Every Saturday afternoon, along with laughter, familiar tunes will always be heard from a room in the administrative building of Nobao Center on Caobao Road, including "Love" by the Little Tigers, "Blue and White Porcelain" by Jay Chou, and "Blue and White Porcelain" by Queen. "Bohemian Rhapsody"...that's the electroacoustic band "The Unreliable Band" rehearsing again. The name
is "unreliable", not as a joke, but because the band members are all visually impaired, and the rehearsed songs really do not rely on music scores. The band is affiliated to the American-Ai Fusion Art Charity Development Center. Since its establishment in 2018, the band has appeared on dozens of stages, large and small, performed on the same stage with Olympic champions, and held special performances in top jazz bars. The public welfare film "Miracle Band" based on the band will be launched in Shanghai in 2022. In 2023, the musical sketch "No Barrier Love" starring them won the first place in the drama category of the Shanghai Group Literature Newcomers New Works Exhibition. .
’s series of achievements come from the unremitting pursuit of this group of philanthropic youths, and are also inseparable from the instructors who have guided and cared for them all the way. They never talk about grand goals, but simply love music and believe that the power of art can reach people's hearts.
Stills from "Unobstructed Love".
"They did it"
The music faded out, the lights came on, and there was thunderous applause. At the end of May 2023, Han Xingchen could not conceal his excitement on the stage of the exhibition and performance of new works by new writers in Shanghai. He is the lead guitarist of the band Unreliable. He is completely blind. Like the other 9 members from the American-Irish Fusion Art Troupe, he completed his first musical performance.
With its solid content and outstanding performances, this musical sketch "No Barrier Love", which tells the story of visually impaired people opening their hearts and inviting sighted people into their world, won first place in the drama category. The on-site judges commented that "it's quite shocking. This is real mass culture." Actors from other participating teams shed tears silently after watching it. After receiving this feedback, director Wang Lihe breathed a sigh of relief, "They did it."
Wang Lihe graduated from the Directing Department of the Shanghai Theater Academy. His directing works have won the gold medal in the National Sketch Competition, and he served as the screenwriter of the musical "The Hidden Corner". In her opinion, taking over "Unobstructed Love" is comparable to a career challenge. "Musicals are an art that combines singing, dancing, and acting. Stage scheduling requires a high degree of cooperation between actors and the cast. They don't have the foundation in this area like professional musical actors, and they have to walk on a 2-meter-high stage. The difficulty is self-evident." Rehearsal photo of
"Unobstructed Love".
Ordinary people really cannot imagine how 10 visually impaired young people who are totally blind or have low vision can overcome these difficulties. People with sight can determine their personal position according to the director's instructions, confirm each other through eye contact with other actors, quickly adapt to stage lighting, and use simple props without problems. But the visually impaired have to work harder.
's experience in a band and a cappella choir laid a foundation for them to sing, but dancing and acting were both new. Because they cherish this opportunity, they are particularly serious. During the 10 days of eating and living with the director and choreographer, everyone was fully immersed in it. They followed the teacher's step-by-step instructions and practiced movements and positions over and over again until muscle memory was formed.
The teacher teaches you step by step. The director
was originally worried about the distance judgment problem caused by the formation change, but it was also solved through teamwork - low-vision members and completely blind members were paired up one by one, and the former led the latter to move. Props and chairs also became a part of assisting judgment. . "More often, the group leader Li Minzhong, who was born with cataracts, was like an elder brother, correcting movements and picking up details of singing. Everyone trusted him and listened to his instructions." Wang Lihe recalled. The excitement of
in front of the stage is also inseparable from the hard work of the staff behind the stage. In order to arrange this musical, teachers who have long been concerned about the American-Irish Fusion Art Troupe have contributed. Foley artist, dubbing director, and actor Su Dongsheng of Shanghai Film Studio serves as line guide for actors; Tu Chuanfa, leader of the language teaching and research team of Shanghai School for Blind Children and an expert in theater guidance for the visually impaired, guides stage positioning for actors; Shanghai's veteran music producer, Electric guitarist Zhou Zifeng composed the singing tracks in the play.
will not be "soft-hearted" and take care of
This year, "No Barriers·Love" will continue to polish the details in preparation for participating in national exhibitions and reviews. Letting the children of the art troupe move to a broader stage is a goal that Yu Huan, the founder of Meiai Fusion, has never said, but has kept it in mind and has always practiced it.
In 1992, Yu Huan graduated from Shanghai Xingzhi Art Normal School (now Shanghai Normal University Conservatory of Music) and entered the Shanghai School for Blind Children to work. There, she served as the leader of the music teaching and research group. Since 1996, she has formed a folk orchestra for children, and also directed the choir. She once brought students to the stage of the United Nations.
html Over the past 0 years, she has seen many students with musical talent and excellent results in schools for the blind, but they were trapped in life after graduation. Feeling sad, she began to think, is it possible for these children with good music education to continue to enjoy the happiness brought by music? In 2017, the Mei-Ai Fusion Art Charity Development Center was established to recruit music students and lovers who are currently studying or graduating from schools for the blind to form an art troupe and start a journey of artistic exploration.
A special performance by the unreliable band.
Han Xingchen is one of the first members of the art troupe and the first captain of the Unreliable Band. Born in 1991, he learned the traditional musical instrument sheng while studying at a school for the blind and reached level 10. Rhythm guitarist and bassist Xu Renyu is the first blind college student at East China Normal University School of Law. He has a level 10 pipa and can also play ruan. Keyboard player Yu Tianli has low vision and has loved playing piano and vocal music since he was a child. Bassist Lin Miao has low vision and plays level 10 pipa. He likes to imitate various sounds. Drummer Chen Zheyu is completely blind and loves to sing. He was only 14 years old when he joined the band. Lead singer and guitarist Bian Yiting has low vision and is the only female member of the band.
Although the members have their own strengths, if they really want to perform on stage as an electroacoustic band, they must have professional guidance. At the beginning of the band's establishment, Yu Huan asked Zhou Zifeng with the mentality of giving it a try, but he did not expect that the other party agreed immediately. "I have taught many students, and I have never encountered visually impaired students before, but I like to challenge the 'impossible'." Zhou Zifeng recalled.
Zhou Zifeng teaches in the rehearsal room.
In order to lead this group of students well, Zhou Zifeng made great efforts to develop teaching methods according to their characteristics. The visually impaired cannot learn through sight, but they have the advantage of hearing and have absolute pitch. He took the music apart, recorded separate audio tracks for the guitar, keyboard, and drum parts according to independent parts, and gave them to the members to practice individually. He likes to talk about the underlying logic and pays attention to methods. Anyone who makes mistakes during the ensemble will inevitably be "scolded".
Zhou Zifeng's strictness is his true nature as a musician. "Whether you are familiar with it or not, you will know it as soon as you hear it. It is a matter of attitude. Once you have a method, you will reap what you sow. Quantitative changes will eventually lead to qualitative changes." Treating everyone equally and not being "soft-hearted" because the band is composed of visually impaired people is also His usual attitude. "For a band to gain recognition from the audience, it can only rely on its own performance."
Zhou Zifeng and his band members.
Over the past few years, compared to the band's achievements, Zhou Zifeng values more the members' "habits of making music that have been developed subtly." Every time he sent them a package of music files he had compiled, everyone would download it immediately and listen to it over and over again until their phone battery ran out of time to study the music theory and harmonic arrangement. The members are no longer satisfied with covering other people's songs, and collaborate to create their own songs. "Creation is the greatest meaning. Now their wings have grown and they can fly by themselves." Zhou Zifeng said.
Learn to be a social person
is different from other art groups. In addition to providing professional guidance, Meiai Fusion also focuses on guiding members to learn to be a social person.
band members participated in the recording of the program.
"We can't just call on the public to care for the visually impaired. Why can't we use an equal way to let them find their own value, self-respect and self-love, and actively and better integrate into society?" Yu Huan said, just like "beautiful people" The name "love" is taken from the transliteration of the English "may i help you? (Need help)". The "i" (me) and "you" (you) here can be the sighted or the visually impaired. , no matter who they are, they will not be simple helpers and recipients.
In the group, Yu Huan laughs at herself as a "verbal second mother", caring about every detail and caring about the children's studies, ideological trends and how to treat others. Having worked with blind children for more than 30 years, Yu Huan said frankly that the visually impaired group is "more sensitive" than the sighted ones. Some children are habitually silent, while others use "thorns all over" and a nonchalant attitude to "protect" "Own. "But if you don't get in touch with society, how can you change other people's prejudices and misperceptions, and how can you find your place in social interactions?"
For this reason, she started by "paying attention" to daily small things and told them over and over again: Others have handed it to them. For a meal, remember to say thank you; when you say it, you can speak louder and in a more enthusiastic tone. Don't act reluctantly, which will make the people who care about you sad... Regarding stage performances, Yu Huan also gave them advice, "Don't act like Standing on the stage like a piece of wood, adding some body movement and interacting with the audience."
Art Troupe performance photos.
’s advice day after day has brought about huge changes. Bian Yiting, the "cool girl" who used to "bounce out every word", can now talk to the audience for the first time. Yu Tianli, who was once dull, is now "Manager Yu" who can proactively greet guests. Even if he only has weak eyesight, he will take over the job of cleaning the room after rehearsals. During the performance, he will pack, count, escort and move the musical instruments and equipment in an orderly manner. .
There are actually many things that visually impaired people can do. Except for Yu Tianli, who lives in Huangpu District, the members of the Unreliable Band all live in the suburbs or even the outer suburbs. To commute to rehearsals every week, they take buses and subways independently, and it doesn't matter how many times they back up. But some sighted people don't know that when they see a group of visually impaired people, they have to take them across the road and find their destination. Some subway staff feel "like they are facing an enemy" when they see a visually impaired person traveling alone and ask for support through the intercom.
Being "helped" without explanation, or being ostracized by colleagues as "deliberately not saying hello" because of his low vision, or being "overly" cared for by tour guides who don't know how to introduce the scenery when traveling to scenic spots, They all happened in their lives, causing embarrassment and distress. During the musical performance, everyone interpreted and sang these experiences in a humorous way, and "popularized" the correct methods to the audience.
is moving because it is real. Through "Accessibility·Love", the bridge of communication between the public and the visually impaired that the American-Love Fusion Art Troupe wants to build has been established. The actors were also able to express their true feelings in their favorite way: "Although I know everyone means well, we can do a lot of things independently, and when we need help, we will take the initiative to speak out."
