In the Spring Festival of the Year of the Tiger, the short film "City Pixel" was unveiled, showing a different kind of Shanghai in the eyes of artists. In the film, conductor Zhang Liang and dancer Hou Tengfei, one in Pudong, one in Puxi, one in the stroll to absorb artistic inspiration, one in the dance to witness the rebirth of the city.
Zhang Liang at the Fashion Art Center in 1862
Zhang Liang came to Shanghai from Taizhou, Jiangsu Province, at the age of 9 to study, and after graduating from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, he went to the music capital vienna to study, and after graduation, he returned to Shanghai to become the resident conductor of the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. Shanghai is his second home, he said.
Hou Tengfei
Dancer Hou Tengfei is a native of Shandong, was admitted to the Dance Academy of Shanghai Theater Academy at the age of 16, entered the Shanghai Song and Dance Troupe after graduation, and grew into the chief actor step by step, he is the "woodcutter" in the dance drama "Crested Ibis", the "Li Xia" in the dance drama "The Eternal Airwaves", he found his own stage in Shanghai.
There are many masterpieces in classical music that are related to water, such as Johann Strauss's Blue Danube and Smetana's Vltava. Zhang Liang always dreamed that one day he could play a work related to this river by the Huangpu River.
For Hou Tengfei, the life of a professional dancer is either spent in the rehearsal hall or performed in the theater day after day. He hopes to one day get out of the theater and use the city as a stage to dance freely.
In City Pixel, they fulfilled their wishes.
Conductor Zhang Liang
In Lujiazui Riverside Financial City, Zhang Liang stepped onto the stage of the 1862 Fashion Art Center. The old shipyard transformed by The Japanese architect Kengo Kuma became a synthesis of art and commerce. With mottled red brick walls, huge rust-covered steam pipes, exposed beams and columns, there is a sense of history and industry.
The background of the stage is an electrically openable glass acoustic door, and when it is opened, Zhang Liang feels that he is so close to the rushing Huangpu River that he can hear the whistle on the river.
"Shanghai is the birthplace of China's symphony industry and an international metropolis at the forefront of the world. Engaging in classical music in Shanghai is blissful, with sufficient conditions, opportunities, and platforms, and is the most suitable place for creators with ideals. Zhang Liang said.
In Zhang Liang's view, the emotions and colors in music come from life, and drawing inspiration pixels from different colors of life can bring fresh feelings to conductors. Standing on the platform, he raised his hands and conducted the different buildings along the Huangpu River, like a huge symphony orchestra, playing music about Shanghai together.
Hou Tengfei came to the renovated CITIC Pacific Plaza on Nanjing West Road. In urban renewal, space is given a new look and is also rejuvenated. The rich and changeable moving lines in the building and the digital art multimedia entered Hou Tengfei's sight. There are many "pixel" style walls here, like small mirrors, reflecting the neon of the city and also reflecting people's inner monologues.
On the terrace of the café, he improvises to show the malleability of the space, creating a mysterious sense like the movie "Inception". In the sun, someone is chatting, there are children doing homework, he is inspired, using the shadow of the sun to develop a dance, implying the infinite possibilities of urban space rebirth.
The arrangement of the short film "New Life" is Peng Cheng, a well-known music producer in Shanghai, who believes that music can be a painting with emotional temperature, and he expresses the emotion of music in a rhythmic way, adding a lot of color to the short film.
In the square, on the spiral staircase, on the tarmac at the top of the skyscraper, there is a stage for Hou Tengfei everywhere. In Hou Tengfei's view, every dance has its own vitality, and every "stage" is a "new birth".
"The development of art depends on the development of the city, and the city of Shanghai has its unique charm, openness, inclusiveness, and diversity, which makes the city lead in many aspects, of course, so is art." Hou Tengfei said.