Zhao Ruyu
Artistic creation should keep the mind clean
——Zhao Rusu, Honorary Chairman of the China Dance Association, talks about "initial intention" and "mission"
China Art Daily reporter Qiao Yanbing
Intern journalist Wang Qiong
"What is the original intention and mission? For me, when I was a child, I danced to show the audience; when I became the head of the National Ballet of China, I was in order to more accurately grasp the needs of the audience; when I was old and retired, I told my past creation and work experience in order to share and inherit. ”
Zhao Ruyu shared her creative experience in the series of educational activities on the theme of "not forgetting the original heart and keeping the mission in mind"
On July 1st, in the series of educational activities on the theme of "Don't Forget the Initial Heart, Remember the Mission" held by the Party General Branch of the China Dance Association, Zhao Ruyu, honorary chairman of the China Dance Association and artistic director of the National Centre for the Performing Arts, explained the "initial heart" and "mission" in her eyes, and opened the prelude to "famous dancers telling red classic stories" with two memories of participating in the performance and creating classic works.
In 1978, Zhao Ruyu and others starred in the ballet "Red Detachment of Women" stills (photo provided by the Chinese Dancers Association)
It's been exactly 55 years since the premiere of "Red Detachment of Women." According to Zhao Ruyun's recollection, in 1963, Premier Zhou watched the Beijing Dance School Experimental Ballet (the predecessor of the National Ballet) performing "Notre Dame de Paris" and suggested that the troupe rehearse a ballet reflecting revolutionary life; in 1964, the revolutionary modern ballet "Red Detachment of Women" was rehearsed at the Tianqiao Theater, and Premier Zhou not only watched the repertoire carefully, but also gave many valuable opinions, "I was playing the red lotus who followed the heroine Qionghua to escape, and Premier Zhou thought that this role was a' Intermediate characters', suggest that we comb through the main line of the story when the pen and ink are more concentrated."
Stills from the ballet "Red Detachment of Women", zhao rusu as Qionghua (image courtesy of China Dancers Association)
After repeated revisions, the main line of "The Red Girl Scout Army" is clearer, "the heroine Qionghua is still a wild girl in the first three scenes, and in the fourth, fifth and sixth scenes, she gradually transforms into a mature proletarian revolutionary fighter, and the characters are three-dimensional and grown."
Zhao Rusu believes that an important reason for the success of "Red Detachment of Women" lies in the high integration of theme and artistry, "it is not pure propaganda, but a real work of art." "Red Detachment of Women" is full of a lot of vivid details, and each action is not a dance out of thin air, but a close plot, containing a wealth of subtext. "For example, in the original design, we wanted to show the feelings between Qionghua and Hong Changqing, the representative of the Niangzi Army. Hong Changqing handed the briefcase to Qionghua, jumped onto a small hillside when he left, and looked back at her deeply. This look back is an emotional detail, and the moment Qionghua takes over the briefcase is also an important sign of her maturity as a proletarian revolutionary fighter. ”
Zhao Ruyu, Zhang Ce, Xue Jinghua and others starred in the ballet "Red Detachment of Women" stills (photo courtesy of China Dancers Association)
"Such a play, you will still cry for it when you watch it today." As one of the earliest participants, I still remember every piece of music and corresponding movements, and I never forget any detail in my dreams. Zhao Rusu said.
Recalling the experience of participating in the "Red Detachment of Women", Zhao Rusu believes that it was a happy and distracting time, "Dancing Western ballet requires a high half tiptoe, dancing this Chinese ballet often lands on the ground with all feet, the heel hits the ground, at first it is particularly painful and particularly uncomfortable, but this does not affect our enthusiasm for rehearsal; when we line up the scenes of fighting and fighting, we are all real, once I kicked my legs too hard, directly fractured; when the fight started, the male actor was lying on his stomach. Actresses climb over the wall over them. This passion of total devotion seems very touching today."
Stills of Zhao Ruyu and Xue Jinghua starring in the ballet "Red Detachment of Women" (Photo courtesy of China Dancers Association)
As a professional theater company, the National Ballet of China also shoulders the task of leading Chinese ballet to the world. How to incorporate more unique Chinese elements into the work, reflecting the modern life of the Chinese?
After serving as the head of the National Ballet of China, Zhao Rusu collaborated with director Zhang Yimou on the modern ballet "The Big Red Lantern Hangs High". This seemed like a very bold attempt at the time, "Our point of convergence was that we also wanted to fuse the most classical Peking opera in China with the most classical ballet in the West, and Zhang Yimou said that he wanted to do ballet that kept the audience from sleeping, which deeply touched me."
In 2001, the rehearsal scene of the ballet "Big Red Lantern Hanging High". From left: Choreographer Wang Xinpeng, director Zhang Yimou, then head of the National Ballet of China Zhao Ruyun, choreographer Wang Yuanyuan (Photo courtesy of China Dancers Association)
Zhao Ruyun recalled that when rehearsing "The Big Red Lantern Hangs High", Zhang Yimou wrote ten drafts of the script, repeatedly revised, deliberated, and very devoted. At one rehearsal, he kept debugging layer after layer of lights, staying up until four o'clock in the morning, until he was about to turn off the work lights, and finally said "found".
It is precisely because of this persistence and persistence in creation that the ballet "The Red Lantern Hangs High" has achieved an artistic breakthrough and played an important leading role in the cross-border cooperation of more stage art in the future.
Group photo of the creators of the ballet "Big Red Lantern Hanging High". From left: Zhao Ruyun, then head of the National Ballet of China, Wang Xinpeng, choreographer, Zhang Yimou, director, Chen Qigang, composer, and Zeng Li(Photo courtesy of China Dancers Association)
"In the context of the new era, we must keep our original intention unchanged, that is, we must not be impatient, and accumulate and create step by step." Zhao Rusu said that whether it is "The Red Detachment of Women" or "The Big Red Lantern Hanging High", it is completed in a simple and non-utilitarian creative environment, and today's literary and art workers must not forget the classics, be good at drawing energy from the classics, go deep into life, feel the times, keep the soul clean in the times, and make artistic creation more pure and more vital.
Group photo of the creators of the ballet "Big Red Lantern Hanging High" (Photo courtesy of China Dancers Association)