Ashima is a golden business card of Yunnan national culture and art. In the book "Chinese Dance Drama", "Ashima" is called another milestone in the history of the development of Chinese dance drama, known as "the Swan Lake of the East" and "the wonder of national art".
On July 15th, the dance drama "Ashima", as a traditional masterpiece of "One Hundred Years and One Hundred Works", after half a year of meticulous polishing and choreography, was officially performed in the Yunnan Provincial Song and Dance Theater with a new look, bringing people a national art feast.
Gathering the essence of humanities, it has created a monument to the national art of Yunnan
In 1990, the dance drama "Ashima" was responsible for Xu Yan, then the head of the Yunnan Provincial Song and Dance Troupe, Zhang Caozuo was the artistic director, Su Tianxiang, Li Xuezhong, Zhao Huihe formed a preparatory group, went deep into life to learn from the public, examined from experts, and after serious thinking and discussion, formed a new structure that broke through time and space, got rid of statements, focused on intention, and was full of poetic feelings, which took a successful step for the creation of the dance drama "Ashima".
In 1991, a dance choreography group composed of Su Tianxiang, Zhou Peiwu, Zhao Huihe and Tao Chun, composed of old, middle and young people, and a dance music creation group composed of Min Guangsen, Wanli and Huang Tian, with "love" as the main line of the string, around the love story of Ashima, Ahei and Azhi, after more than a year of creative integration and arduous rehearsal, through wonderful double, three-person dance segments and group dances, calmly and smoothly show the colorful folk dances of the various branches of the Yi ethnic group to form the art form of the dance drama "Ashima".
In 1992, it was well received at the 3rd China Arts Festival, and after many times of improvement and revision, it won many awards such as the Excellent Repertoire Performance Award, the Excellent Composition Award, the Stage Design Award, the Lighting Design Award, the Costume Design Award, etc. in the National Dance Drama Competition, and the starring Isulahan, Qian Dongfan and Tao Chun won the Best Performance Award.
In 1993, the dance drama "Ashima" won the 3rd Wenhua Award of the Chinese Ministry of Culture and the individual awards for choreographer, composer, choreographer, actor, etc.; in May of the same year, it won the "Five Ones Project" award of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Central Committee.
The main creative team reunited to climb the new peak of the century national classics
In 2020, the General Office of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China issued the notice of the "Work Plan for Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Communist Party of China stage art creation project", and after careful selection and recommendation by the Department of Culture and Tourism of Yunnan Province, the large-scale national dance drama "Ashima" was selected into the "100 Years" traditional boutique rearrangement plan in October 2020.
Yunnan Cultural Investment Group attaches great importance to the rehearsal of the dance drama "Ashima", and the core team composed of Zhao Huihe, Zhou Peiwu, Tao Chun, Min Guangsen, Wan Li, etc. has once again shouldered the heavy responsibility of creation, organized the vast number of literary and artistic workers of Yunnan Performing Arts Co., Ltd. (formerly Yunnan Provincial Song and Dance Theater) to form a strong creative and performance team, actively participated in and strictly controlled all aspects of the rehearsal work of the dance drama "Ashima", from the selection of major actors to the arrangement of role actors, from the re-viewing of video records to Shilin, Yiliang and other places to conduct style inspections. From choreography to vocabulary refinement, from the actors' stage positions to the theme background design, from costume props to stage lighting... They continue to refine and excavate artistic concepts, carry out inspiration and creative collisions many times, and carefully analyze the specific implementation possibilities, just so that the dance drama "Ashima" can bloom more brilliant charm.
Over and over again the concept of blending, a little bit of detail carving, time and time again to improve the revision, lasted more than half a year, the dance drama "Ashima" rearrangement and upgrading work ended a successful end.
Kunming grand performance, the new look stunned the audience
On July 15, 2021, the dance drama "Ashima" was officially performed at the Dream Theater of Yunnan Provincial Song and Dance Theater with a new look, presenting a splendid and colorful artistic feast to the audience.
A self-confident nation always radiates the power of culture; the dance drama "Ashima" follows the original plate structure without scenes, so that the storyline of the dance drama is continuous and orderly, and in one go, and 7 different color dance sections such as black, green, gray, red, gold, white, and blue are used to show affection in color, and complete the whole process of dramatic conflict in different color dance sections, portraying the inner world of different characters, and telling the touching love story.
Standing at the height of carrying forward the national culture, the dance drama inherits, draws on and creates a new form of dance drama rich in national personality with an open spirit, integrates the main Yi folk dances popular in Yun, Gui, and Sichuan into the dance drama, collects and compiles the most stylish dance rhythms of the various branches of the Yi people, serves the plot arrangement, and presents a regional ethnic style that is extremely appropriate to the theme.
The music of the dance drama is dominated by the rich Yi folk songs, which integrate many distinctive ethnic instruments, and every note and melody in the play is permeated with the characteristics of Yunnan national culture, all of which highlight the folk style of the dance drama.
The biggest highlight of the dance drama is the extensive use of group dance scenery and emotion, with the rich changes of group dance formations, style costumes and action vocabulary, creating a variety of wonderful natural scenes, stone forests and flocks of sheep in the black dance section, green seedlings in the green dance section, white clouds in the white dance section, cages in the golden dance section and floods in the blue dance section... The performance of the scenery and the promotion of the plot completely depict the grass and trees of nature, the clouds and rain in the form of body language.
The dance drama "Ashima" is an artistic monument, which has once again achieved a leap forward and reached a new artistic height after the re-arrangement. After the official performance on July 15, it will continue to participate in the 2021 Yunnan Provincial Excellent Repertoire Exhibition and Performance, and further promote and guide the inheritance and development of Yunnan national literature and art.