The zhangjiakou Qunyi Museum dance team holds a special overlord whip to perform the dance. Photo by Cui Tao
(Beijing Winter Olympics) The "Overlord Whip" on the stage of the Winter Olympics: Dancing Chinese folk art to the world
Zhangjiakou, February 12 (Reporter Cui Tao Xiao Guangming) "This dance is mainly square dance, integrated into the movement of Hebei Intangible Cultural Heritage folk dance 'Overlord Whip', hoping to show the world Chinese culture and the happy and healthy spiritual outlook of our middle-aged and elderly people." Ma Lihua, deputy captain of the dance team of Zhangjiakou Mass Art Museum, said.
On the evening of February 4, the dance team participated in the welcome ceremony of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. This group of team members with an average age of more than 55 years old, armed with a special overlord whip, showed Zhangjiakou's unique folk art in front of the people of the world.
Bawang Whip is one of the unique props of the "Kangbao Duotai" drama in Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, and after evolution, the "Bawang Whip" has become a folk drama dance loved by the people in the Bashang area of Zhangjiakou. In 2017, the "Bawang Whip" was included in the list of intangible cultural heritage of Hebei Province as a traditional dance.
Jiang Huiru, artistic director of the dance team of the Zhangjiakou Mass Art Museum, said that there is no exact written record of the exact date of the "Overlord Whip" dance. According to the introduction of old folk artists, about the sixteenth year of Guangxu, the local folk had an amateur two-person stage drama team, after long-term practice, Kang Bao two-person stage gradually matured, from the "sitting cavity" form to two-person performance, and added dance. At this time, the most used in the dance is to play the "overlord whip".
The zhangjiakou Qunyi Museum dance team holds a special overlord whip to perform the dance. Photo by Cui Tao
According to Ma Lihua, on September 28, 2021, the director team of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics went to all parts of Hebei to be selected, and the dance team of the Zhangjiakou Mass Art Museum stood out as the cultural representative of the opening ceremony. After layers of selection, the final dance team participated in the welcome ceremony of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games with 24 team members and 1 substitute team member.
In the training room of the Zhangjiakou Mass Art Museum, Ma Lihua and the team members showed reporters the dance they performed at the opening ceremony, and a large number of jumping movements made them full of passion and vitality.
"The overlord whip used in this performance is our own improvement and processing, the whip body is silver as a whole, and the two ends of the whip are silver tassels, dancing like snowflakes. Our costumes are also processed by ourselves, sewn with a lot of shiny broken diamonds, and we hope to be the most shiny scenery on the stage. Ma Lihua said.
Jiang Huiru said that the dance on the stage of the Winter Olympics this time is mainly square dance, adding the traditional movement of the overlord whip, and the overall dance movement has been improved under the guidance of the Beijing director group, and it was officially determined near the official performance.
"The players cherish this opportunity." Jiang Huiru said that during the rehearsal in Beijing, the team members slept 4 to 5 hours a day. When there were still more than ten days before the opening ceremony, the epilogue director team asked the dance team to cooperate with the rehearsal of the opening ceremony, and the members of the dance team learned the epilogue dance overnight, and many of the team members' legs were swollen.
Talking about this special performance experience, 65-year-old Ma Lihua is very proud, "Don't look at the fact that most of the members of our dance team are old, we are not worse than young people in training, and even became a model for the 'Bird's Nest' training site." ”
Ma Lihua gave an example of the day they entered the show on Feb. 4, when the team members had to run quickly inside. "Like those young people, we ran a total of 7 times at a distance of 200 meters, almost all of which were run at the speed of 100 meters."
"Sisters of Zhangjiakou, you are awesome!" Ma Lihua said that this was a compliment that came from the radio during the training process of the "Bird's Nest", and it was also the best affirmation of their hard work.
"At the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, we danced on the stage of the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, not only showing the traditional culture of Zhangjiakou to the world, but also showing the vigorous spirit of Zhangjiakou as a city." Ma Lihua said. (End)