When the "Swan Woman" stood on the shoulder of the male partner on one foot and made the action of turning the head on one foot and kicking the swallow on the tip of the head, the scene exclamation and whistle accompanied the audience's standing cheers, and even overshadowed the symphony of accompaniment...
Although 20 years have passed, whenever I think of this scene, the excitement at that time still deeply infects Wei Baohua. At the 26th Monte Carlo International Acrobatic Festival in 2002, he and his partner Wu Zhengdan surprised the audience with "Oriental Swan - Ballet Opponent Top", winning the highest award "Golden Clown" award, and also creating a new genre of acrobatic performance with "shoulder ballet".
Wei Baohua (first from left) and partner Wu Zhengdan (first from right) won the "Golden Clown" award.
Wei Baohua entered sports school at the age of 13 and became a skill athlete. Compared to many athletes or acrobats, he entered the industry a little late. But thanks to scientific, hard training, he grew rapidly on this path.
In 1992, the 21-year-old Wei Baohua and Wu Zhengdan became partners and began to practice mixed doubles skills, and soon came to prominence in domestic and international competitions. Four years later, they switched from sports to literature and art, entered the warrior acrobatic troupe of the political department of the former Guangzhou Military Region, and began to struggle on a new stage.
"We also had certain achievements before, but after arriving at the excellent team, we found that we still had a lot of room for improvement." Wei Baohua said. He told himself that changing a field is equivalent to starting from scratch, that there must be new breakthroughs in new fields, and that standing on the highest stage of acrobatics to win honors.
In the warrior acrobatic troupe, Wei Baohua and his partner constantly explored their own style. At a performance abroad, their ballet choreography style was praised by their Danish counterparts, which inspired them and gave them the inspiration to break through.
Why can't you jump the ballet on the ground and jump on your body? They began to explore new creations along the lines of combining ballet and acrobatics.
Shoulder ballet
However, innovation is not so easy. Faced with an area that no one had ever tried, Wei Baohua used his body as a test field. Soles of feet, thighs, back, chest... Inch by inch, they searched for the most suitable place to stay on their bodies, and their bodies were covered with bruises. Eventually, they found that the top of their heads and shoulders were in the most appropriate position.
The position is tested, and the difficulty and skill must be continuously improved. From standing on both feet, to standing on one foot, to spinning on one foot on the shoulder... Behind every new action are hundreds of exercises.
Rotating 270 degrees over their shoulders was the hardest point they had to break through at the time. The shoulder area is small and curved, the muscles are soft, the balance of one foot is difficult to control, and the partner will fall down as soon as he turns. "It was really at the bottleneck and A little discouraged." Wei Baohua said.
Since then, for six years, every day in the dormitory, canteen, rehearsal field three points and one line, Wei Baohua and his partner constantly corrected the movements, broke through the technical difficulties, and finally pushed the shoulder ballet to the world's top arena, integrating traditional acrobatics with classical ballet, and also creating a new genre of acrobatic performance.
After reaching a peak, Wei Baohua did not stop the pace of artistic climbing. Since then, he has begun the dramatic exploration of acrobatics, participating in the acrobatic drama "Swan Lake", performing more than 500 times overseas, not only allowing Chinese acrobatics to enter the art halls around the world, but also winning many awards at home and abroad. Last year, he participated in the creation and starring in the acrobatic drama "Hua Butterfly" toured china, setting off a boom in theater viewing.
Stills from the acrobatic drama "Butterfly"
"The gold cup and silver cup are not as good as the reputation of the common people." Either you get a gold medal or an artist, and you will become famous. As a literary and art worker, the pursuit of art is a lifetime, and we must continue to work hard in artistic accomplishment and artistic ethics. Wei Baohua said that this kind of thinking motivates him to keep moving forward.
Greeting the soldiers in the heavy rain, walking into the grassroots in the cold winter of drifting snow, sending elegant art to the campus... As long as the time does not conflict, Wei Baohua will actively participate in the condolence performance activities. "Not everyone can go into the theater very often, and we have a responsibility to bring the art to them." He said.
Nowadays, Wei Baohua, as the deputy dean of the Dance Academy of Xinghai Conservatory of Music, has a new goal, that is, to cultivate more outstanding acrobatic talents and promote the construction of higher education in acrobatics.
A few days ago, Wei Baohua was awarded the honorary title of "National Young and Middle-Aged Literary and Art Workers". His partner, Wu Zhengdan, had also received this honor before. They have been partners for 30 years since they were partners in 1992. The two are not only partners in their career achievements, but also partners who support each other in life. This evergreen partner, who joked to himself that "it adds up to more than 90 years old", still sticks to the stage and writes a new story of Chinese acrobatics.
Reporter: Deng Ruixuan
Images were provided by respondents