Speaking of "Swan Lake", ballet dancer Tan Yuanyuan recalled a day when she was 5 years old, she saw the Russian ballet star Ulanova dancing "Swan Lake" on TV. She was fascinated by the crown and feathers and did not tiptoe on her own.
She asked her mother: What is this dance? Mom replied: This is ballet.
At that time, she would not have imagined that 10 years later, she would win a gold medal at the International Ballet Competition in France, and Ulanova, who served as a judge, gave her a high score. She wouldn't have imagined that 15 years later, she would become the principal dancer of the San Francisco Ballet, and the first dance drama in her life to play the lead role was "Swan Lake".
On the evening of June 29, Tan Yuanyuan guided Swan Lake to more than 200 spectators on the stage of the Experimental Theater of Shanghai International Dance Center. The clip of the show screened behind her was her "Swan Lake" at the San Francisco Ballet. The audience included dance lovers, ballet students, and members of the Shanghai Primary and Secondary School Principals' Art Literacy Improvement Seminar.
Tan Yuanyuan incarnated as "White Swan"
After the fall
"Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake was premiered in 1877, and it's been 144 years, but it's still full of surprises, it's a timeless classic and a touchstone for ballet actresses." Tan Yuanyuan said.
What's so hard about Swan Lake? First of all, the female lead actress must play two characters with huge contrasting personalities, white swan and black swan, and have very high requirements for physical strength and skills.
Tan Yuanyuan's version of "Swan Lake"
In the second act, on the shore of Swan Lake, the white swan and the prince meet for the first time, and it is also the first appearance of the swan. A big jump landed gently on the ground, followed by a one-legged Arabesque. "It was a moment of silence, and everyone was holding their breath to see how your first step was presented."
San Francisco Ballet's "Swan Lake" uses a reflective floor cloth, like the surface of the lake, which can illuminate the reflection of the dancers, but the disadvantage is that such a floor cloth is very slippery, challenging and risky. "All the dancers slipped on the floor countless times to rehearse this dance, but the final presentation was beautiful."
There is also a difficult point, the famous black swan variation in the third act, 32 consecutive "whip turns", the audience is very enjoyable to watch, but it is a huge test for the actress. "It's really, really tiring, you have to grasp the center of gravity, but also pay attention to the facial expressions, I'm sure all actresses will feel nervous in this section."
In the San Francisco Ballet version, the ending is that the prince and the white swan are martyred, and tan Yuanyuan plays the white swan to run up the steps and jump down the cliff. "I was very tired at this moment, and the moment I ran up the cliff, I always told myself to work harder and make sure to present the last moment of the dance drama perfectly."
Tan Yuanyuan
Don't be afraid to question
Tan Yuanyuan's brother Cai Yilei at the Shanghai Dance School also came to the "Swan Lake" guided tour site. He was the first Chinese player to win the gold medal at the Lausanne International Ballet Competition in Switzerland, and was also the principal principal performer of the Birmingham Ballet in the United Kingdom and the National Ballet of Scotland.
An audience member asked Tan Yuanyuan and Cai Yilei how, as two Chinese dancers, play a major role in the European and American ballets?
Cai Yilei recalled that when he went to the Royal Ballet School for further study, on the first day someone asked him where he came from, Cai Yilei replied, Shanghai, China. However, the other party does not know where Shanghai is, nor does it believe that yellow-skinned people can also dance ballet. But when Cai Yilei danced, all doubts disappeared.
"I think strength is the most important thing." Tan Yuanyuan said, "Our strength depends on our hard work and hard work to win." At that time, the country cultivated us, went abroad to compete, and always thought that we could win glory for the country. Entering a foreign dance troupe is also the same, and when you have the opportunity, you must present yourself and prove yourself. No matter what others think, you can do yourself. In the past decade, I have been very pleased to see that there are many Chinese dancers blooming on the world stage. ”
In Tan Yuanyuan's view, once he takes office, there is no opportunity for "N machines" and he cannot find any reason for himself. "You have to be fully committed and cooperate with your dance partner. There are very few truly perfect performances, and I can only try harder to make today a little better than yesterday. ”
Wang Yan, Tan Yuanyuan and Cai Yilei
Sow the seeds
At the "Swan Lake" guided tour site, a principal from a suburban school said: "How can our children also enjoy such high-quality resources, so that ballet can enter ordinary schools?" ”
In fact, Tan Yuanyuan International Ballet Art Studio has "walked into the campus" more than once, and Tan Yuanyuan hopes that while more ballet dancers enter the campus, more children can be invited to the theater to watch a ballet, sowing a seed of love for art in the hearts of children. "If I hadn't watched Ulaanlova's Swan Lake, I wouldn't have fallen in love with ballet." Cai Yilei suggested that the dance troupe could recruit small actors on specific festivals and come to the ballet to learn the details behind the stage and behind the scenes.
The "Swan Lake" guided tour is specially supported by the Shanghai Municipal Cultural and Educational Integration Project, sponsored by the Shanghai Theater Academy and the Shanghai International Dance Center Development Foundation, hosted by the Shanghai Opera Tan Yuanyuan International Ballet Art Studio and the Shanghai International Dance Center Theater, and co-organized by the Shanghai Opera Dance Academy and the Shanghai Dance School.
Starting from the first training of the 2020 Shanghai Primary and Secondary School Principals' Art Literacy Improvement Seminar, the Shanghai International Dance Center has provided at least 18 training activities for more than 80 principals from all districts in the city every year. In addition to Tan Yuanyuan, Feng Shuangbai, Xin Lili, Huang Doudou, Zhang Lin, Xie Xin, Zhao Xiaogang, Tian Xiang and other famous teachers in the domestic dance industry have all held classes for principals on the stage of the Shanghai International Dance Center.
At the same time, the dance center also carefully organized the observation and guided tour of fine dance works such as "The Eternal Electric Wave", "Swan Lake", "White Haired Girl", "Unknown", "Figurines", "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", "Liang Zhu • Yellow River", "Yo-Yo Horizon" and so on.
Wang Yan, chairman of the Shanghai International Dance Center Development Foundation, said: "In the process of urban soft power construction, the dance center must not only continuously introduce high-quality dance art works, but also continuously promote the promotion and popularization of dance art in different fields. ”
Column Editor-in-Chief: Shi Chenlu Text Editor: Zhang Yi Photo Editor: Shao Jing
Source: Author: Wu Tong