At the end of 2021, e-commerce entrepreneur Liu Xujiao packed boxes of Lei Bo navel oranges from Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan Province and brushed up the circle of friends, and a news of the Liangshan International Drama Festival attracted her. She loves her hometown being "seen" in this way.
Since 2019, Daliangshan has gradually been "seen" in new ways. Pu Cunxin, Liao Changyong, Ji Di Majia, Alai, Qian Wenzhong, Li Ting, Wang Xiaoying, Huang Dingshan, Hao Rong, Ren Dongsheng and other 25 Chinese and foreign artists and cultural scholars who "did not get a single point" jointly initiated the Daliangshan International Drama Festival. Since then, Liangshan has had a resounding new IP for cultural tourism.
"Go out to a troupe,
Come back for two tours."
At the beginning of 2019, the Daliangshan International Drama Festival was unveiled and surprised by four seats. 9 countries participated in 335 performances, which has attracted the attention of internationally renowned theatre festivals such as the UNESCO International Theatre Association (ITI) and the International Theatre Critics Association (IATC), embassies and consulates of Israel and France in China, and the Edinburgh Theatre Festival in the United Kingdom and the Avignon Theatre Festival in France. International forums, international cooperation, exchanges and performances, the crowd has woven a wonderful and fantastic drama dream in the vast Liangshan.
As soon as the Daliangshan International Drama Festival was born, it was determined to connect the theater art and market in western China and the east, the east and the west of the world, and lead the integration of cultural and tourism innovation and the development of the whole industrial chain. The vision is grand and the path to realization is very clear.
"It's possible that we're going out with one troupe and coming back with two tour groups, which will form the fulcrum of theatrical tourism." Liu Kang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Liangshan Cultural Tourism Group, shared the top-level design plan, that is, to innovate and integrate culture and tourism with the seven major content fulcrums of drama exhibition, drama forum, drama incubation, drama education, drama life, drama cultural creation, and theater tourism, and promote the development of the whole industrial chain of Liangshan cultural tourism.
The first theater festival has already achieved international exchanges, and in 2020, the Avignon Theatre Festival in France has set up special seats and spaces for the Daliangshan International Theatre Festival. If the plan is not disrupted, Liangshan Cultural Tourism Group will use this as a medium to obtain the right to perform chinese tours of foreign first-hand performing arts products, and open up channels for domestic excellent plays to go international.
▲ Daliangshan's original song collection "Catch the Set" appeared in the Xichanggu Theater
Stop here,
There may not be a next 100 years
In 2020, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the path of "going out and bringing in" was cut off. But the second Daliangshan International Drama Festival bucked the tide. Pu Cunxin, the first initiator of the Daliangshan International Drama Festival and chairman of the Chinese Dramatists Association, still has a fresh memory: the world's eight major drama festivals have a dialogue with Xichang in the clouds, the world's first live broadcast with plays has received 1 billion hits, foreign officials in China such as Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Suriname to China have attended the event in Liangshan, and the Daliangshan International Drama Festival has become a rare and normal theater festival in the world in 2020.
If this were stopped, the festival might not have the next 100 years. The theater industry and Liangshan cultural travelers all feel a sense of responsibility on their shoulders, but also secretly hold a momentum - to show the world that we have always existed. Industry insiders also believe that the brand value of the Daliangshan International Drama Festival will definitely affect the relevant cultural tourism revenue in the future.
In its third year, the test continues. The festival was postponed, and many of the original repertoire were cancelled. "I've also played a backsliding game and saying it's easy to give up." Pu Cunxin said that in the eyes of theater people around the world, China is very remarkable. It is precisely because of strong epidemic prevention measures and safety guarantees in place that the organizing committee can withstand the pressure to present more than 60 wonderful plays and more than 140 drama carnivals at the end of 2021. This shows the vision and courage of the local government, and also shows the strong resilience and vitality of the Chinese drama community.
On December 18, 2021, an "International Repertoire Promotion and Performance Fair" was held simultaneously online and offline, attracting the participation of France, Romania, Germany and other countries, with a total of more than 30 repertoire promoted by the National Drama Theatre of China, the China Children's Art Theatre and other units, and a series of strategic cooperation agreements such as Liangshan Cultural Tourism Group and the Yangtze River Delta Performing Arts Cooperation Alliance "6+1" Theater Line and the Pearl River Delta Performance Alliance were also signed at the fair.
Drama education should build a "reservoir" of talents
"What does an elephant look like?" What are the features? How do I imitate it? During the 2021 3rd Daliangshan International Drama Festival, in the dance classroom of the Xichang Music Base in Liangshan Prefecture, Zhao Miao, one of the initiators of the Daliangshan International Drama Festival and the founder of the Santuoqi Theater Troupe, is leading more than 50 children to train in drama and physical games. At the scene, the children's nature was greatly stimulated, and imagination and creativity spread throughout the classroom. This surprised Pu Cunxin, who was watching the performance: "I heard that the whole performance was less than 10 hours from creation to rehearsal, which shows that drama education has blossomed in Daliangshan." ”
"Children's theatre is a top priority today and in the future." The relevant person in charge of Liangshan Cultural Tourism Group revealed that Daliangshan is planning a children's drama festival and will use holidays and weekends to carry out extracurricular drama summer (winter) camps and drama weekends. "In the future, children will come from all over the world to Daliangshan to collect wind and create. Write a poem about the clouds, make up a story about sheep, rehearse a play created by yourself, learn group communication and collaboration in practice, and complete the comprehensive expression of aesthetic education. The person in charge said.
Since its launch in 2019, drama education has been an important fulcrum of the Daliangshan International Drama Festival. It is building a huge "reservoir" of theatrical talent, allowing the seeds of theater to take root and sprout here. For three consecutive years, the drama festival has joined hands with universities, and beijing dance academy, Shanghai theater academy, Sichuan conservatory of music, etc. have set up teaching practice bases here.
▲ Audiences enjoy the drama carnival
Daliangshan power
Construct a sub-center of literature and art in Sichuan Province
In Xichang in winter, the sun shines freely, and seabirds fly over the blue sky and water. In this city, which is known as the "perch of spring", tourists strolling the streets and citizens returning home from work often have an unexpected and beautiful encounter with the drama carnival.
"It was a pure and beautiful experience, my tears were about to flow out, and thousands of miles of rivers and mountains came back to life!" During the drama festival, the dance poetry drama "Only This Green" staged at the Golden Eagle Grand Theater in Xichang Torch Square was difficult to find, and the Chinese aesthetic feast surprised many young audiences. Gorgeous national costume show, innovative interpretation of Peking Opera, Sichuan opera, lion awakening performance... The third drama festival, which focuses on the national tide, ignited the enthusiasm and self-confidence of Chinese audiences, and also showed the world a cultural business card with Chinese characteristics.
Using drama as the medium, Daliangshan has timely pushed its unique history, culture and natural scenery to the stage of world cultural exchanges. Firmly believing that "green water and green mountains are golden mountains and silver mountains", on the road of rural revitalization, the party committee and government of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture have a firm vision and loudly put forward the goals of "creating new coordinates of Chinese literature and art and new IP of western cultural tourism" and "building a sub-center of literature and art in Sichuan Province". Liangshan has arranged all seasons of the year - spring is a Chinese national music festival, in the summer there is the Liangshan Yi traditional torch festival, in the autumn to create the Qionghai International Poetry Week, in the winter to hold the Liangshan International Drama Festival. In the future, the four fulcrums of music, poetry, drama and intangible cultural heritage will support Liangshan to become a sub-center of literature and art in Sichuan Province.
(Courtesy of Liangshan Cultural Tourism Group)
February 10, 2022 China Culture Daily
Special reports were published on the 4th edition
"Three Years of Looking Back, the Drama Festival Makes DaliangShan "Seen" Again"
Editor-in-charge: Zhang Haining