After watching the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, I believe many people were deeply impressed by the choir that wore tiger head clothes and sang "Ode to the Olympics" in Greek. The youngest of the 44 children, 5 years old and the oldest 11 years old, come from Fuping County, Baoding City, Hebei Province, deep in the Taihang Mountains.
The "Ma LanHua Children's Choir" sang in Greek at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Cao Can
Two years ago, Fuping County officially got rid of poverty and "took off the hat". It is such a "Ma LanHua Children's Choir" composed of children in the old revolutionary areas, which has touched many people with its natural singing. The Global Network reporter recently interviewed several important members of the "Ma Lanhua Children's Voice Choir" and listened to them tell the story behind the choir...
Lin Jiahao, 20 years old. A Grade 19 student majoring in Greek at Beijing Chinese University, he followed his teacher to Nanzhuang Town, Fuping County, in November 2021 to teach the children of the choir Greek.
He told the Global Network reporter: "When we first started teaching, we had no experience in this area at all, and we felt quite stressed, teaching such a group of children, some of them were only five or six years old, they had not yet gone to primary school, and they were worried about their receptive ability, including whether their attention could be concentrated enough." ”
Because the children had not been exposed to Greek and it was not realistic to learn Greek pronunciation from scratch, Lin Jiahao and the teacher thought of a way: to convert the Greek pronunciation into pinyin, so that they could "sing out" faster and solve the pronunciation problem. In addition, Lin Jiahao and the teacher also told them the gist of the lyrics through simple language, so that the children could understand what the lyrics they sang meant and better display the essence of the Olympic song.
Courtesy of Lin Jiahao and children interviewees
In the process of learning, Lin Jiahao admitted, "I was still quite surprised, I didn't expect them to learn so fast." Lin Jiahao also revealed that children also have some simple Greek daily language. "After we finish singing, we will also tell them some simple Greek everyday language, and they can learn a lot in the lyrics, such as mountains, plains, temples."
"These children are very cute," Lin said, and at the end of class, there would be a bunch of children around, some with local accents asking, "Teacher, do you have a girlfriend?" "Usually on the Internet, they will ask me math questions.
Asked about the impact of this experience on the future, Lin Jiahao said that I have always liked children very much, and it is very easy to get along with them, and I think that if I have the opportunity in the future, I still want to do education work. The meaning and sense of accomplishment that comes with this kind of thing is very high. "If a child grows up and can remember these things he has learned before, and I teach them these things, I feel, Oh my God, I can't imagine, I will feel very relieved." 」
Lu Li, 47 years old. In October 2021, the deputy dean of the School of Music and Dance of Baoding University and his colleagues formed a teaching and guidance team and was assigned to Chengnanzhuang Town to guide the rehearsal of Olympic songs.
Lu Li shared with the Global Network reporter the children's change of mentality from the beginning of training to the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics. "At the beginning, they didn't know much about going to sing on the stage of the Winter Olympics," Dean Lu said, "and they thought they had come to learn to sing, and they were very happy." "But then they knew they might go to a show about the Winter Olympics, and there was a subtle change in their mentality." For example, in the process of guiding the children, some children have problems with the pitch rhythm of singing, and after we correct them, these children will take the initiative to practice after class and leisure time. There are also children who are worried about behaving badly and being eliminated. "After finally deciding to be on the stage of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, Lu Li felt that the children's motivation was more sufficient, and the expectation and longing that flowed from their eyes were touching." Overall, they have been working hard. ”
Group photo of all the professional instructors of the "Ma Lanhua Children's Voice Choir", Lu Li (front row, second from right), courtesy of the interviewee
"This rehearsal is not only to complete the tasks of the Winter Olympics, but also an opportunity in life for children", speaking of the understanding of this "opportunity", Dean Lu said, "I dare not imagine it now, because only when they grow up and come back to see how meaningful it is to experience this thing, but I expect it to be meaningful to them." "Dean Lu said that during the rehearsal process, they also found that the children had many changes, from ignorance of music to desire for music." Let's say when we play the piano, they ask us how we play music on the piano, and after we talk to them about these sounds, we teach them on the keyboard," Dean Lu said, "You know how amazing they are, when I come back next week, they actually have someone who can play the first sentence on the piano." It's really awesome. ”
"There are also children who say to me, teacher, can you write the score on the blackboard, I know the stave, so I can sing, and after I can sing, I will play." She really did, and there are a lot of kids who can really play the piano. I think that opening the children's desire and love for music through such an activity will affect their lives, and maybe as he grows up, he will forget this period of time, but his love for music will become deeper and deeper as he grows older. Dean Lu said.
Asked whether the school has continued to promote the idea of rural music and art education after the rehearsal of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games, President Lu said that this is also a problem they have been considering, and they have been planning how to continue the "post-Olympic era". At present, the school plans to plan a Maran choir festival, hold similar activities on a regular basis, and also plan to let students go to the countryside for social practice and let college students go to the classroom in the countryside.
Deng Xiaolan, 79 years old. Founder of The Small Band of Malan and daughter of Deng Tuo. Born in 1943 in the area of Malan Village, Chengnanzhuang Town, deng Xiaolan was one of the first teachers to teach local children to sing in Malan Village in 2004, hebei daily said that after the children of Malan Village were scheduled to perform at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, Deng Xiaolan was one of the first teachers in charge of teaching.
Talking about why he originally went to Malan Village to teach music, Deng Xiaolan told the Global Network reporter, "Because when my parents were young, they used to work, fight, fall in love, and get married there, and I was also born in that area, and I have deep feelings for there." Deng Xiaolan's father was Deng Tuo, the former president of the Jin-Cha-Ji Daily (one of the predecessors of the People's Daily), and Malan Village was the residence of the Jin-Cha-Ji Daily at that time.
Deng Xiaolan recalled that in 2003, she accompanied the old man of the newspaper back to Malan Village to visit the grave, when the Young Pioneers of Malan Elementary School also went. "Everyone expressed their condolences and remembrance of the martyrs, and soon the event was over," Deng Xiaolan said, "I naturally asked the Young Pioneers present to sing a song to their grandparents, but they said they couldn't sing." "Deng Xiaolan said that she can't sing any song, and finally she thinks that the national anthem should always be, right?" After all, there were one or two who could sing along with each other, but they were all out of tune, and I couldn't hear that the national anthem was being sung, and I was really cold in my heart at that time," she said.
"So at that time I thought to myself, Malan is such a good place, my parents fought here when they were young, I don't want people here to live well, life is good, including people who can enjoy life, I think to be able to enjoy life must be able to sing, happy, happy to sing, life is happy," Deng Xiaolan said, it was from that time, the idea of wanting to teach Malan's children to sing came up.
Deng Xiaolan and the children
Ma Lan small band to today has been 16 years, was asked how to insist on such a long time, Deng Xiaolan said with a smile, "Many of you people ask me how I have insisted on so many years, I have listened to the old feeling that it is not right, I do not have to insist, I do not feel that I am insisting on what to do, if this thing I do not like very much, but also to ask myself to do, then it is called persistence." Deng Xiaolan said that I originally thought this matter was "fun", not just to say that this matter was good and meaningful, but I also liked it. "I teach children to sing, and they're happy when they learn it, and I'm happy that they sing well, and I don't think I need to insist."
"Continuation." Deng Xiaolan recalled that in the year he was born, the team of the Jin-Cha-Ji Daily newspaper sacrificed 7 comrades in the process of transfer, and 19 villagers in Malan Village were brutally killed by the Japanese army because they did not want to disclose the whereabouts of the newspaper. "I was born in December 1943, and then I slowly felt as if my life was a continuation of the lives of our martyrs who had sacrificed." She said, "My fathers and daughters overcame all kinds of difficulties for the independence of the motherland and the liberation of the nation, but we ourselves are now capable and in good health, and we can still do something for these compatriots and do nothing. ”
"The rouge river flows happily, Teacher Xiaolan comes to Malan, the birds chirp and sing, and the flowers bloom..."
Today, Maran's children sing the song.