"When I was a child, my family lived on Shimen 2nd Road, and later moved to Taixing Road, almost 100 meters away from the Majestic Theater, which is the place where my artistic career began to begin." Ballet performance artist and the second generation of "Qionghua" of "Red Detachment of Women" Xue Jinghua said that when she was a child, she watched the old movie "Lenin in 1918" at Maggie, and the "Swan Lake" footage in the film for a few minutes opened her eyes, "It turned out that ballet was to tiptoe to dance. ”
As a series of activities themed "Red Jing'an Centennial Classics", from June 25 to 27, the classic play "Red Detachment of Women" of the National Ballet of China will be staged at the Majestic Theatre. Today, on the first day of the theme exhibition of "The Red Detachment of Women", Xue Jinghua was invited to return to her hometown to share her artistic insights with the Shanghai audience.
Entering the military camp and taking root in the people, the "Girl Scout Army" will eventually "become an army"
Born in 1964, "The Red Detachment of Women" has created a classic of the times and has performed more than 4,000 times so far. The heroine of the dance drama "Qionghua" is played by the famous dancer Bai Shuxiang in the first generation, and the second generation of "Qionghua" Xue Jinghua initially played the company commander in "The Red Detachment of Women" and later played Qionghua. According to Xue Jinghua, the first stop of the national tour of the ballet "Red Detachment of Women" was in Shanghai, which was also the first time she showed her dance posture to her mother on the stage.
In 1956, 30 Shanghai dolls took a train to the Beijing Dance School to learn ballet. "As soon as the train started, our tears flowed down." Xue Jinghua still clearly remembers the three-day and three-night journey, away from her parents, perhaps allowing children to first understand the "cruel" side of ballet art. "I miss home and my mother, but after writing a letter to my family, I turn around and go into rehearsal, and soon I forget everything." Xue Jinghua recalled that she did not return to Shanghai until the summer vacation of the dance school, "the height jumped up a lot, and the clothes and pants were short." ”
Time flies, Xue Jinghua's dance skills have improved by leaps and bounds under the guidance of experts, and she has stood firmly on the stage when the Central Ballet of China rehearsed "Red Detachment of Women" in the 1960s. This pioneering work of Chinese national ballet, born from the practice of revolutionary history, integrates the aesthetic of ballet with traditional Chinese art in the influence of Soviet theatrical ballet, creating a new dance vocabulary.
The creative platoon of "Red Detachment of Women" concentrates elite soldiers, and the choreographers burst out with the greatest creative enthusiasm. There is no shortage of national innovations in ballet art in the play, which integrate the appearances, round fields, downwind flags, palms, and Li ethnic dance elements in Chinese opera into the graceful ballet posture, artistically showing the sense of strength and justice of revolutionary soldiers. The orchestras containing traditional Chinese instruments, the soundtrack of folk songs and melodies, and the accompaniment forms of singing and dancing have all broken the stereotypes of ballet art and opened up a new world belonging to Chinese national ballet.
Innovative breakthroughs again and again, pushed over and over again, in Xue Jinghua's view, "classics are polished little by little." When Xue Jinghua auditioned, she was questioned for "too handsome looking", and the makeup artist could only attach two thick eyebrows to her, and also stuffed two apples in her mouth to make her look plumper and more heroic. In order to play the girl scouts well, the main actors went down to the grass-roots level, went to the countryside to work in the fields, and entered the military camp for strict training. The girls followed the troops every day, practicing one by one, and gradually had the appearance of "soldiers".
Entering the military camp and taking root in the people, the "Girl Scout Army" eventually "became an army". With a performance full of strength and passion, Xue Jinghua depicted the experience of transforming the wild girl who escaped from the Nanba Heaven and Earth Prison into a revolutionary fighter, which impressed the audience.
Draw forward strength in classic art and feel the feelings of the times in history
Conveying China's spiritual temperament and expressing the core values of Chinese, "The Red Detachment of Women" is not only the "heirloom" of the National Ballet of China, but also the "compulsory course" of Chinese ballet actors. For them, every move of "Red Detachment of Women" is like a textbook existence.
For more than half a century, from the first generation of "Qionghua" to the sixth generation of "Qionghua", "Red Detachment of Women" has continued to write the artistic stories belonging to Chinese ballet with the efforts of generations of Chinese balleters. Feng Ying, director and artistic director of the Central Ballet, is the "third generation" Qionghua, and Xu Gang, assistant to the artistic director and ballet master of the National Ballet of China, has also played an important role in the play. "The 'Spirit of the Red Detachment of Women' is passed down from generation to generation." Xu Gang said that the performance of China Baba in Shanghai will be starred by the "sixth generation" Qionghua.
At the press conference, the main actors of the ballet "Red Girl Scouts", young actors Qiu Yunting and She Zhaohuan showed the classic clips of the play, which attracted a warm response from the scene. With familiar music and moving dance steps, the "Girl Scout Army" came to Jing'an, bringing the audience and the public the most familiar, most intimate and classic collective red memory.
The revolutionary historical story of the ballet "The Red Detachment of Women" is placed in today's context, and its spiritual core is still full of strong appeal. Behind it is the unchangeable faith and continuous exploration of the Chinese Communists over the past hundred years, and through the form of ballet art, the spiritual power inherited for a hundred years has once again ignited passion and glory in the hearts of contemporary audiences.
New eras continue to give new vitality and creativity to classic works. For today's audience, "Red Detachment of Women" is not only a classic red hero story, but also a female story that pursues equality and freedom. The bravery, perseverance, hard work and kindness of revolutionary women still shine dazzlingly on the stage of the Majestic Theatre.
Innovate to create the style of literary and artistic party lessons, and cultural forces stir up the echo of history
In Jing'an, Shanghai, the Central Ballet of China has created a red classic cultural style with an innovative series of activities such as "stage performances, art sharing, and historical material exhibitions". The exhibits of the theme exhibition "Red Detachment of Women" carry the memory of the times and are full of the enduring vitality of a red classic, which is displayed in the Majestic Theater that has accumulated over the past 80 years. The symphony of history collides here, playing a high-spirited spiritual movement.
Exhibits full of red feelings, pictures of red memories, and historical materials depicting the vicissitudes of the past lead viewers back to the era of revolutionary stories and the process of red classic inheritance. The memory of the times is presented in the most intuitive way in front of the audience, the centuries of glory unfold like a picture scroll, and the spirit and faith of the heroes in the long river of history have passed through a hundred years and endured for a long time.
The theme series of activities of "Red Jing'an Century Classic" and "Red Detachment of Women" are sponsored by the People's Government of Jing'an District and Shanghai Radio and Television Station, undertaken by Jing'an District Culture and Tourism Bureau and Shanghai Wenguang Performing Arts (Group) Co., Ltd., and co-organized by Shanghai Performing Arts Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Majestic Theatre. Hua Xiangyi, deputy director of the Jing'an District Culture and Tourism Bureau, believes that there are more than 100 important revolutionary sites in the Jing'an area, and the red gene is deeply integrated into the blood of Jing'an and rooted in the hearts of the citizens. On the occasion of the centenary of the founding of the Party, on the artistic stage of the Majestic Theater, which is full of 80 years of accumulation, the reproduction of "Red Women's Army", a pioneering work of national ballet that condenses the revolutionary feelings of the Chinese people, stirs up the echo of history and national charm, and is an important part of Jing'an District to create a "red culture" brand.
Author: Xuanjing
Editor: Zhou Minxian