Next to the crowded pork stall, a slender girl tiptoes and spins lightly, which is demure and beautiful, which makes people move.
Three years ago, a documentary called "Little Boy" made hundreds of millions of netizens remember the little girl "Xiaoyun'er" who danced ballet in a pork shop. Because of her encounter with Bole, "Xiao Yun'er" was successfully admitted to the High School Attached to Sichuan Vocational College of Arts last year, and when she walked out of the small pork shop, she was greeted by a professional dance studio and a stage full of spotlights.
And this Bole is Zhang Ping, who is engaged in choreographing in Beijing. Since launching the "Caiyun Project" in 2016, Zhang Ping and his wife have helped 90 children like "Xiaoyun'er" in Yanshan County, Yunnan Province to enter professional art academies free of charge. The "little Caiyun" affectionately call her "Ami" (Yi language, meaning mother).
Thousands of miles to protect "a cloud"
"Xiaoyun'er" Wu Gangyun's hometown is in Naduo Village, Yanshan County, Wenshan Zhuang and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province.
Her mother runs a pork stall for a living, and her father drives a big truck to run long distances. In order to support "Xiao Yun'er's" hobby, her mother took her around to apprentice, but "Xiao Yun'er's" amazing talent made the dance teachers in the small county town wave their hands again and again: "We teach basic courses, and she is too condescending to learn here." ”
"The little girl is very flexible!" Through the well-wishers "threading the needle", Zhang Ping, who was far away in Beijing, saw this video. When she first watched the video, she couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth slightly, but in addition to joy, she was worried: "She follows the video to learn, and many actions are mirrored, and if it goes on like this, I'm afraid that the practice will be biased." ”
Zhang Ping came to Yunnan from Beijing to tutor Xiaoyun'er to dance, courtesy of the interviewee
The remote guidance did not work well for a while, so Zhang Ping decided to resign and come to Naduo Village to teach her dance. Leg press, shoulder opening...... Everything started from scratch, and the professional training made "Xiao Yun'er" cry in pain. After insisting on practicing for three years, "Xiao Yuner" was admitted to the High School Attached to Sichuan Vocational College of Arts and embarked on the road of dance as he wished.
"Teacher, what can you do with a good dance?"
In fact, "Xiao Yun'er" is not the only reason why Zhang Ping traveled thousands of miles to the mountains of Yunnan.
Zhang Ping was born in Yanshan County, Yunnan, and as early as 2016, a photo in the circle of friends brought her to Naduo Village. "The girl in the photo is very beautiful, but her face is dirty, but her eyes are full of longing."
Zhang Ping's husband is a teacher at the Beijing Dance Academy, and in their early years, they did the "Ballet on the Ridge" public welfare project in Hebei together, and it was those slightly melancholy eyes that led Zhang Ping to Naduo Village, a village where left-behind children gather.
On the red earth, Zhang Ping danced with the children Photo provided by the interviewee
"The little girls here are very beautiful, and when I ask them what they want, they say they like hairpins the most, but they want their mom and dad to be around." The timid children made Zhang Ping particularly distressed.
Bamboo in the mountains was cut down to make dance poles, and temporary tents were set up as dance practice rooms...... In addition to accompanying the children, Zhang Ping and her husband taught the children to dance, and established the "Yanshan County Caiyun Project Public Welfare Volunteer Service Center".
Zhang Ping and his wife teach their children to dance in a makeshift tent Photo courtesy of the interviewee
At first, the children were highly motivated, but gradually, fewer and fewer children came to practice the dance.
"Teacher, what can you do with a good dance?" "I can go to Beijing!" "So what does Beijing have?" In the empty country dance studio, Zhang Ping fell into deep thought in the face of the children's fiery eyes, and she decided to take them out for a walk. "At first, my parents thought I was a 'human trafficker,' but they didn't believe me until they heard that the village chief and the township chief were also going with me."
At the beginning of 2017, 12 girls from Naduo Village went out for the first time in their lives and came to Beijing.
On their debut on stage, they received numerous accolades for their agile dancing. Seeing the piano for the first time and receiving gifts from caring people, in just a few days, they seem to have entered a fairy tale world.
Zhang Ping brought her children to Beijing at her own expense, courtesy of the interviewee
In stark contrast to the joy of the departure, the children were in tears when they returned. Like Cinderella, soon, their lives will return to square one—what awaits them is to marry and have children early, and stay in the depths of the mountains from now on.
This scene made Zhang Ping feel guilty: "You can't bring them into the fairy tale world and fight back to the same place." ”
Zhang Ping mobilized the resources around her, recruited middle school music teachers and other volunteers as volunteers, and invested more than 2 million yuan to build a new more than 500 square meters of space in Naduo Village, so that children in the mountains can eat, live and learn dance here during the holidays.
In 2019, the appearance of "Xiaoyun'er" made Zhang Ping resolutely decide to resign and come to Naduo Village.
Let the "little colored clouds" float to the wider sky
"Can you make a living by learning to dance? Ancestors have been able to sing and dance for generations, why can't they get out of the mountains? "Parents' doubts are not without reason, after all, before that, the children here have not even heard of art exams.
Zhang Ping went door-to-door and persuaded a group of students who had originally planned to give up, not charging a penny of tuition, tutoring them for free, and taking them to take the art exam.
Zhang Ping eats and lives with the girls in the mountains Photo provided by the interviewee
Gradually, not only the children of Naduo Village, but also neighboring villages and even other towns also found her, a rural dance studio, carrying the long-cherished wish of the mountain girl to change her fate.
In 2020, Zhang Ping founded the Yanshan Caiyi Culture and Art Training School, which provides free learning opportunities for children from poor families in mountainous areas, and also provides employment for girls after graduation.
In the past eight years, the "Caiyun Project" has covered 33 villages in 13 townships and towns in Yanshan County, and helped 90 children of Zhuang, Miao, Yi, Yao and Dai ethnic groups to be admitted to Kunming Art School, Art School Affiliated to Yunnan University of the Arts, High School Affiliated to Yunnan Vocational College of Culture and Art, and Secondary School Affiliated to Sichuan Vocational College of Art.
Among the first graduates, 4 have been admitted to universities, including Minzu University of China, Yunnan University of Arts, Yunnan Vocational College of Art, and 1 person was admitted to Yunnan Provincial Song and Dance Theater.
Some of the first batch of "Little Caiyun" who learned dance with Zhang Ping returned to the dance center founded by Zhang Ping to teach and help more girls realize their dreams on the stage.
Zhang Ping teaches children in the mountains to dance ballet, courtesy of the interviewee
"I don't know what dancing can bring them, but girls are born for beauty, and I hope to give them back this attribute, so that they can engage in art and bring dignity to them." This simple wish has supported Zhang Ping and his wife all the way to today.
The 90 "little colored clouds" who walked out of the mountains will float to a broader sky with the expectations of their hometowns.