When the autumn breeze blows and the white snowflakes sprinkle on the earth, people quickly realize that winter is coming. Along with it came the xinjiang major historical theme dance drama "Zhang Qian", which is being nervously and fiercely rehearsed for the final rehearsal, which will be premiered at the Urumqi Grand Theater in the near future.
From the establishment of the project, interview, conception, creation in 2018, to the beginning of rehearsals at the beginning of this year, the dance drama "Zhang Qian" has come all the way to an extraordinary place, has silently entered the hearts of every creator and actor, and gradually entered the eyes of many people. After 2000 years, Zhang Qian, who chiseled the Silk Road, once again pushed it onto the historical stage, and everyone was waiting for it.
At the Urumqi Grand Theater Theater, Xing Shimiao, the general director of the dance drama "Zhang Qian" and a national first-class director, is guiding the actors on how to perform.
Many people know the Silk Road, and perhaps they don't know zhang qian as a historical figure. So, what kind of new feeling will the dance drama "Zhang Qian" bring us? With anticipation, the author interviewed Xing Shimiao, the general director of the dance drama "Zhang Qian" and a national first-class director.
At this time, the general director Xing Shimiao was not only excited and uneasy in his heart, but also had a sense of mission. This sense of mission has been with him from the repertoire song and dance drama "Warm Heavenly Mountain" performed at the opening ceremony of the 3rd China Xinjiang International Ethnic Dance Festival, the repertoire dance poem "Dance Steps in the Sun" at the opening ceremony of the 5th China Xinjiang International Ethnic Dance Festival, and then to the dance drama "Zhang Qian". Similarly, he hopes to convey a voice to people through this dance drama: from ancient times to the present, the people of all ethnic groups living in this land of Xinjiang are connected by blood with the motherland, and we are all members of a big family.
The conversation with the general director Xing Shimiao made the author feel that he had a lofty intention and ingenious conception of this drama, and he was more eager to look forward to this Xinjiang original dance drama to meet the audience as soon as possible.
Author: Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, historical records are relatively small, for such a famous figure in history, it is difficult to grasp, how do you understand and grasp this drama?
Xing Shimiao: Zhang Qian of the Han Dynasty chiseled the Western Regions, and after him, slowly formed the Silk Road. This is a road of peace, a road of cultural prosperity, a road of economic trade, and a road of connection and communication between the East and the West. I think that the thousand-year-old Silk Road love comes from the hollow man, and this person is Zhang Qian.
I studied the relevant historical materials, and when I conceived the play, I summarized it in one sentence and one word. In a word: pioneers, always lonely. Zhang Qian chiseled the western region, his back was lonely, and he walked far and wide. One word: go. Zhang Qian has walked all his life, this road, because of his walking, has gone through. There is also a shape: gaze. Zhang Qian's gaze on Emperor Wudi of Han's thinking, his mother's gaze on Zhang Qian's envoy, and Emperor Wudi of Han's gaze on Zhang Qian's painful reflections. One walk, one gaze, constitutes the narrative of this drama. Therefore, even if the historical records are relatively small, we can imagine that the things that this back shadow may have encountered have finally formed the current plot. That's our overall grasp of the show.
Author: Regarding Zhang Qian, a historical figure, how do you think, summarize and refine, and then design and conceive? How to represent this character?
Xing Shimiao: Actually, we are not talking about Zhang Qian's story, we want to express the emotions, emotions and spirit of Zhang Qian. Whether he was on his first or second mission to the Western Regions, or many expeditions to attack the Xiongnu, he was walking. We can't imagine how he walked on this road in the western region 2,000 years ago, when there was an extreme scarcity of materials. What is even more incomprehensible is that he has been poor and destitute, and more than 10 years later, with a wife and children, he still thinks that the mission given to him by Emperor Wu of Han has not been completed, and he continues to move forward. I think it's remarkable that a person can hold fast to his faith in this way.
Xing Shimiao, the general director of the dance drama "Zhang Qian" and a national first-class director
Therefore, we want to present Zhang Qian's mind and ideological spirit to the audience through this dance drama, and other specific details are ignored. In the play, we run the plot through to the end through one link, from the original three acts to the current four acts, namely "Zhi Jie", "Shou Jie", "Feng Jie" and "Chuan Jie". Zhang Qian took over the mission given to him by Emperor Wu of Han, along the way, not forgetting his original intention, keeping the Han Festival, walking in accordance with the festival, experiencing all kinds of difficulties, unshakable in any inducement, transmitting the voice of peace, spreading to the western region, so that more and more people followed him and walked in the direction of china's territorial unity and peace. That's how we designed and conceived of this character.
Author: What kind of ideological character and spirit does Zhang Qian mainly show in the play, and how does it manifest?
Xing Shimiao: Use concise language to express Zhang Qian's ideological character and spirit, that is, loyalty, perseverance and kindness.
For the sake of peace, Zhang Qian spent his life walking in the Western Regions. Don't forget your original intention, forge ahead. In fact, during the rehearsal, we were also thinking about how Zhang Qian insisted on going on at that time, and how we fully expressed this ideological character and spirit in him. To this end, we have thought of many ways from various aspects such as plot, stage installation, including dance vocabulary, and used innovative techniques to fully express this ideological character and spirit.
Historical figures are not empty and conceptual, he has flesh and blood, and he also has seven emotions and six desires. Shaping this historical figure is not an easy task. Therefore, we also designed some fictional plots, so that the story in the play is linked one by one, slowly enriching the character's emotions, and expressing his ideological character and spirit through the storyline and character emotions. Of course, these fictional plots are reasonable reasoning and designed by the choreographer according to the character's ideological character and spiritual context, which I believe is in line with human nature.
Author: Although this is a dance drama with the theme of historical figures, it should have contemporary practical significance, what is its contemporary practical significance?
Xing Shimiao: I think that Zhang Qian, a cultural emissary and civilization emissary from the Central Plains before 2,000 years ago, had a peaceful and well-intentioned heart, and brought prosperity to the Western Regions with the culture and civilization of the Central Plains. He walked in the western region, doing nothing else, just telling you how prosperous and developed the civilization and culture of the Central Plains were, and that we could merge into one and become members of a common big family. Therefore, this drama is to tell people that a long time ago, the land of Xinjiang belonged to the territory of China, and people here were guixin and Datong a long time ago.
We must learn from Zhang Qian's ideological spirit of not forgetting his original intention, being unswerving, adhering to his faith, eliminating all difficulties, and vowing not to give up until he reaches his goal. I believe that as a person, no matter who it is, men, women and children, they must have a certain spiritual belief, and they must be touched and proud to have the ideological spirit of such an ancestor. Only when our spiritual beliefs become strong and strong can our country stand tall in the forest of the world. At present, the Chinese nation has reached a major change unprecedented in a hundred years, and it has stood up from a bullied nation, become strong, and marched to the forefront of the world. Therefore, through this dance drama, we hope to let more people realize that I am a member of the Chinese nation and must make all my efforts for the country to have a sound physique and pure heart.
Xing Shimiao: National first-class director, former head of the Guangzhou Military Region Political Department Soldiers' Cultural and Labor Troupe, winner of the honor of "Dancer with Outstanding Contribution" in China, has served as the general director of the opening and closing ceremonies of national large-scale literary and art evenings for many times, and his works have won many national awards.
Author: Zhang Yingchun