Rehearsal site
Courtesy of the producer
Recently, under the guidance of the Propaganda Department of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, produced by the Propaganda Department of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Guangzhou Radio and Television Station, the country's first original street dance dream theater "Our Life" was rehearsed for the first time at the Lingnan Theater in Guangzhou, and the play will be officially performed at the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Guangzhou from September 24 to 26 at 19:30. From the large-scale national dance drama "Wake Up Lion" to the ballet "Haoran Iron Army", from the opera "Marco Polo" to the movie "Water Moon in Hand" and "A Little Starlight"... In recent years, Guangzhou literary and artistic creations have successively launched high-quality masterpieces, and a number of works that carry forward mainstream values have demonstrated the "new brilliance" of literary and artistic creation. "It is the largest operation, the strongest mobilization force, the highest technical content, the largest rehearsal accuracy and density since there was street dance in China." Art director Xia Guangxing introduced "Our Lives" in this way. The new debut of the street dance dream theater "Our Life" is another innovative attempt of "Guangzhou Production", which not only shows the new vitality of literature and art in the new era of Guangzhou, but also presents a healthy trend of the development of Guangzhou's cultural industry. Text: Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Li Qiaorong Photo: Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Chen Youzi (except for the signature) Correspondent: Zhang Jing Chen Yiyi Scale and mobilization of strength unprecedented five rounds of elimination system selection contestant Xia Guangxing, the general director of China's first original symphonic street dance work "Yellow River", sat in the art direction of "Our Life", he said, "Street dance has been introduced to China for less than half a century, from scratch, and has continued to develop. Most of its previous forms of expression focused on TELEVISION drafts, street dance competitions, team performances, etc., which were basically small-scale and relatively single forms. Like the street dance dream theater "Our Life", there is a preliminary audition recruitment, planning, organized, and scripted to carry out a street dance mobilization, which is the first time since there is street dance in China. ” 。 According to Xia Guangxing, in addition to the specially invited actors, other actors are selected through auditions. The actor audition began at the beginning of June this year and lasted for two months, hundreds of street dancers signed up to participate, and the classification of all dance types such as lock dance, break dance, mechanical dance and so on was carried out, and the contestants had to go through five rounds of elimination system selection before they could finally be selected. "Since August 2, all the actors have been intensively closed in training, and now it has lasted for nearly 40 days, with nearly ten hours of rehearsals every day, and the precision and density of such rehearsals are unprecedented in the Chinese street dance industry, which also witnesses the love and dedication of this group of young street dancers to street dance." Xia Guangxing said. Zheng Feng, deputy director and executive deputy director of the Guangdong Street Dance Alliance, said that the actors who stood out in the sea selection were mainly in Guangdong Province, and there were also street dance lovers in Beijing, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Guangxi and other places, and some even shut down their business or quit their jobs in order to participate. "I think it's well worth it." Yue Lan, a repertoire actor from Henan, is a jazz dancer and the head of a dance studio. When she brushed the information of "crew audition recruitment" on her mobile phone, she did not hesitate to close her studio and went south to Guangzhou to participate in the audition of the crew, and was successfully selected. "It was a challenge for me, and I wanted to participate in this theater of dreams with all my heart and all my heart. After working for such a long time, the trivialities of life have consumed my pursuits, and through participating in this drama, I have found my original love for dance. Yue Lan was very glad he had made this choice. The team with the highest technical content Has no less than 10 champions of various street dance theaters The cast of "Our Life" in the Street Dance Dream Theater is "full of masters". China's first world street dance champion Zhou Renxun (Ah Ya), "This! It is The overall champion of "Street Dance 1" Han Yu, well-known dancers Liu Yaqian, Xi Jiaqi, Huang Haining, as well as Zhou You, Li Qian, Yu Jidong, Jiang Dechao, Huang Xin, Wei Tao, Gong Jin, Wu Yuxiang, Zheng Haodong, Zhou Yuxiang and other street dance stars have joined the camp. "Among our actors, no less than 10 have won various international and domestic street dance competitions." The show's choreographer and lead actor Ah Ya said. "At my age, I feel very lucky to have this opportunity." Xi Jiaqi, one of the main actors, is a high school sophomore in Zhongshan, Guangdong Province, who won the overall championship of mechanical dance in the China division of the World Street Dance Championships. When she first watched the rehearsal of some dance segments, she was shocked by the live effect and the level of rehearsal, "I really didn't expect to be able to line up street dance to such a level, not only to dance well, but also to act well." "Our hip-hop dream theater was initially positioned to invite the highest-level hip-hop dancers in the hip-hop industry to serve as our main performers and lead dancers to create the most 'technical' team." Xia Guangxing said. At the same time, he said, "In the sea selection, we have seen a lot of good 'seedlings' dancing in the street dance, which also makes us full of hope for the development of street dance in the future." The collision of tradition and trends Guangzhou culture and street dance together tell contemporary stories When "Cantonese opera, Wing Chun, Chicken Gonglan, English song and dance..." meet "lock dance, vibration dance, break dance..." and other street dance styles, what kind of audiovisual feast and cultural new experience will it be? "Music director Chen Mudi grew up in Guangzhou, he knows Cantonese music very well; choreographer and lead actor Ah Ya is the first street dance champion from Guangdong to the world; screenwriter Luo Li is a local screenwriter in Guangzhou, and the script is based on the stories of local young volunteers and street dancers in Guangzhou." "Falling flowers cover the sky with moonlight, borrow a cup of phoenix..." Along with the flow of this classic Cantonese opera, the dancers expressed the various aspects of life with mechanical dance, break dance and other street dance techniques. Chicken rooster, god of food, shrimp dumplings, roasted... Typical Guangzhou cultural symbols highlight the unique charm of this cultural city. "We have incorporated a lot of local things into the choreography, making the whole play more realistic and grounded." The choreographer and star of the drama, Guangdong Zai Aya introduced. Screenwriter Luo Li said: "'Our Life' is divided into three chapters: Searching for Light, Approaching Light, and Emitting Light, which is the material and inspiration obtained when interviewing young volunteers in Guangzhou, and is also a stage artistic presentation of the real life of contemporary young people. The story tells the story of the rebellious street dance teenager Ah Yu, the inferior left-behind girl Xiao Meng, and the optimistic and positive volunteer Tianhong who became friends because of street dance, unremittingly chased his dreams in volunteer service, and joined hands to contribute to the struggle trajectory of society; at the same time, Ah Yu father and son moved toward reconciliation in the conflict between trend culture and traditional culture, boldly "melted the martial arts into dance", and cast the spirit of the times and traditional culture in the new era of Chinese street dance. "It's a Chinese way of expression." Art director Xia Guangxing believes that the whole work uses the cultural accumulation of Guangdong and the expression form of street dance to tell the story of the dreams and dedication of a new generation of young people in China. The first "Street Dance Dream Theater" The combination of street dance and stage art In recent years, with the continuous introduction of dance variety shows, Chinese street dance has successfully "broken the circle". Can the country's first original street dance dream theater "Our Life" be out of the circle? "It's not a simple show, it's not an entertainment show, it's a real place that contains dreams and struggles." Feng Shuangbai, chairman of the China Dancers Association and artistic director of the play, said so. Looking at the past domestic street dance art presentation methods, most of them are variety shows, theme movies, song and dance performances, etc. However, the stage art of requiring dancers to both dance and perform character performances according to the script is the first time in China. "Because it is called 'Hip Hop Dream Theatre', the form and content of the whole play can be richer and more inclusive." Xia Guangxing said, so the whole drama reflects a sense of innovation, which is unprecedented. "For example, every play we create is basically a modern and fashionable way of street dance to express a real life of the current Chinese." In addition, Xia Guangxing also believes that the launch of the play will subvert the traditional stage art and provide a new choice to meet the needs of the people for literary and artistic works in the new era. The emergence of the country's first original street dance dream theater "Our Life" full of creativity will surely add a strong touch to the cultural charm of Guangzhou.