The 64-year-old Wang Hongbo has never paid as much attention to the CCTV Spring Festival Gala as this year. From the opening dance to "Unforgettable Tonight", his student Guan Cai let and Lamao Dongzhi dance as an accompaniment, appearing in 7 programs of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala of the Year of the Tiger. In Wang Hongbo's words, "it's a dragon runner," but it still excites him. Since the confirmation of the program list of the 29th Party of the New Year, Wang Hongbo has been busy compiling and sending messages, and has released hundreds of trailers on major social platforms: pay attention to the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, pay attention to two 19-year-old boys from Qinghai Koba, Guan Buteri and Lamao Dongzhi. Wang Hongbo told the upstream news (newspaper mailbox: [email protected]) reporter that 10 years ago, only 9-year-old Guan Wei let and Lamao Dongzhi still herd sheep in the mountain village. If there is no dance, the two young men will most likely continue the life of their fathers: farming, herding sheep, digging cordyceps, working, marrying and having children... Wang Hongbo said that it was dance that gave them another choice and life: they walked out of the mountains, were admitted to university, and boarded the CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Wang Hongbo added, "In fact, they can have today, not only because of dance." ”
Guan Buteri (left) and Lamao Dongzhi appeared as accompaniment dancers at the 2022 CCTV Spring Festival Gala. Image credit/courtesy of the interviewee
1. The news that two sheep herding babies boarded the CCTV Spring Festival Gala and the two Koba boys boarded this year's CCTV Spring Festival Gala spread in their hometowns. A reporter from a local television station in Qinghai called and hoped that the two young men could send New Year greetings to the people of their hometown. "Fathers and fellow villagers in Haidong City, my name is Guan Butcairang, my name is Lamao Dongzhi, I am at the scene of the Spring Festival Gala performance on Beijing CCTV, we are from Koba Village, greetings to everyone Happy New Year, auspicious Year of the Tiger..." Standing in front of the Spring Festival Gala exhibition board, the guy in the New Year blessing video is no longer what he looked like 10 years ago. As a witness and witness, Wang Hongbo has a lot of feelings: the former shepherd baby has now appeared on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, and also prays for his hometown, "everything is like a dream".
Guan Only let and Lamao Dongzhi appear on the stage of the 2022 CCTV Tiger Spring Festival Gala as an accompaniment dancer. Image credits/video screenshots
Geographical coordinates show that Koba Village is located in Jinyuan Township, Hualong County, eastern Qinghai, and is a group of villages with an average altitude of about 2500 meters. Wang Hongbo first went to Koba in 2012, when he was 54 years old. Wang Hongbo carried nearly 100 kilograms of books and luggage from Beijing, took a train, changed to a long-distance train twice, and traveled for 3 days, and finally arrived in Hualong County. From the county seat to Coba, cars have to bump on the dirt road for three or four hours. Looking out of the car window at a glance at the mountain range that could not be seen, the wheel was moving forward against the cliff, and there was a fear of sliding into the deep ditch at any time, which made Wang Hongbo feel a little worried. The destination of Wang Hongbo's teaching is Koba Wanxiao, the only primary school in several nearby villages, built next to the Keyan River. The Keyan River is a seasonal snow-capped river that descends down the hillside, passing through several villages. When there is a shortage of water, the riverbed dries up, and the draft of people and livestock on the river is a problem, but when the water rises, the river can sweep away everything on both sides. In Wang Hongbo's memory, the mountains around Koba are always bare, and even if they catch up with good years, the newly grown young seedlings will be quickly filled into the stomach by the cattle and sheep raised by herders, and even so, the cattle are still very thin and skinny. In 2005, a professor from the Party School of the Qinghai Provincial Party Committee conducted field research and data analysis on the causes of poverty and education in Hualong County, and the paper was titled "Analysis of Poverty Status and Its Causes in Hualong County, Qinghai Province". In a field survey of 21 local rural households, the author found that 13 parents were illiterate, 5 parents had attended primary school, and the 3 parents with the highest education had only attended junior high school. The educational problems of children in agricultural and pastoral areas are even more worrisome, and they often drop out of school before completing the fifth grade of primary school because they are poor or return to poverty. The author believes that the primary reason for the backward development of Hualong County is the backwardness of culture and education. In 2006, a group of volunteers from Beijing funded the construction of the school building here, a cement basketball court and a ring of stands along the river beach outside the school, and raised a pair of standard basketball racks. In the decades since, the basketball court has become one of the best sports facilities in several nearby villages.
Guan Only let the dance hall of his childhood be on the stone bridge on the edge of the village. Image credit/courtesy of the interviewee
2, 10 years ago that naughty teenager on the evening of January 31, 2022, CCTV Tiger Spring Festival Gala began broadcasting, want to find two "running dragon sets" from the dance group of hundreds of people is indeed not easy, the whole night of more than 4 hours of performance, Wang Hongbo also only got two pictures, one time one second, the other two seconds, the picture is not a close-up, a shot contains more than a dozen people, but this also makes him feel satisfied. He poured out the old photos of 10 years ago, the old boy "black does not slip autumn" and "tattered", and now stands on the CCTV stage to become a handsome dancer, 10 years before and after, witnessing the legendary "black chicken becomes phoenix".
When Lamao Dongzhi was a child, the dance hall was on the stone bridge on the edge of the village. Image credit/courtesy of the interviewee
Wang Hongbo still remembers that when he first arrived in Koba, a small black-faced child stood on the slope of the earth not far away, staring at himself with glowing eyes. Due to the long-term lack of stable teachers, students generally lack good study habits. In class, it is extremely difficult to keep them quiet, often pressing the gourd and scooping up. There are many boys in the class who are "confused", but Guan only let them belong to the "outstanding" kind. Wang Hongbo said that Guan Qingcai was a child who could not stop at any time, when he was only 9 years old, whether in class or after class, he was always moving, either touching here or there. At one point, the volunteer teachers collectively suspected him of having ADHD. What the teachers can't stand the most is that Guan only let them like "pick up the stubble". The teacher spoke on the stage, and he said offstage that when he started to work, the voice overshadowed the teacher, and the teacher was so angry that he slapped the table and stared at his eyes. The locals will be on the side, and this kind of child should smoke hard. Seeing that the teacher was angry, Guan Only then did he immediately shut up, make a grimace, stick out his tongue, and keep quiet. When the teacher started to speak again, his small mouth began to "bar chirp" again.
Guan Only let the dance hall of his childhood - the school basketball court. Image credit/courtesy of the interviewee
After a long time, Wang Hongbo felt that children do not love to learn and cannot blame children. Ancestors have lived in this area of agriculture and animal husbandry for generations, few people have ever been out of the mountains, and the harsh natural environment has taught parents to face reality, and likewise, it has affected children. What is reality? Sheep herding, farming, going to construction sites as small workers, digging for cordyceps in no man's land... None of them seem more real and useful than reading. In the memory of Guan Cai Cai and Lamao Dongzhi, every morning, sweeping the yard, herding sheep, and doing farm work in the field... Nothing less. Wang Hongbo once wrote that watching these students rush after school to run after the sheep's butts, he himself did not know whether the students were driving these sheep or whether these sheep were holding the fate of the students. "I want to take my kids out into the world." The thought kept coming up.
When I was a child, I only let it go. Image credit/courtesy of the interviewee
3. The artistic hot dream of children in the arduous mountain village In 2013, with the efforts of several enthusiastic people, a unit in Hefei was willing to pick up these children "out of the mountains". But the news reached Coba, causing a lot of vibrations in the mountain village. Only 10 of Koba's 200 children made their trip to Hefei. The first time he went out of the mountains, Wang Hongbo always felt that he could not walk around and watch the flowers, and they brought a gift to the caring enterprises and people in Hefei: the singing and dancing of The Children of Koba. Because no one has taught it, Wang Hongbo always said that the children's singing and dancing are "natural", and every dance and singing carries the taste of Koba and dashan. Wang Hongbo commented that the Hefei performance was "unbearable to see", but he did not expect to be well received locally. After that, Beijing and Shenzhen issued invitations one after another. In 2016, they even attracted the attention of the Ministry of Culture, and they were sent to Hong Kong and Macao for art exchanges. These experiences were unexpected by the volunteer teachers. Many years later, Wang Hongbo analyzed that it was the sincerity of the Koba children that touched the people outside the mountains, and he who prided himself on being "well-informed" was also touched by this sincerity. At the beginning of 2014, Wang Hongbo created the song and dance drama "Remeng Koba" based on two years of volunteer teaching experience, and the local government began to form the RemengKoba Art Troupe, and began to select people and rehearse. "Hot dream" in Tibetan means ideal and pursuit. "Hot Dream Coba" is a story about Koba children chasing their dreams. It was also at this time that the 11-year-old Lamao Dongzhi and Guan Wererang began to formally contact professional dance.
Lamao Toshi's childhood dance floor - the school basketball court. Image credit/courtesy of the interviewee
Everything starts from scratch. Most of the selected children are past the age of practicing "Tong Zi Gong", lower waist, handstand, split fork... Every beginning is incredibly difficult. Simple leg presses, one by one in pain wow wow wow wow Bear with me! Wang Hongbo said. Practicing dance is a chore, there are no shortcuts to speak of..." Guan Only then said that when I first practiced, it was very bitter, every bone on my body hurt, and I felt like I was going to die when I slept and turned over. Sometimes, I also think that I will not practice for three more days, but after three days, I feel that I am OK, and I forget the idea of "strike practice". In addition to the poor foundation of the students, the volunteer teacher is also not from the art major, and the professional teacher outside the mountain cannot be invited, a set of simplified version of the "Hot Dream Coba" dance technique comes from the basic routine of the Shenzhen volunteer teacher in the early years of the Children's Palace. In addition to this, the lack of rehearsal venues is also a big problem. The school's cement basketball court, beside the river, under the earth cliff, the places available for use have become rehearsal grounds: the earthen cliff house is upside down, the river bank is practicing the waist, the cold, hard cement bridge fence on the river into the village is where the children practice leg pressing every morning; in winter, the cold and windy weather in the mountains, the children can only drill into the ditch where the sheep are released... What if I don't have a stereo? The teachers' mobile phones played accompaniment, and most of the time the shouts in the voices were the only rhythm... At the end of 2014, the premiere of "Hot Dream Coba" was successful in Shenzhen. But back in Koba, without warning, the 26-member art troupe ran away with 14 people at once, including Lamao Dongzhi and Guan Choucai. Some parents think that going out to perform is equivalent to playing, since it has been played, it is time to do something serious, after all, dancing can not be eaten as a meal, they all go to dance, who does the farm work at home? At this time, Wang Hongbo heard that among the classmates of Lamao Dongzhi and Guan Chucai, there were already parents busy with Zhang Luo's marriage. Faced with the choice of parents, Wang Hongbo was also powerless to argue. Whether the rehearsal will create a future for these children is not clear even to himself. All persistence is a kind of suffering, surviving this month, but what about next month? Over the years, there have been many people who have left the Remonkoba Art Troupe, and there are also many people who have "changed their minds", such as Lamao Dongzhi and Guan Caicai. Guan Only Jean said, "I still love to dance." "The children who insist on staying will still appear on the basketball court, by the stone bridge, under the earth cliff every day on time... Even in the absence of the teacher, the children will shout their own passwords to practice.
4. As long as we persist, there is hope that in 2015, the national poverty alleviation policy will be released. The local art institution contacted Wang Hongbo and planned to enroll Koba's children to attend art school as planned. As the first members of the Remeng Koba Art Troupe, in 2018, Lamao Dongzhi and Guan Wererang entered the Qinghai Art School. After entering the professional colleges, the problem of poor foundation was quickly exposed. "What people can do, we just can't do." Guan only let it speak. "After all, many children start learning from elementary school, and the children in the mountains are taught by us mud-legged children." Wang Hongbo said. In the second year of going to Qinghai Art School, Lamao Dongzhi's hands and feet were different, but Guan was not able to let it go, and the dance posture was still very stiff. But no one dared to deny Guan, because he practiced among all the people enough to play with his life, and he could stay in the practice room from morning to night, and he was often chased by the security guards who locked the door. In 2020, in the college entrance examination for art majors, Guan Cai let him rank fifteenth in Qinghai Province with a professional score of 266 points, ranking first among the three-year male students of secondary school, and Lamao Dongzhi also achieved a high score of 261 points. The two were admitted to Wuhan South Central University for Nationalities. On the day he received the acceptance letter, Guan only let him still collect wheat in the field, but in the blink of an eye, the figure could not be found. After a long time, Guan let him return to the classroom. "Where's it going?" Wang Hongbo asked. "I found a place where no one was crying..." Guan replied. What about you? Wang Hongbo turned his head and asked Lamao Dongzhi. Well...... I cried too. "After going to college, the two boys also had more opportunities to perform on stage. Guan Chering said that at the end of 2021, he passed the assessment of teachers and column groups at South Central University for Nationalities, and became a dancer of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, the process is not tortuous, and "it is not a protagonist, many of our classmates have participated."
Lamao Dongzhi sent New Year greetings to the people of his hometown in the background of the Spring Festival Gala. Image credits/video screenshots
But Wang Hongbo feels that the two young men can stand on the stage of the CCTV Spring Festival Gala is not achieved overnight. The past 10 years has also proved the greatness of dreams: no matter how poor and desperate people are, as long as they persist, there is hope. As of 2021, the Remeng Koba Art Institute has trained more than 30 college students, just a few days before Lamao Dongzhi and Guan Cai let them appear on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, the stage play "Children of the Snow Mountain" with their classmates as the main performers was also released in Beijing, and the Qinghai Local Spring Festival Gala also had dance programs in which their classmates participated... When Wang Hongbo celebrated the work of Lamao Dongzhi and Guan Cai at the hotel, they talked a lot: whether they would go to graduate school, whether they would be able to participate in creation in the future, artistic pursuits, and prospects for the future of the art troupe and Koba.
(Upstream News reporter Jia Chen)