Just a slight smile, like an angel. When the beautiful music sounds in her ears, she uses a soft and stretched dance posture to interpret the dignity and elegance, beauty and generosity of Mongolian women to people. She is the famous Mongolian dancer , Schentazhiha.
Whether it is the duo dance "Hope" or the collective dance "Ordos", Szcentariha always impresses people with his enthusiastic and lively performances. And she is not only a performing artist, but also a national dance educator. If her fame is related to her artistic talent and tireless exploration, then her success is rooted in her dreams and decades of perseverance.
Interview with Szentariha
Colorful butterflies flying out of "Folk Song Paradise"
In 1932, Schentazhiha was born into a wealthy family in the village of Abakan Xipo in Dalai County (later assigned to Jilin Province) in Heilongjiang. His grandfather, Barajul, was a highly respected figure in the village, who could also pull four beards and sing many folk songs. Her mother, Jejiga, was the "first beauty" of Abakan Xipo Village, not only beautiful, but also had a good voice. People in dozens of miles will find her as a singer for wedding events, and the folk songs she sings are particularly popular. Szczentariha grew up listening to these folk songs. And Abakan Xipo Village is also a sea of folk songs and a paradise of music. The men and women of the village, young and old, are particularly fond of music. The women sang songs when they were sarcastic and picked beans, and a happy smile appeared on their faces. Every summer evening, people sit around the courtyard, playing flutes and singing folk songs. In winter, gather at Barajul's house, drinking thick black tea and listening to Hulchi (a traditional Horqin rap artist) rapping "Urigel". Such an environment cultivated the artistic cells of Szcentariha, who could sing many folk songs from an early age. It was the familiar melody of the folk song that infiltrated her young heart; it was the simple and kind folk who nurtured her with song. At the age of 11, Szentariha entered the Zagat Flag Indel Primary School, where she represented the school in various cabaret performances. Szentariha is beautiful and intelligent, with keen insight and superhuman imitation, and she learns quickly what the teacher teaches, and is often praised by the teacher. However, less than two years after enrollment, the school was forced to close due to the current situation.
In 1947, his cousin Gegen Tarrha, who grew up with Szczentariha, was invited by her fiancé to study in Ulanhot. Hearing this news, Szcentariha's heart could not be contained. She longs to go to school with her sister and see the outside world and customs. At this time, Szczentariha's father happened to be out of town, and all the mothers in the family had the final say. Considering the turbulent situation, rampant banditry, and constant war, Jiejiga firmly opposed her daughter's request. No matter how hard Szczentariha pleaded, her mother was as unwavering as a rock. After crying, making trouble, and taking various methods to no avail, Szczentariha chose to "go on a hunger strike." The kind mother saw that her daughter had such perseverance and the desire to go out at such a young age, and she reluctantly agreed.
With great enthusiasm, Schentazhiha studied at the Inner Mongolia Youth School for a period of time and then transferred to the Inner Mongolia Military and Political University to continue his studies. During this time, she was assigned to the school's literary team as a dancer. Soon, she became a professional actor in the Inner Mongolia Song and Dance Troupe. Since then, the song and dance troupe and dance have been linked to the life of Szentariha, and she is like a colorful butterfly, flying freely in the kaleidoscope of flowers.
Interview with Szentariha
Trained in professional dance, "pain and joy"
In 1949, Szczentazh accompanied the Chinese youth delegation to Hungary to participate in the Second World Youth Festival, and performed the dance "Hope" with The Dark Cloud. Artists from all over the world watched the cheerful and beautiful, simple and bold, robust and powerful Mongolian dance, and frequently applauded and expressed their approval. After the performance, when the delegation passed through Moscow on the way back to China, it learned from the waiter staying at the hotel: "The People's Republic of China has been established!" "On that day, the delegation joined the Soviet people in celebrating this historic moment. The dance of "Hope" is the first dance in the history of new dance in Inner Mongolia, and it is also the first dance of New China to show its style on the international stage. It has a special commemorative significance for Schentazhiha himself, for the Mongols, and even for the newly established New China.
In 1950, "Flower Dance", choreographed by the Inner Mongolia Song and Dance Troupe and led by Schenta Riha, became the opening program of the first National Day celebration in New China. Also performing on the stage were ethnic minority compatriots from Xinjiang and all over the southwest. When Schentazhiha saw the performance of the Uyghur dancer Kangbar Khan, he became interested in Uyghur dance. She feels that the dances of each ethnic group have their own characteristics and unique charms.
In 1951, Schentazhiha entered the Choi Seung-hee Dance Research Class of the Central Academy of Drama. Under the guidance of the famous Korean dancer Choi Seung-hee, Schenta Riha systematically learned professional dance knowledge and received basic training in ballet, modern dance and various ethnic dances. She is not afraid of suffering or tiredness, full of crazy love for dance art, and devotes herself to learning and training without sleeping.
In 1954, she was admitted to the Beijing Dance School and continued her studies. At that time, the school was full of classes every day. With his injured leg, Szentariha insisted on going to class every day and practicing various dance basics. At night, when the night is quiet, the knee that is overloaded with exercise will be severely painful, causing her to be unable to sleep at night. At this time, she will use a cloth strap to hang her legs high to relieve the pain. By the next day, Szentariha would still come to the classroom early and greet the new day happily. The days when Szczentariha gritted her teeth and insisted on it was a time of "pain and joy", which laid a solid foundation for her future dance career. Near graduation, the relevant leaders of the Central National Song and Dance Troupe persuaded her to stay in the troupe several times. Szczentarija refused without the slightest hesitation. She wrote in her diary: "I grew up in the grassland, the Inner Mongolia Song and Dance Troupe has cultivated me again, and I will bury my bones in the land of Inner Mongolia when I die." ”
Devote yourself wholeheartedly to the cause of national dance
After returning to Inner Mongolia, Schentazhiha began to precipitate what he had learned. The practical experience of the original performances, coupled with the experience of studying in Beijing, has sublimated the dance level of Szcentariha. She feels that learning various dances at home and abroad is not to follow the gourd painting scoop, or to perform or impart what she has learned to others in an authentic way, but to integrate the essence and useful parts into the dance art of her own nation. The collective dance "Ordos" is the embodiment of the dance concept of Szentariha.
In 1955, at the Fifth World Youth Festival, Jia Zuoguang and Schentazhiha led the collective dance "Ordos". This dance not only absorbs the elements of Mongolian folk dance and the daily life movements of Mongolian herders, but also integrates the folk dance elements of the Evenk and Orunchun ethnic groups, which vividly expresses the new life of the steppe people. The dance begins with bold music, the male actors' firm and powerful dance steps show the strength and strength of the steppe men, and the actresses' feminine posture interprets the diligence and beauty of Mongolian women. The pastoral people's love for life and life is most beautifully interpreted in the actor's hand.
Schenriha Mongolian dance work "The Song of the Heart Dedicated to the Party"
Szczentariha has written or performed hundreds of works. In addition to "Hope" and "Ordos", there are also "Buryat Wedding", "Turbat", "Bowl Solo Dance", "Ulanpao" and so on. In order to absorb the nutrients of national folk art, the Mongolian steppe and the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains have left the footprints of Schentazhiha. Everywhere she went, she humbly learned from local folk artists. Buryat dance, Orun Spring Dance, Evenk Dance, Chama Dance... These treasures of national dance shine in the dances of Szentariha. Szczentariha said: "The soul of art comes from life, from folk. And it is folk artists from all over the world who give life and soul to my dances. ”
Nowadays, the "Basic Lessons of Mongolian Dance" and "Szentariha Mongolian Dance Anthology" co-authored by Szentariha have been officially published. Although the pain in her legs has accompanied her throughout her life, her career has borne fruit in her 64-year dance career. She has been invited to give lectures in song and dance groups, art academies, hong Kong, Taiwan and other regions in China. At present, when she won the "9th Plastic Performing Arts Achievement Award" in December 2011 and the "2nd Chinese Dance Art Lifetime Achievement Award" in March 2012, she still did not forget to thank the teachers who nurtured her and the prairie that nurtured her.
At the award ceremony of the "Second Lifetime Achievement Award for Chinese Dance Art", Szentariha said affectionately:
"In 1948, when I was 16 years old, I joined the Inner Mongolia Cultural and Labor Troupe. In the harsh environment of the Liberation War, it was tempered. Together with my comrades-in-arms of the same age, I am in such a beautiful and new era of revolution, the era of creation, the era of change, and the era of awakening. We have wholeheartedly devoted ourselves to the work of opening up and creating the national dance industry in Inner Mongolia. The red flag stained with the blood of countless revolutionary martyrs guides us, the times push us, the country has cultivated us, and the people have nurtured us. As the first generation of dance workers in New China, we are lucky. Thank you to the motherland and the people for their education and cultivation.
My name, Szentariha, means 'clever brain' in Chinese. In fact, I am neither intelligent nor flexible, and I have stubbornly adhered to a dignity of being a human being all my life: integrity and steadfastness, and I dedicate my whole life to the development of the national dance cause.
When my legs were operated on and I almost lost my artistic life; when I was hit by various political movements and almost lost my political life, I survived under the support of a belief. Although the pain in my legs has accompanied me all my life, with the help of organizations and comrades at all levels, I have not fallen behind, I have not fallen behind, closely followed the pace of the times, with the prosperity of the motherland, synchronized with the development of the national dance cause, stumbled through 64 years of dance life, to this day. This year I am only 40 'male years old', and I can still follow everyone and continue to move forward! ”
"This article has been published in China Nationalities Daily, August 3, 2012 "People" column"