Ankang City, appeared in large and small folk activities.
Use the table as a stage to receive oral instructions from the teacher
Influenced by his family, Yang Zichun has a special love for Ankang folk culture, especially the Ankang Lotus Boat, and is always attracted by its beautiful lyrics and wonderful performances. In 1986, he officially studied under Ma Zixin, a famous folk artist in Ankang.
"At that time, there were many people who played these things in Ankang, and as soon as they had time, they would go to the master's house, and they all loved to sing plus drink some wine, and they sang while drinking." I was an old neighbor and related to the master myself, and as soon as he sang there, I passed, and at first I didn't study, but to drink with me. Yang Zichun said with a smile.
(Green performance costume for Yang Zichun)
After a long time, Master Ma asked Yang Zichun to learn to pick lotus boats with him, drink some wine, and eat vegetables, Master Ma used the table as a stage, used chopsticks to teach on the table, and told Yang Zichun how to perform the lotus boat performance.
"If there is a rehearsal later, the master will call me to see what they are doing, which is considered practical teaching." Yang Zichun said: "Because I added my own imagination on the basis of the master's oral teaching, plus there were many people in their team, this person taught the eight forks of the play, the person taught the erhuang, the flower drum, listened to too much, there was no set in the stomach, disorganized, just like the sponge absorbing water, in the end the more deeply learned, you can slowly connect." ”
(Yang Zichun in rehearsal)
"When I used to learn Erhuang, my master told me to use Ankang dialect (Hanbin area) when performing with flower faces, because The Tone of Ankang dialect is different from other counties and districts in Ankang, and it is strong and powerful in Ankang dialect." It is understood that the lotus boat originates from the Huguang area, the Ankang lotus boat takes the Hanbin District as the center, the Hanbin tune is masculine and powerful, the Ziyang and Langao areas are influenced by Sichuan and dialects, forming the upper river tune, the tone is lively and flexible, and the junction of Xunyang, Baihe and Hubei forms a lower river tune, and the tone is gentle and melodious.
Learn stage performance and script writing
In Ankang, when it comes to opera script writing, it is indispensable to mention Yang Zichun, because he has rich performance experience and a large amount of knowledge reserves, and his grasp of the plot is very accurate, and everyone likes to ask him to help write the script.
"In 1996, I became very interested in Han Tuo Er Huang, often playing with the Han Opera Troupe, and in 2001, I studied stage performing arts under Gong Jingrong. He was a raw horn, and he could only teach me the knowledge of raw horns, so he recommended that I follow another teacher to learn the ten characters of Han Tone Er Huang, saying that these roles could write scripts after learning. I originally learned miscellaneous, and now I am learning acting and writing with two teachers, and this time the writing on paper and the actual performance are combined, and there is a collision of ideas. Yang Zichun said.
(Lotus boat training is underway)
At the 2020 Chinese New Year Opera Gala, opera programs such as "Nezha Noisy Sea" and "Han Tone Ii Huang Yao Jinzhou" were brilliantly staged at the Ankang Film Theater, of which the program "Five Great Mothers Praise the Folk Style" was created by teacher Yang Zichun. "In recent years, Ankang has been carrying out the construction of new folk customs, advocating sincerity, filial piety and thriftiness, and our program should also closely follow the general direction, so we have arranged this program." But how in a short period of time, reflecting our well-being of folk art, we also made a lot of effort, plus i a total of 5 non-genetic heirs, with different singing methods to sing a paragraph, in the plot and added the content of new folk style construction, so that the performance is more brilliant. ”
("Five Great Mothers Praise folk style" screen)
Yang Zichun said: "Writing a script requires a lot of support from opera knowledge, and if you don't understand opera, you can't write it at all, and you can write and write opera scripts. ”
Become the inheritor and spread the intangible cultural heritage
In 2015, he began to participate in various cultural activities with Ankang folk artists through the Hanshui Art Troupe, "like last year's Spring Festival, we went to a village in Wuli Town, Hanbin District, and played for two whole days. ”
(Going to the countryside for performances and training)
Because he often rehearsed at the Hanbin District Cultural Center, Nian Jing, director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Department of the Cultural Center, gradually became familiar with it, and when he played dragon dances and colored boats at the Hanbin District Cultural Center during the Spring Festival in 2015, Director Nian invited him to apply for a non-genetic heir. "At that time, I didn't know what the heirs were, so I said I wouldn't apply, and I applied after I was matured the next year." At that time, I was supposed to be the inheritor of the two projects of applying for the lotus boat and the eight forks of the play, because under normal circumstances, I could only apply for one, and I would have more than two applications. In 2017, he became the district-level inheritor of the lotus picking boat, and last year he became a municipal inheritor after applying. In 2019, he applied to become the inheritor of the Bacha Opera District. Yang Zichun said.
Ankang dragon dance, lion dance, lotus boat and other activities are generally concentrated after the twelfth day of the New Year, which is an indispensable form of entertainment for the Ankang New Year celebration and is loved by the broad masses of the people, so when the time comes, people will always chase the performance to watch.
After more than 30 years of unremitting study, repeated practice and uninterrupted performance, Yang Zichun has accumulated a wealth of Ankang lotus boat performance skills, and at the same time has a deeper understanding of the profundity of folk music, opera and other folk culture, he integrated the opera stage performance art into the traditional color boat performance, improved the taste of the Ankang lotus boat performance, so that the Ankang lotus boat has appreciation, elegance, artistry, and has become a folk art that is appreciated by the elegant and popular.
Huashang Daily reporter Cheng Bin Editor Guo Zhongyan