Stills from the acrobatic play "Swan Lake".
"I've only done one thing in my life, and that's acrobatics." The road to simplicity, a seemingly simple sentence interprets the artistic life of acrobatics ninggenfu.
In the era of actors, he specialized in "pedestals" and gave countless wonderful performances. As the head of the Warrior Acrobatic Troupe, he led the troupe to participate in the national, national and international acrobatic competitions, and won the "Golden Clown" award of the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival three times in ten years, which is well-known at home and abroad. He promoted the reform and innovation of Chinese acrobatics, elevating traditional acrobatics to artistic acrobatics. In 2005, he created China's first acrobatic drama "Swan Lake", which toured more than 200 times around the world, won a number of domestic and foreign awards, and let the "Oriental Swan" fly to the world. After retiring from the leadership position of the Warrior Acrobatic Troupe, he still exerted his residual heat, took advantage of the tide of the era of the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to organize three sessions of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao-Taiwan Magic Festival, and in 2021, he created a modern acrobatic drama "Hua Butterfly" for the Guangzhou Acrobatic Art Theater as an art director.
"I dream of 'lifting' traditional Chinese acrobatics into the halls of modern art like a 'pedestal' holding up the top." In the 66 years since his career, the dream flower of Ningenfu is still constantly bearing new fruits.
Character business card
Ning Genfu male, Han ethnicity, born in September 1950. Acrobatic artist (program director), 66 years from art. He was the vice chairman of the China Acrobats Association and the chairman of the Guangdong Acrobats Association. Representative works include "Sasshuang Heroic Daughter Red - Women's Big Springboard", "Silver Imagination - Women's Shaking Palanquin", "Starry Light", "Ballet Opponent Top - Oriental Swan", etc., and presided over the production of China's first acrobatic drama "Swan Lake". He won the lifetime honorary award of the 2nd China Acrobatic "Hundred Opera Awards", the "Special Contribution Award" of the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival, and the honorary title of the first "Artist of Virtue and Art" by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles. The acrobatic drama "Swan Lake" won the First Prize of the All-Army Literary and Art Performance Repertoire Award and the First Prize for Acrobatic Creation, the "Top Ten Fine Repertoire" Award of the National Stage Art Fine Arts Project, the Outstanding Repertoire Award of the "Five Ones Project" of the Central Propaganda Department, the Gold Award and The Best Director Award of the Chinese Acrobatic Jinju Award, and the Best International Repertoire Award of the Royal Manchester Theatre Awards in the United Kingdom.
A solid "pedestal" holds up a brilliant acrobatic life
"Rocking belly bar", "parallel bar flying pole", "belly bar halter neck rotation", "parallel bar neck support single bar"... This string of seemingly incredible acrobatic and difficult moves is exactly the unique skill that Ning Genfu has practiced since he was a child.
At the age of 5, he learned art, at the age of 9, he entered the China Railway Cultural and Labor Troupe, and at the age of 13, he entered the Soldier Acrobatic Troupe of the Guangzhou Military Region. There is a saying in the acrobatic world: "The foundation is not firm, and the ground is shaking." "Running, jumping rope, pressing sandbags... Day after day of hard training, Ning Genfu practiced the "base" skill of not moving like a mountain, even if the weight is more than 200 kilograms, the action is still clean and sharp.
A few years later, he began to perform on stage, participating in many programs such as "Top Bowl", "Wooden Brick Top", "Car Skills", "Drilling Circle", "Shaking Palanquin", "Opponent Top", "Big Springboard" and so on.
In the early 1970s, the Hong Kong documentary "Acrobatic Hero" swept the country, and in the film, Ning Genfu and his partner Cai Ronghua performed "Lifting the Bar", which left a deep impression on the audience. In particular, Ning Genfu's performance of "one-handed pole lifting" was a pioneering achievement in the domestic acrobatic community at that time, and his artistic photos were hung on the art corridor of the China Acrobats Association in Beijing. Later, he practiced the "double shoulder neck single pole" of one person carrying three people, which once again became the first in the country.
In 1983, Ning Genfu became the deputy head of the Warrior Acrobatic Troupe, and in 1990 he was promoted to the head of the regiment, and was also the first acrobat-turned-leader of the regiment. In 1991, the Central Military Commission awarded the Warrior Acrobatic Troupe the honorary title of "Model of Art", and as a solid "base" for the whole regiment, Ning Genfu deeply felt a heavy responsibility on his shoulders.
"Traditional acrobatics are deeply accumulated and skilled, but they still lack recognition in the art industry." Ning Genfu recalled that at an award ceremony, a bronze medalist in a ballet program was reluctant to share the stage with the acrobatic gold medalist to receive the award, "This matter deeply stung me." He realized that improving the artistic beauty, cultural connotation and social identity of acrobatics was an urgent task.
At that time, Ningenfu also had a dream, that is, to win the "Oscar of the circus world" - the "Golden Clown" award at the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival. Before he became the leader of the regiment, the Warrior Acrobatic Troupe had won many awards at home and abroad, but this honor was missing. Ning Genfu was determined to win the "Golden Clown" award in three to five years.
By carefully studying the footage from previous Monte Carlo award-winning programs, Ningenfurt realized that the development of acrobatics must evolve with the times and learn from all. To this end, he watched dances, listened to concerts, watched theater performances... Absorbing creative inspiration from a variety of art categories, we have established the innovative concept of "people without me, people with me new, no new without introduction, and no essence without competition".
The "Oriental Swan" gorgeous butterfly transforms into a stunning world
Since then, Ning Genfu led the Warrior Acrobatic Troupe to unite and work tirelessly, creating a miracle of winning the "Golden Clown" Award three times in ten years: at the 17th Monte Carlo International Circus Festival in 1993, the Warrior Acrobatic Troupe won the "Golden Clown" award for the first time with "Double Top Bowl"; 5 years later, "Women's Big Springboard" won the President's Award of the French Republic in Paris, France, and won the second "Golden Clown" trophy for the group; in 2002, Wei Baohua and Wu Zhengdan won the breathtaking "Ballet Opponent Top- Oriental Swan", once again embracing the "Golden Clown" award. In 2016, the Monte Carlo International Circus Festival presented Ningenfurt with a certificate of "Special Contribution Award". He also received the "Hundred Plays Award" from the China Acrobatic Artists Association, which is designed to recognize outstanding artists who have made significant contributions to the cause of acrobatics.
However, Ningenfurt's exploration of acrobatic art did not stop there. Guangdong is at the forefront of reform and opening up, deeply affected by the spring breeze of reform, and adjacent to Hong Kong and Macao, with developed information and active ideological concepts, Ning Genfu has the opportunity to observe and think about the innovation of the acrobatic industry from a broader perspective and the contrast of various types of arts.
"The hundred plays in front of the building compete for new, but the long pole is fascinating." Ning Genfu noted that traditional acrobatic programs have a series of limitations such as insufficient capacity and weight, limited performance connotation, educational significance and insufficient appreciation impact. "Only by developing in the direction of 'drama' and promoting our own transformation towards the goal of artistic acrobatics can we break through the restrictions and go further." Ningenfu said. As a result, he gradually had a bold idea in his mind - to rehearse the first large-scale acrobatic drama "Swan Lake" in China.
The acrobatic drama "Swan Lake" has for the first time in integrating the humanistic connotation of ballet into acrobatics, so that acrobatics are no longer simply a display of physical skills and skills, but skillfully integrate narrative, lyrical functions and characters into the plot reasonably. Ning Genfu and the creators have undergone countless repeated revisions, tearing down and restarting, and in September 2004, this "Oriental Swan" that combines East and West finally took shape. From March to early April 2005, the play was performed in 32 performances at the Shanghai Grand Theatre with great success, and then "flew" to more than 10 countries such as Russia, Japan, Switzerland, Germany and other more than 200 performances, and the praise everywhere went, and the British Royal Family awarded the manchester Drama Award for best international repertoire...
On the other hand, the double harvest of "Swan Lake" in the art and market has opened up the era of "drama" of Chinese acrobatics, and a number of excellent acrobatic dramas such as "Journey to the West" and "Smiling Proud of the Rivers and Lakes" that attach equal importance to "technology" and "art" and truly use acrobatics to tell stories have emerged one after another.
Improving cultural content to inherit the "tinder"
In the face of brilliant achievements, Ning Genfu did not feel satisfied. He has been constantly thinking in his head, what is the essence of Chinese acrobatics? How to make traditional acrobatics have a more vigorous vitality of the times and live forever?
In Ning Genfu's view, the root of acrobatic inheritance lies in the continuation of the spirit of Chinese culture. "At present, Chinese acrobatics can already represent the first-class level of international acrobatics, and the situation of emphasizing 'skills' instead of 'arts' in the past has also been greatly improved, but Chinese acrobats still need to accumulate and improve their cultural accomplishment." Ning Genfu said that to improve the cultural content of acrobatics, it is not to blindly use choreography and musical elements to "cover up" acrobatics, but to make them better set off the beauty of acrobatics and the beauty of traditional Chinese art.
Ninggenfu regards the construction of talent team as the foundation for creating high-quality products, and regards loving, cherishing and using talents as an important responsibility of leaders. Over the years, the success of each high-quality original program has also witnessed the emergence of generations of outstanding acrobatic talents: Xiao Mi, Tang Binbin, Hong Youfeng, Liu Siyu, Wu Zhengdan, Wei Baohua, Zhang Quan...
After stepping down as the head of the warrior acrobatic troupe, Ning Genfu did not leave his beloved acrobatic stage, but chose to continue to shine and inherit the acrobatic "tinder". In the past ten years, Ning genfu has been invited to serve as a judge in many major acrobatic competitions at home and abroad, to give lectures in various places, and to share his unique views on the innovation and development of acrobatics to the audience.
Not only that, when the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was in full swing, he vigorously promoted the holding of the three Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao-Taiwan Magic Festival in Guangdong, which played a powerful role in deepening cultural exchanges and cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan and promoting the development of Chinese acrobatic magic art. In 2021, the contemporary acrobatic drama "Hua Butterfly", directed by Ning Genfu, told the story of China in a variety of artistic languages such as acrobatics, dance and drama, and the venue was full of praise.
"I have only one wish in my life, that is, I want to change people's stereotypes that 'acrobatics are nothing more than juggling', and through the reform and innovation of acrobatics, transform traditional acrobatics into art acrobatics with modern cultural significance and aesthetic value, so that Chinese acrobatics can not only bloom in the palace of modern art, but also become more powerful with the rise of the cultural industry." This is Ning Genfu's acrobatic dream, and it is also the Chinese dream of an acrobat.
● Nanfang Daily reporter Wang Kai intern Hu Senming
● Nanfang Daily reporter Yang Yi correspondent Cai Yixian