The 14th National Dance Show is being held in Ordos, Inner Mongolia. This is a national-level art event in the field of dance. Over the past 40 years, a large number of excellent dance works have been released, and many creative and performing talents have been discovered and trained. As the only ballet among them, Shanghai Ballet's "Light of the Earth" was staged at the Culture and Art Center of Dalu New District, Zhungeer Banner on the evening of July 17th and 18th. A round of moon rises on the stage, and the "moonlight" from Shanghai shines on the vast grassland. In addition to more than 1,000 live audiences every night, there is also a live webcast that allows Shanghai Ballet to reach more audiences.
"Light of the Earth" is the fifth work created by Wu Husheng, deputy head of Shanghai Ballet and chief actor. Drawing inspiration from Debussy's "Moonlight" and Beethoven's "Moonlight", he created three characters on the stage: "Light", "Light Chaser" and "Night Watchman", telling a story of a "Light Chaser" who was born in chaos, chasing light, sowing light, and finally becoming light, praising the fearlessness, indomitability and tenacity of life.
This is the first time for local audience Wu Rentuya to watch ballet. She said: "I was moved by the artists from Shanghai. The dance and music are so beautiful. I feel like seeing pieces of moonlight shaking off their bodies. I welcome them to come again and see the round and bright moon rising on the grassland." I came to the theater at 12 noon that day to guide the actors to practice on stage. The night before the performance, a water pipe in the theater burst and water entered the green room, soaking many people's exercise shoes and pointe shoes. While looking for spare dancing shoes, she frantically placed the soaked shoes in the sun to dry. Fortunately, the sun was shining brightly on the grassland, and the shoes were basically dried before the performance.
Before the performance, Xin Lili guides the performers on stage Photo: Wu Tong
Recently, the Shanghai Ballet went to one performance after another non-stop. Before coming to Ordos, Xin Lili told reporters that they had just rehearsed 4 works within 6 days, including "Marco Polo - The Last Mission", "Light of the Earth", "Giselle" and "The White-haired Girl". "Although everyone is working hard, they are also very passionate and cherish every opportunity to be on stage." Xin Lili said. Four hours before the
performance, Wu Husheng was still polishing some clips repeatedly with the actors. In "Light of the Earth", the ballet and the symphony have a dialogue, and the dancers on the stage use the changes of their bodies to form the flow of music. Unlike dancing "Swan Lake", which pursues uniform movements, dancing "Light of the Earth" pays more attention to the rhythm of the body. If one person makes a mistake, it will break the overall rhythm and texture. Just as musicians in a symphony orchestra listen to each other when they play, dancers need to feel each other's breath in order to reach a tacit understanding.
Rehearsal before the performance Photography: Wu Tong
Wu Husheng said to the dancers: "Dancing is an art of excellence, even if you are 0.01 seconds slower, you will be seen. I hope everyone will bring the best performance to the audience, and I hope you will enjoy the stage tonight." : Wu Tong
"Light of the Earth" was completed by the Shanghai Ballet's independent creation team composed of Wu Husheng, lighting designer Liu Haiyuan, stage design designer Huang Jiajie, costume designer Shi Yunzhi, etc. It premiered in November last year and won the Outstanding Creation Award and Outstanding Performance Award at the 2nd Yangtze River Delta Professional Dance Show in March this year. Wu Husheng said: "Since the first time I tried to create, I have been exploring and maturing with the young artists in the troupe. I look forward to seeing the growth of me and the creative team over the years, and hope that "Light of the Earth" can bring the audience the power of 'hope' no matter when and where." Two small simple dressing tables were set up in the corridor, and the makeup artists took turns to apply makeup to several leading actors.In "Light of the Earth", the abstract "light" has a concrete image. Qi Bingxue appeared on the stage in a tutu skirt fully hand-painted and sprayed paint, becoming the embodiment of "light". For her, playing "light" is a new challenge. "Light is very abstract. It can be moonlight or sunlight. It can be faint or bright. It represents a kind of healing, a kind of upward force, and a kind of hope."
Temporary dressing room in the hallway Photography: Wu Tong
"After 2000" Shanghai Ballet performer Xu Jingkun plays "Light Chaser" in "Light of the Earth". After joining the troupe for four years, he has grown rapidly and completed the "triple jump" from group dance to lead dance to solo dance. Although Xu Jingkun has also played the leading role before, most of them are actors in Group B, who can complete the role through imitation and learning. This time, there is no reference object, and a character has to be "set up" on the stage from scratch. Different from the male protagonist image in general ballet dramas, Xu Jingkun has a kind of "juvenile spirit". Wu Husheng's choreography well displays his personality and creates a weak and strong "light chasing" image. Zhang Wenjun, who plays the role of "Night Watchman", is a veteran of the Shanghai Ballet and has portrayed many impressive roles. In "Light of the Earth", the night watchman went through a series of "struggles", and was finally moved by the "light chaser" and merged with the light.
Xin Lili told reporters that in this "Light of the Earth" performance, 70% of the actors are newcomers who have just joined the troupe. Originally, there were not so many group dance designs in "Light of the Earth", but Wu Husheng increased the number of group dancers and dance segments, giving young people more opportunities to be on stage. "Light of the Earth is both an inheritance and a breakthrough, and it is also a brave exploration of Shanghai Ballet's future road to Shanghai-style ballet art. "Light of the Earth" shows our efforts and determination to innovate independently and climb the peak of art."
