The dreamy stage focuses on immersion, and world-class unique skills are performed in turn. As a national intangible cultural heritage, "Wuhan Acrobatics" has reached the "next level" again. On the evening of July 19, a reporter from Changjiang Daily walked into the Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe’s latest light and shadow acrobatic drama "Phoenix Story" and saw that the venue was almost full, with many parents bringing their children to watch. The difficult acrobatic movements, exquisite story arrangement, and naked-eye 3D visual effects like the IMAX large screen bring the audience a thrilling and beautiful visual feast. And all this beautiful presentation is inseparable from the hard training of acrobats day after day.
"Phoenix Story" performance scene. Photographed by Zeng Xilai
In front of the stage: The audience cheered in unison and chased the actors to take photos
"I am the little blue bird, the son of Phoenix. How can I find the source of light?" As the "little blue bird" pursues, people along the Yangtze River Beautiful scenes of forests and swamps unfold one after another. The nine-color deer with fluorescent lights and butterflies flying all over the place take the audience on a fantasy journey.
On the bank of the vast Yangtze River, the "little blue bird", the son of the phoenix, which symbolizes light, was chased by the "black spider" which symbolized darkness, broke through all obstacles, learned to swim, jump, fly, and finally was reborn in nirvana. . As the plot progresses, wonderful acrobatic skills are displayed. The "Little Blue Bird" learned to swim from the Blue-headed Pochard and performed a performance of "Arhat on a Unicycle". The "Little Blue Bird" jumped over the shoulders of four "Blue-headed Pochards" who were riding unicycles, and also performed difficult moves such as "topping the unicyclists' heads with one hand". The audience burst into enthusiastic cheers. applause. The "little blue bird" learns to fly, and the actors demonstrate the learning process with the difficult skill of "high-altitude wave boat". Five or six actors are constantly tumbling on the covered bridge, using centrifugal force to take off from high points, reaching a height of nearly 8 meters. In the center of the stage, every jump of the actor was accompanied by exclamations and applause from the audience. "Flywheel Stunt" is a program that Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe has won many international awards. This time it was used in the climax of "Little Blue Bird vs. Black Spider". The "big pendulum" rotates on the stage, and the actors need to jump from the trampoline to the high platform of the "big pendulum". Every second counts, and it is thrilling.
"Phoenix Story" performance scene. Photographed by Zeng Xilai
Ring drill, tightrope walking, high-altitude ring, silk hanging, jujitsu, big springboard... As the plot progressed in each scene, the actors performed wonderful "big things", which attracted loud praises from the children. Chen Wanyi, a fourth-year student from Yucai Primary School, said: "The little blue bird is really great. It can keep turning somersaults while going through the circle." Second-year student Zhang Shutong said: "I really like the clown frog, he is like Spider-Man. , climbed on the railing of the auditorium and gave us balloons.”
After the performance, the actors came to the hall to meet and interact with the audience. Actor Liang Shuo, who plays one of the "Little Blue Birds", was chased by young audiences for photos. A 10-year-old boy told Liang Shuo: "Brother, this is my second time. Because I didn't take a photo with you last time, I came here specifically to wait for you this time." There were many young viewers at the scene. acrobatics. A girl born after 1995 Xiaolai became the "fan girl" of the villain Black Spider, and rushed to take selfies with Black Spider. For Xiao Lai, "Phoenix Story" broke her stereotype of acrobats, "Every movement of the acrobats is full of power and beauty, and the dance and music of the whole performance are also amazing. It's like watching an acrobat." A thrilling blockbuster."
Behind the scenes: The props and costumes have been improved many times to make the performance more stable
In "Phoenix Story", you can see the danger of the famous play "The Wave", the fun of "Unicycle", the stability of "The Big Springboard", the "Stand Up" The beauty of "Rope", the softness of "Women's Jiu-Jitsu"... The Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe has integrated more than ten gold medal programs that have won national and international competition awards into the plot development this time, and newly arranged and performed them. The entire 85 minutes of this wonderful show is riveting. Behind the scenes, it is inseparable from the efforts of the main creative staff. According to the head of the Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe, the actors in "Phoenix Story" are around 20 years old and have been practicing acrobatics for more than 10 years. They are in the "golden age" of acrobats and are in excellent condition.
"Phoenix Story" performance scene. Photo by Zeng Xilai
Liang Shuo, who plays "Little Blue Bird", has been practicing acrobatics for 14 years. He introduced that current acrobatic performances require actors to have higher comprehensive qualities in all aspects and are more difficult. In the play, Liang Shuo demonstrated his specialty somersault skills - the "Drilling Circle" requires two turns to cross the circle, the "Big Springboard" requires two backflips, and the "Unicycle" requires four unicycle actors to perform one after another. "Jumping shoulders"... The costumes in the show are all carefully designed, but they also make the performance difficult. In the "Unicycle" performance, the actor played the role of a "blue-headed pochard". The skirt of the performance costume was stretched up. The original intention was to show the feeling of the duck constantly paddling in the water. Actors had many problems when they first started practicing: the skirt was not fastened tightly and would fall down when riding; the skirt could not be fixed and got rolled into the wheels and pedals during riding; the wide hem of the skirt would also affect the actor's line of sight. Can't see the ground while doing some tricks. Once the "blue-headed pochard" riding a unicycle cannot perform freely, the "little blue bird" will become unstable on their shoulders and is in danger of falling. In the end, the props and costumes of "Blue-headed Pochard" went through three improvements before the performance was stable.
"Phoenix Story" performance scene. Photographed by Zeng Xilai
During the daily performance of "Drilling the Circle", the actors wear tight-fitting training clothes and show no restraints. The "little blue bird" wears a headdress and carries its wings when "circling". "The acrobatic movements themselves are quite extreme. When I first added headgear, it was easy to hit the circle during the somersaults; sometimes it would result in that the circle was supposed to be completed for two weeks, but could only be completed for one and a half weeks, and eventually the hands and feet would touch each other. The ground also caused some damage. "The headgear currently on stage has been specially made, and a hidden buckle is made on the wings, which can be quickly buckled before "drilling the circle" to avoid affecting the performance.
Lu Xuejiao, who plays "Black Spider", is 21 years old and has been practicing acrobatics for 11 years. Whether it's the hanging ring, the "Wandering Boat Flyer" or the big springboard, they are all thrilling programs that can make the audience gasp in amazement, and Lu Xuejiao plays an important role in them. For example, when the ring is gliding and rotating in the air 10 meters above the ground, Lu Xuejiao needs to perform various difficult movements in the moving ring. Behind this is hard training day after day.
"Phoenix Story" performance scene. Photo by Zeng Xilai
Recently, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism released the list of dramas and programs for the 12th National Acrobatic Show, and the acrobatic drama "Phoenix Story" created and rehearsed by Wuhan Acrobatic Art Co., Ltd. was selected. According to reports, "Phoenix Story" has been performed at the Wuhan Acrobatic Hall for more than 40 times since its premiere in June, and has been well received by the public. "It's a performance and it's also training." The relevant person in charge of the Wuhan Acrobatic Troupe said that through high-density live performances and close live interactions with the audience, the actors found their shortcomings and corrected them, so as to be in the best condition to welcome the 12th National Acrobatic performance.
(Changjiang Daily reporter Huang Lijuan intern Zhu Jiahao correspondent Wu Wenlv)
[Editor: Wang Rongfei]
Huang Lijuan
Culture and Tourism News Department reporter @ta
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[Source: Yangtze Daily]
