On the evening of the 27th, after four years, the Xinjiang major historical theme dance drama "Zhang Qian", produced by the Propaganda Department of the Autonomous Regional Party Committee and the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Autonomous Region, and performed by the Xinjiang Art Theater and the Xinjiang Academy of Arts, was successfully premiered at the newly opened Urumqi Grand Theater.
In 139 BC, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty sent Zhang Qian on an envoy to the Western Regions, and since then he has opened up the road from the Central Plains to the Western Regions, that is, the famous Silk Road, where eastern and western civilizations meet, and the story of "Zhang Qian chiseling the western regions" has since left a strong mark in the long history of the Chinese nation.
Photography: Han Shuozhu
The dance drama "Zhang Qian", as a key tribute play for the centenary of the founding of the party in our region, takes this historical fact as the story model, deeply excavates and embodies the contemporary value of this historical figure, shows the exchanges and exchanges between Zhang Qian's mission and the various ethnic groups in the western region, carries forward and disseminates Chinese culture, establishes cultural self-confidence, highlights the Chinese spirit, and praises the feelings of the family and the country.
The drama was launched in March 2018, and the relevant departments of the autonomous region did a lot of meticulous and solid work, inviting the former head of the Cultural and Labor Troupe of the Political Department of the Guangzhou Military Region, the national first-level director Xing Shimiao, the former head of the Haizheng Cultural and Labor Troupe, and the national first-level director Gao Gao as the general director, leading his team as the main creative team, which lasted for 4 years, came to Xinjiang many times to collect style, held a special planning meeting with scholars and experts in the relevant history, cultural relics, art and other aspects of our region, repeatedly discussed and polished the script, and after several months of hard rehearsal, finally completed this dance drama.
At 21:00 that night, in the Urumqi Grand Theater, with a long period of expectation, many audiences came to the theater in advance to wait. With the ancient, melodious music sounding, the curtain slowly opened, in the vast sea of sand, Zhang Qian held a scepter, led the delegation to meet the sun and wind and sand, and walked hard in the millennium sun and moon, all the way forward. The audience watched and stared at his figure, full of respect.
Next, the whole play is divided into four acts, "Teaching Festival", "Observance festival", "Transmission Festival", and "Envoy", which always runs through the walk. Zhang Qian led the Han Dynasty envoy to the Western Regions with a scepter in hand, and on the way, Zhang Qian and the envoy rescued the Xiongnu princess who was pursued by wolves, and was intercepted by the Xiongnu and married to the Xiongnu princess. Zhang Qian was seduced by the Xiongnu king's several threats and profits, and he said goodbye to the Xiongnu wife with tears and took the opportunity to flee the grassland. After running through the storm, the others were sacrificed, and only Zhang Qian and Gan Father stepped into the Western Regions. Zhang Qian traveled all over the city-states of the Western Regions, saw all kinds of customs and customs, used Traditional Chinese medicine acupuncture to cure the serious illness of the little prince of Dawan, and everyone was celebrating, in order to protect the people of the Western Regions, he was taken away by iron horses. After that, the Xiongnu wife and Gan Father took the opportunity to rescue Zhang Qian, the Xiongnu chased after him, Gan Father held up the knotted staff to lead the pursuing soldiers, and the Xiongnu wife absconded with Zhang Qian on her back, wounded by an arrow, and finally fell in the poplar forest. Finally, Zhang Qian took the dead branches of the poplar forest as a knuckle stick, wrapped it around his robe, lifted it high, and continued to walk without failing in his mission.
At the end, on the vast Western Region Road, people looked at Zhang Qian, and his figure was forever walking in the millennium sun and moon! Countless banners of Bowanghou were erected in the desert, and countless emissaries and countless people from various city-states in the western region followed Zhang Qian, "The messengers look at each other on the road, and the merchants travel endlessly"! The sunshine of peace sprinkled on everyone's heart and sprinkled on the millennium Silk Road.
"The Zhang Qian recorded in the historical records is not enough to support a dance drama. Therefore, we must conceive and portray this character through conceptions that conform to historical facts, so that he can fully display the value significance, sense of mission and responsibility of the Western Regions, as well as his broad and profound feelings of home and country. Gao Gao, the general director of the dance drama "Zhang Qian", said.
"Through historical materials, I have a comprehensive understanding of the character of Zhang Qian, and have had many discussions with the directors, and we analyze that Zhang Qian can not only write and fight, but also has a strong heart and warm emotions, otherwise, it is difficult for him to accept such a major mission, and he will not be able to withstand the cruel ups and downs of 13 years." Zhao Jiayi, a young dancer from all over the country who plays Zhang Qian, said that when rehearsing and performing, he was often moved by Zhang Qian's strong will and ideological spirit, thinking about how to use his performance to move more audiences.
On the stage, the ups and downs of the storyline, the touching and profound actor performance, the thrilling rotating stage mechanical device to create a historical scene, infected all the audiences on the scene, as if recreating back to 2,000 years ago, immersed in the scene, feeling the harsh natural environment of the western region, Zhang Qian once encountered various difficulties and obstacles, and how to put his personal life and family outside, overcome all difficulties, and complete the national mission he shouldered. I can't help but be touched by Zhang Qian, who has great righteousness and responsibility, and is touched by Zhang Qian's loyalty, perseverance and kindness. During the performance, the audience burst into warm applause, and many audience members shed tears.
After the performance, the actors closed the curtain again and again, and many audiences were still immersed in the plot and refused to leave, in return for warm applause. Du Wei, the 79-year-old artistic director of the Xinjiang Military Region's Cultural and Labor Troupe and a national-level choreographer, was very excited after watching the performance, he said: "This dance drama is magnificent and shocking, and specially invited the country's top choreographers, starring and main creative teams, not only fully mobilized and publicized a variety of stage art means, publicized Zhang Qian's historical merits and home-country feelings on the Silk Road, but also full of contemporary aesthetics, which is a work of resistance to Xinjiang's dance art in recent years, and has benefited a lot." ”
It is understood that after the premiere of this play, a second round of resident performances will be carried out. According to the epidemic prevention and control situation, this year and next year will tour all prefectures and cities in Xinjiang, and will also tour the mainland when they choose the opportunity, and dedicate excellent stage art works to the people of Xinjiang and the people of the whole country.
Author: Zhang Yingchun