's original dance program "Koi" made a stunning appearance in this year's Spring Festival Gala. The dancers use the agile posture of koi fish to interpret an elegant and beautiful underwater painting. Behind this creation of artistic and technological innovation is the self-challenge of 11 dancers from Beijing Dance Academy to conquer the wire and elastic rope.
Recently, Hua Xiaoyi, the lead dancer of "Koi", was interviewed by a reporter from Yangcheng Evening News. Recalling the rehearsal process, she said with a smile: "One word is 'practice', two words is 'overcome'." It's easy to say, but it may be difficult. Only those who have experienced it know.
Created from scratch and tried thousands of moves
"Koi" began to be created and rehearsed in September last year. It is an original dance created for the Main Station's Year of the Dragon Spring Festival Gala. The entire stage space is transformed into a fish pond, and the dancers transform into koi fish and swim in it. On the basis of relying on wires to move straight up and down, the creative team innovatively connected a section of elastic rope to wire ropes, giving the dancers a sense of agility and rippling movement. In order to better demonstrate the expressive power of dance art, the creative team changed the wire rope from two conventional wire ropes to a single one, which brought greater instability and uncertainty to the high-altitude dance performance.
"This is a process from scratch." Hua Xiaoyi introduced that the dance movements of "Koi" combine modern dance and classical dance and other elements. It is a freehand expression. Since there is no reference, the choreography Many movements were tried in the early stage. "In the end, what you see may only be a few dozen movements, but in fact they are selected from thousands of movements. The whole process is very difficult, and you have to try each movement one by one."
"This year is the Year of the Dragon. The fish leaping over the dragon gate and the koi with good luck will definitely leave a deep impression on everyone. This is also the starting point of our creation." In Hua Xiaoyi's view, the addition of technical means interprets and expresses The beauty of dance in another dimension, "I think good works and good techniques complement each other. But what is more important is the concept and movement elements of the dance itself. We use "Koi" to express Chinese oriental aesthetics. We float in the air like It's like ink painting. The last ten 'koi' hands and feet were pulled into a circle, and I turned around in the middle, just like a fish spinning in circles in the water, and then jumped out of the water with a bang, which closely resembles the state of a fish leaping over a dragon's gate. It's dancing. Beauty is full of imagery, giving people room to imagine."
Hanging wires every day makes me feel like bacon
Hua Xiao recalled that during the rehearsal process, they had to practice for 8-12 hours a day, and the highest point was more than ten meters in the air. position, which places high demands on actors. "Basically, we are hung up every day. We all feel like bacon. It is a great physical test for us. Every time we are hung up, we basically can't come down for three hours. We can't drink water casually. We drink too much water. Going to the toilet will affect the rehearsal, so we drink water and go to the toilet together. When I get home after rehearsal every day, lying on the bed, I feel like I am still wearing wire pants, and I feel like my lumbar spine is about to break."
Because Wia only has a steel wire rope and a stretch rope, so the dancer has no way to control the direction in the air. "Like the move I did at the beginning, when I fell from the air, it was almost difficult to control it to land on the same point every time." Hua Xiao recalled that there was no way to use force when hanging in the air, so many moves could only be made slowly. Slowly explore how to exert force. Everyone's height and weight are different, and the force exerted is also different. This also increases the workload of rehearsal invisibly.
However, when we went to the studio to rehearse for the first time, it was like a bolt from the blue. "Because the height of our usual rehearsal venue is limited, and the length of the wire is also limited, the movements are designed based on the venue at that time. After going to the studio hall, I found that the movement that two people can hold hands with cannot be done there. It turns out that the four-shot The completed action will take eight beats to complete... The Wire wiring cannot be moved because there are lights on the top. Oh my God! What should I do?" As soon as Hua Xiao remembered, the creative team readjusted the action arrangement and music beat. , the girls also need to re-adapt to the power of Wia and re-practice power generation and control.
Rehearsing is not only hard, but also prone to injuries.Hua Xiaoyi once fell to the ground on his left shoulder due to a two-second time difference due to the cooperation with Wia. Fortunately, his muscles and bones were not injured. He slowly recovered through acupuncture and massage, which did not affect the final live performance. The heel of her left foot was injured, and when she was hanging the wire, it would strangle the main artery in her leg. The poor blood flow would cause a pin-pricking pain in the injured area. In addition, the rehearsal venue is still very cold. The girls have to wear an extra pair of pants, cotton vests and scarves during rehearsals, because the wire ropes are abrasive on their hands, and they have to wear gloves when practicing spinning movements. "But we want the work to be different and bring new ideas to everyone. The effort in the process is essential, and no one has any complaints." Hua Xiaoyi said.
One word "practice", two words "overcoming"
In addition to carefully crafting the dance moves, a lot of thought was also put into the costume styling and stage effects of "Koi". The dancer's skirt is nearly 2 meters long, using the lightest material to create a graceful effect in the water. The blue-green color of the stage background echoes the red and white of the dancer's skirt. The water ripples on the dancer's feet use real-time interactive technology. The water wave particles on the ground screen will change according to the dancer's movements.
Behind the beauty are the tests and challenges for the dancers. Hua Xiaoyi revealed: "In fact, dancers are worried that costumes and props will become a hindrance during the movements. If the skirt is too long, sometimes we will trip and step on the skirt, and we will not be able to stretch out our legs, which will affect our ability to move forward." Running forward, if one person is in trouble, the entire lineup will not work. But if we want to have a very elegant effect in the air, and if we want to have the same feeling as real fish tails and fins, we must have such clothing to support it. So a The word is 'practice', and the two words are 'overcome'. Practice until you can control it and overcome its influence."
In addition, what girls need to overcome is the "treasure" around their waists. "Everyone sees that our 'koi' are beautiful, but in fact our waists hide a lot of things." Hua Xiaoyi revealed, "For safety and balance of movements, the wire pants must be tightened very tightly, but The tighter the belt is tightened, the more suffering you suffer, and the tracker that interacts with the ground screen is also tied around your waist. These things in our core area actually affect our strength very much, but there is no other way. One word is 'practice', two words 'Overcome'."
"The stage of the Spring Festival Gala is very demanding. How long each program lasts, and getting on and off the stage are precise to the second. The error tolerance rate is even lower for dance moves, and I always get up and down. I have to be very diligent and have to be 99% consistent every time I jump. This accuracy is another experience for me." Hua Xiaoyi said that every time she dances "Koi", she feels like Finished a marathon.
The dance is real and cannot be fake.
On the night of the live broadcast, after the performance ended and they walked off the stage, the "Koi" girls hugged each other and cried. "Actually, looking back now, I'm quite excited, but also a little sad. What's sad is that this journey has ended like this. It feels like we were rehearsing yesterday, and it just passed by in a blink of an eye." Hua Xiaoyi said, "Everyone is very happy. I am reluctant to give up and cherish this period of time. Although it is bitter, the result is sweet. We are very grateful to the director team for their trust and help in us. There are 11 of us on the stage, and the efforts of 110 people may be behind the scenes. This work belongs to the front of the stage. Everyone behind the scenes."
Except for Hua Xiaoyi, the other ten "koi" are all freshmen at Beijing Dance Academy. In front of her sisters, Hua Xiaoyi silently shouldered the pressure. Before going on stage, a younger sister was so nervous that she had tears in her eyes. She offered encouragement and comfort. During the rehearsal process, several girls were "called out" by the director because they did not perform their movements well. She felt that she had to do better: "I have to set an example and be a good 'head fish'. In this way, the sisters will be more determined and feel that this action is achievable and not unattainable."
In Hua Xiaoyi's view, from selection, rehearsal to performance, "This whole journey is also about me transforming into a koi. The process is worth recalling throughout my life.""Maybe no one knows how difficult it is for you, and no one will give you a chance to explain. No matter whether the movements are comfortable or not, or whether the skirt affects the movements, but the moment you stand on the stage, you must show your best condition. For this reason, I can only practice over and over again without taking shortcuts. Dance is so real and cannot be fake." Hua Xiao felt that dance gave her a lot of spiritual things and allowed her to see more of herself.
"Actually, sometimes I think, how long can I persist in this profession that is so hard and lonely? But fortunately, there are so many people accompanying me along the way, who have seen my hard work and dedication, and when everyone will appreciate my work And when I cry, I seem to have motivation again." Hua Xiaoyi said.
Text | Reporter Wang Li
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