Under a beam of chasing light, Xi'er, who escaped from the home of the bully landlord Huang Shiren, ran into the barren mountain. Cross the stream and lean over to drink; shake the trees and pick up wild fruits; throw stones and repel wild beasts.
Big jump. revolve. scurry. The long braids tied with red head ropes were scattered, the red and green pants were faded, the sleeves and legs were torn, and the jet-black hair became gray.
The sky is full of snow and wind, and the tiger howls and howls. Xi'er on the stage spun into the rockery, and out came the "white-haired girl", and Shi Zhongqin appeared. In his ears, Zhu Fengbo's affectionate lead singer sounded: "The wind and snow are full of sky, and Xi'er is in the deep mountains." Missing the folks..."
On the evening of January 26, 1973, I watched the ballet "White Haired Girl" performed by the Shanghai Dance School. All the people who took the stage that day were A-corner ——— Mao Huifang as Xi'er, Shi Zhongqin as bai haired girl, Ling Guiming as Wang Dachun, Wang Guojun as Huang Shiren, and Chen Xudong as Mu Renzhi.
Stills from "The White-Haired Girl"
The first time I watched the film "The White-Haired Girl" was on October 26, 1970, and the diary read, "I went to the People's Cinema (now Cathay Pacific) to see the live TV broadcast screen copy of "The White-Haired Girl." "The film is black and white.
Shi Zhongqin said that the first time she played a white-haired girl was in Guangzhou in 1969. One jump is 8 years, and her name is associated with the white-haired woman for a lifetime.
The north wind blows that way, and the snowflakes drift that way
May 1949. Shanghainese who had just ushered in liberation saw the opera "White Haired Girl" born in Yan'an in 1945 at the Zhapu Road Theater. According to the "History of the 3rd Civil Revolutionary War of the 20th Army", "the military cultural and industrial troupe also organized a foreign performance of the opera "The White-Haired Girl". It left a deep impression on the people of Shanghai. ”
Chen Ronglan, who played the white-haired woman, later transferred to the Shanghai People's Shanghai Opera Troupe as the secretary of the party branch, and it was she who gave birth to the Shanghai opera "Ludang Tinder". She, along with Zhu Ren, who plays Dachun, and Kong Dan, who plays Yang Bailao, are both students who went out from Shanghai Jiancheng Middle School to join the New Fourth Army. The performance caused a sensation and led to an episode: the famous actor Lan Ma saw it and found Ge Xin, the deputy head of the military cultural troupe who had acted with the China Travel Theater Troupe, and asked to join the army.
Also in 1949, after watching the opera "The White-Haired Girl", the Shanghainese heard the review of the new book "The White-Haired Girl" on June 29. Nine years later, on August 20, I watched the Peking Opera "White Haired Girl". By May 5, 1962, the 3rd "Shanghai Spring" was held, and the symphony "White-Haired Girl Fantasy Overture" was heard. At this time, the ballet "The White-Haired Girl" was already in the process of being conceived.
In the 1962 Shanghai Dance School, from teaching to rehearsal, it was based on the Soviet model, and the ballet department (referred to as Baco) used the Waganova teaching method. Hu Rongrong, the vice principal who studied ballet at the Russian Sokolsky Ballet School at the age of 5, proposed to choreograph a piece of "The White-Haired Girl" to join the rehearsal class in order to explore the teaching materials and teaching of the nationalization of ballet. Choose the plot of the grandmother temple, Xi'er meets Huang Shiren and the dog-legged Mu Renzhi in the grandmother temple, and changes the original encounter to the chase of "eager to step on the grandmother temple". The composer invited Yan Jinxuan, who had studied in LuYi and was the vice president of children's art at the time.
This sketch was favored by everyone, and Hu Rongrong and the young teacher Ai Di expanded it to nearly 20 minutes. Later, two four-scene scenes were added, becoming a small ballet of 30 minutes. In front of the Grandmother Temple, add white haired women up the mountain, and then add clips such as recognizing the Dachun Cave. "This is the birth of the first ballet in Shanghai." (Shanghai Culture and Art Chronicle)
Shi Zhongqin, who was still a fourth-grade student at the dance school at the time, recalled the advent of "The White-Haired Girl", "In 1964, he advocated 'foreign use for Chinese use' and created his own ballet. At that time, "The White-Haired Girl" was still small. ”
"The White-Haired Girl" was well received as soon as it was unveiled in the 5th "Shanghai Spring" in 1964. The inspirational creators pushed it from a small dance drama to a medium-sized one. Shi Zhongqin said: "In 1965, 'The White-Haired Girl' developed into a medium-sized ballet, with a total of 6 performances. I jumped 'Big Red Dates' and 'Red Ribbon Gun'. ”
Program list in 1973
On May 17, 1965, "The White Haired Girl", which reappeared at the Xuhui Theater at No. 1111 Zhaojiabang Road (now Meiluo City), was already a large-scale ballet of "prologue + seven performances", and the framework was basically fixed. Cai Guoying and Yu Qingyun play Xi'er, Gu Yumei and Xu Jue play white-haired women, Ling Guiming and Shi Zhonglin play Wang Dachun, and instructor Dong Xilin plays Yang Bailao. Choreographer Lin Yangyang danced a group dance with Baco's fifth and sixth grade students.
When rehearsing large-scale dance dramas, Huang Zuolin, the director of Shanghai Renyi, served as the artistic director. Shi Zhongqin remembered that Huang Dao changed Yang Bailao's suicide by drinking salt and brine to fight to death with Huang Shiren and Mu Renzhi, who were forced to pay debts, highlighting the image of peasant resistance, and even more brilliant was the change in hair color from Xi'er to white-haired women.
"The white-haired girl in the whole dance drama is completed by four actresses, who play Xi'er, black haired woman, gray haired woman and white haired girl. Xi'er fled into the mountains, experienced spring, summer, autumn and winter, black hair turned gray, and finally in the snow, all turned white hair. Shi Zhongqin said: "Everyone thinks it is very good, with a revolutionary romantic color." ”
"The White-Haired Girl" thus caused a sensation throughout the country. Shanghai Culture and Art Chronicle commented: "The play is an attempt to combine the art of ballet with the revolutionary struggle life of the Chinese people. "And from Peking Opera and Chinese folk dance, the movements are combined with ballet techniques and techniques." The dance drama not only uses the widely sung opera music as the musical theme, but also introduces the vocal accompaniment to ballet performance and combines song and dance, so that the ballet has a strong national style, which is a major breakthrough in creation. ”
In 1966, "The White-Haired Girl" went out of Shanghai and performed in Beijing on April 30. The following year, "On April 24, Mao Zedong, chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, watched the performance of the city dance school's "White" drama in Beijing and said: ''White Haired Girl' is good!'" (Shanghai Culture and Art Chronicle)
No. 333 Shimen 1st Road, where the dream began
When we went to the stone regent's house for an interview, she politely let us sit on the sofa, she herself carried a wooden chair, the chair has a semi-circular backrest, she said that the waist is not good, to sit hard, take the cushion by the hand, cushion behind the waist.
In 1960, at the age of 15, she was a freshman in high school. The family lived at No. 279 Shimen 1st Road, went to Xinzha Road 54th Middle School, and passed no. 333 Shimen 1st Road back and forth. She found it lively and crowded, and she was curious, and it was the Shanghai Shanghai Theater and the Shanghai Choir.
Stone carillon as a student
One day, Shi Zhongqin saw a notice posted at the door of No. 333: Dance School Enrollment. She was already dancing and singing with joy, and at that time she danced mostly revolutionary dances. She walked alone into No. 333, a green meadow, a few blooming magnolias, and she waited for the exam on the ground floor of a bungalow.
"The exam is to pull the ligaments, measure the length of the legs in proportion to the body, and the length of the hands to the body. Also put your fingers together, bounce, make some movements, look at the muscles. Shi Zhongqin continued to recall: "After the initial test and the re-examination, I still read as I went back." Send a notice to the Academic Affairs Office of the school. I was admitted to the Ballet Department. The high school read it for a while. ”
Shi Zhongqin is the third oldest in the family line, and there are brothers and sisters. The family did not know that she was going to apply for the examination, and Shi Zhongqin said: "As long as I am happy, my parents have no opinion." She added with a smile: "There are many children in the family." ”
On March 18, 1960, the Shanghai Dance School was established at No. 333 Shimen 1st Road, "the cultivation of Shanghai dance talents to achieve regularization and specialization" ("Shanghai Tongzhi"). The school has a baco and ethnic dance major, and the first class of the 60th class has a total of 3 classes, each class of 10 to 12 students. The spring classes started in March, and two more classes were recruited in the fall, and they graduated together in 1966. Mao Huifang, who danced with Xi'er, was a first-class classmate. Li Mulin, who was the secretary of the party branch of the Northwest Cultural and Labor League in Yan'an, served as the principal, and Hu Rongrong was the vice president and director of Baco.
Shi Zhongqin said, "At that time, ballet was rare and I had never been exposed. Students are older. At that time, the age of enrollment was 14 to 17 years old, and Ling Guiming was already 17 years old. It was not until the 1980s that the age of enrolment was raised to 10 to 11 years for boys and 9 to 10 years for girls.
When entering the school, the school system was three years, and then it was changed to six years. At that time, the school built a school building on Hongqiao Road, and Shi Zhongqin and his classmates often walked all the way from Shimen to Hongqiao Road to participate in labor. After two years of classes on Shimen Road, the school moved to No. 1674 Hongqiao Road in 1962.
Shanghai was the first stop for Western ballet to enter China. In March 1926, the Moscow State Theater Dance Troupe performed "Giselle" and "Gerberia" at the Karden Grand Theater (now the Yangtze River Theater). Ten years later, the Russian sokolsky opened a school to teach ballet. In 1940, Russian overseas Chinese set up a ballet company to perform "Swan Lake", "Fish Beauty" and "Nutcracker", etc., so that ballet took root and blossomed in Shanghai.
Learning ballet is hard and monotonous. Teachers include Hu Rongrong, graduates of Beijing Dance School, etc. Shi Zhongqin will not forget, "Press your legs, pull your ligaments, and practice blanket skills in class." Basic training in the Lower Grades, with two lessons per day. Rehearsal classes are also held. Those who study ballet also have to learn foreign folk dance. ”
Stone lyre practice photos
In addition, you must also observe drama, Peking Opera, etc. Shi Zhongqin said that it is very happy to go out to see the play, which is conducive to improving artistic perception and expression, especially watching peer performances, such as Stuttgart's "Onegin". They watched foreign dance troupes perform in the first and second rows, because they still had the task of offering flowers.
In 1966, Shi Zhongqin graduated. Baco debriefs the performance of "Swan Lake" Act 2, the student plays the white swan, the teacher plays the prince to lift; or the teacher plays the white swan, the student plays the prince. The ballet dress is made as it appears in the book, and the material is bought in Hong Kong.
In 1969, she became the third white-haired woman
In 1969, "The White-Haired Girl" was performed at the "Canton Fair", and many foreign affairs activities at that time required theatrical performances as a form of reception. Foreign guests could not understand other operas, and watching ballet was clear at a glance.
Dancers were group dancers, lead dancers and solo dancers according to their qualifications and levels, and at that time, the family component was highly valued. Shi Zhongqin's family opened a pharmacy, not workers and peasants, and could only dance group dances. Until "White Haired Girl" became a large dance, from black hair to white hair by four people to show, she danced a solo dance, playing "Gray Haired Girl", a little more than 1 minute. Either way, she was happy.
Dancing the group dance "Red Gun"
Later, he finally jumped on the "white-haired girl". She was 24 years old. This age is facing a career change today, and that time was a hard-won beginning for her career and life.
In order to act well, the crew went to the countryside to experience life. Shi Zhongqin said, "Lying on the ground picking cotton and working with farmers is helpful in shaping characters." Also went to the spinning mill and the troops. Watching Tian Hua's movie "White Haired Girl", I didn't see Tian Hua and Wang Kun until the 90s. The characters should have acting skills, and please take the acting class of the drama teacher. ”
The stone celest, which grew under the red flag, slowly integrated into the role and gradually found the feeling. Rehearse every day, and master your physical strength. In addition, practice the difficult action hard: jump from the Grandma Temple Shrine platform in the 6th game, rotate, and go up and down on one foot 32 times. In the 7th cave, the big spring is encountered, and the difficult "Graf" who jumps high takes a small turn.
Dancing shoes are made by school masters who came back from Beijing. Leather sole, the toe cap is made of a layer of cloth coated with a layer of glue. The shoes were small and hard, not as soft and elastic as they are now, and the feet hurt and made the shoe marks. Shi Zhongqin said, "Bring cotton, gauze, and tape with you." Stick your fingers and break the purple potion. ”
Dancing consumes a lot, and chocolate is added to nutrition. For group dancers, you can get 6 chocolates in one performance, while Shi Zhongqin dances solo and dances the protagonist, only 2 pieces. In this way, Shi Zhongqin danced hundreds of times, and more than two dozen "white-haired women" learned from her.
Beautiful ballet diplomacy
1972 was an extraordinary year for Shi Zhongqin.
On New Year's Day, the 11 color dance drama movie "White Haired Girl" directed by Sang Arc and photographed by Shen Xilin ended and was released nationwide during the Spring Festival. The film was produced for 13 months, which is the longest shooting time of the model drama film. Filming the eighth scene took 8 months and was changed 3 times, one of which changed the "sun" in the film. Shi Zhongqin remembered that it was because the rising sun was too red to penetrate. The large photo of her living room is the eighth Yang Gezhuangqing turning over and liberating, that round of red sun, red like a salted duck egg yolk.
Shi Zhongqin said: "The film is widely disseminated. Put hundreds of shows of great influence. "Many fans want to see the actor, she lived in the group at that time, the fans can't see, well-informed, can't see the "white haired girl" and run to the Chunjiang Department Store at the intersection of Wujiang Road in Nanjing West Road to see the "white haired girl" Mom, where her mother works.
Another major event that year was a 36-day visit to Japan, which had not yet normalized diplomatic relations, known as "ballet diplomacy." With that said, Shi Zhongqin found a book and turned to an article to show me about the Japanese people's love for "The White-Haired Girl".
At 22:00 on the evening of July 9, Premier Zhou Enlai received the Chinese Shanghai Dance Troupe that was going to Japan the next day at the Qianmen Hotel in Beijing. He said: You still do it in the way of people-to-people diplomacy. Through the performance visit, the friendship between the chinese and Japanese peoples and literary and artistic circles will be further strengthened and Sino-Japanese friendship will be promoted. The early restoration of Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations is the common aspiration of the two peoples, and extensive contacts with the Japanese people should be made to strive for new victories in people's diplomacy. He did not disclose that in two months the Japanese prime minister would break the ice to come to China.
Received by Premier Zhou
On the second day in Tokyo, the dance troupe went to matsuyama Ballet to practice. The troupe was the first to change "The White-Haired Girl" to ballet, and it was staged at the Hibiya Shrine in Tokyo on February 12, 1955. In order to receive the Chinese team, from the head of the group to the main actors, they warmly sent tea and towels. There are many volunteers who come to do security work, and some even give up their jobs to volunteer. The New Otani Hotel sent 208 self-made rice dumplings because there were 208 people in the dance troupe. I also encountered Japanese right-wingers causing trouble, and loudspeaker propaganda vehicles went to the door of the hotel in the middle of the night to harass. Shi Zhongqin said, "The actors of the Matsuyama Ballet put on makeup and are always ready to play for them. ”
A stone egotine performed in Japan
Dance troupes engage in people-to-people diplomacy and speak on tiptoes. They partyed with the Matsuyama Batuan troupe and the Cogwheel Theater Troupe, and walked into the Kansai area. To Mitsui Chemical Plant, Hitachi Shipyard, shimoko to Yamanashi Prefecture, etc. In the gap between the performances, the actors delivered album drinks to the security guards, and deliberately pulled open a slit in the side door so that they could get a glimpse of the end.
Shi Zhongqin said that the regimental commander Sun Pinghua was a Japanese generalist: "Meet friends, hold cocktail parties, and the financial ministers and political leaders will come." Although they have not yet established diplomatic relations, they all come to see the performance. This art group is different from going to other countries. ”
Minister of International Trade and Industry Nakasone, though not attending the July 12 welcome reception, appeared in local newspapers and Xinhua news agencies. Beijing called and asked why the reporter of the Shanghai Television Station who accompanied the group did not take a shot of him. It turned out that he had not come to other activities, and he felt that his absence was not good, so he asked the newspaper to add his name. Actually, this is a signal.
Visit to Japan
On the morning of August 15, Prime Minister Tanaka received Sun Pinghua at the Imperial Hotel. The meeting room was not large, and more than 200 reporters came. On August 16, more than 1,000 people bid farewell at Haneda Airport, giving state guests to a literary and art group. This was decided at a farewell reception the night before, and Minister of State Takeo Miki called the airport to implement it.
Shi Zhongqin said: "I went from Shanghai to Guangzhou by train, and then to Hong Kong by plane to Japan. Come back and fly straight. JAL made its maiden charter flight and was welcomed by thousands of people at Hongqiao Airport. "According to the original plan, after the visit, we will return to Shanghai via Hong Kong. The Japanese side proposed: Do not detour through Hong Kong again, and send Japanese charter flights directly to Shanghai. The proposal was echoed by the Chinese side. On August 16, two Japanese charter flights landed at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, breaking the ice on the China-Japan route.
On September 25, more than a month after Shi Zhongqin and the crew of "The White-Haired Girl" returned to Shanghai, Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka visited China. On the evening of the 27th, Mao Zedong met with Kakuei Tanaka. On September 29, China and Japan signed the Joint Statement announcing the establishment of diplomatic relations on September 29, 1972.
In 1978, Shi Zhongqin was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the Fifth National People's Congress. The following year, the Shanghai Ballet was formed with the original "White Haired Girl" crew of shanghai dance school.
"Before, I rarely danced classical ballet, but I didn't jump until I was thirty-six or seventeen years old, and my weight was reduced from 120 pounds to 100 pounds." Shi Zhongqin later also acted in "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" and "Thunderstorm".
Shi Zhongqin, who taught after retirement (middle)
In 1994, the ballet "White Haired Girl" was awarded the "Classic Works of the Chinese Nation in the 20th Century". In 1997, Shi Zhongqin retired and taught at the Far Eastern Ballet Art School for 10 years. She closed the album of photos of her ballet career and said contentedly: "At the best time of my life, I danced a white-haired woman. ”
(The photo in this article is collected by Shi Zhongqin and remade by the author.) The title picture is a still from the ballet movie "The White-Haired Girl")
Column Editor-in-Chief: Huang Wei Text Editor: Xu Yunqian