Chapter 14 Chapter 14 Dance and Opera

The source of Chinese opera art should be traced back to the original song and dance.After a long period of gestation, it was not formally formed until the Song and Jin Dynasties at the end of the 12th century.Since then, it has gradually replaced the status of singing and dancing art since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and has become a form of performing art that Chinese people love to hear and see. The art of opera combines literature, music, dance, art, martial arts, and acrobatics, but its basic feature is singing, dancing and telling stories.Therefore, dance is an important part of opera performance and has always maintained a close relationship with opera.

The Yuan Dynasty was the first golden age in the history of Chinese opera development.The art of zaju prospered and writers emerged in large numbers.From the more than 100 scripts of Yuan Dynasty Zaju that have survived to this day, we can see the dance activities in Yuan Dynasty Zaju performances. In the performance of Yuan Zaju, a dance performance is often inserted.Yang Guifei was a famous dancer in the Tang Dynasty, and she was good at "Neon Clothes and Feather Dress Dance".Therefore, Bai Pu, a playwright of the Yuan dynasty, arranged for Concubine Yang to dance in neon clothes on a plate in order to express Tang Minghuang and Concubine Yang’s life of pleasure in the play "Wu Tong Yu".

Some Yuan Zaju repertoires describe the theme of war.When the ancients fought, they had to fight on horseback and march in formation.In order to express this kind of scene, zaju performers borrowed the "bamboo horse" from folk dance.For example, "Three Battles at Hulao Pass against Lv Bu" written by Zheng Dehui, which wrote the story of the Three Kingdoms, and "Yuchi Gong Seizes the Lever with a Single Whip" written by Shang Zhongxian, which wrote the story of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, all have "the horse leading the pawns up the mountain". , "Bamboo Horse Tuning" and so on.

These dance scenes in Yuan Zaju are all stipulated by the drama scene and are an integral part of opera performance. In the Ming Dynasty, another golden age of Chinese opera appeared, that is, the great prosperity of "legendary" dramas.People in the Ming Dynasty also liked to put in some dance scenes when acting.For example, when Wu Shimei wrote "Jing Hong Ji", she arranged for Concubine Mei to dance "Jing Hong Dance".Ruan Dacheng wrote "Spring Lantern Riddles" to describe the scene of viewing lanterns during the Lantern Festival, and inserted a social fire performance.His "Swallow Notes" wanted to show the swallows conveying messages to the hero and heroine, and arranged a "dance of flying swallows" to anthropomorphize the little swallows.

When gods and ghosts appear in operas, they often have to dance.For example, when Li Huiniang's ghost appeared on the stage in "The Story of Red Plum", the script stipulated that "dance the whirlwind".The judge Hu in the movie appeared on the stage, and there was "Xiao Wujie".The "Mulian Opera" includes the most folk songs and dances in the opera.In the Northern Song Dynasty, Bianliang performed "Mulian Rescue Mother Zaju", which took seven days and seven nights. The play included various martial arts, acrobatics, singing and dancing, etc.Many folk dances are still inserted in the "Mulian Rescue Mother and Encourage Kindness Drama" edited and adapted by Zheng Zhizhen of the Ming Dynasty.There are "Crane Dance", "Tiger Dance", "Warlord Dance", "Taoist Dance", "Long Man Dance with Spear", "Short Monk Beating Bowl", "Thousand-handed Avalokitesvara Dance", "Fish Basket Avalokitesvara Dance", and There is "Dumb Back Crazy"-the performer makes up as a woman, wears women's clothes, and combs her hair.A pair of curled prosthetic legs are installed behind the waist, which are used as the lower limbs of the woman.The lower body should be dressed in men's clothes, with a man's fake head and torso on the waist.It dances up and down in harmony, as if two people are dancing.Although he does not speak, he is full of wit and wit.

During the long history of folk performances of Mulian Opera, the original plot and performance methods have been continuously broken through and transformed, and dance drama-style performances have emerged.The amateur singing and dancing troupe "Taipinghui" in the rural area of ​​Shangyu, Zhejiang can perform a kind of "Yumulian". "Yumulian" is a ghost dance performed when offering sacrifices to the God of Tugu.The stage reciting and libretto of Mulian Opera are completely excluded, and the performance is performed entirely by pantomime gestures, body language, and dance scenes. "Yamulian" has 20 scenes: Wei Tuo invites Guanyin, Yan Wang issues cards, Liu's illness, blind man's divination class, night man crosses the river, delivers night shift meal, night man invites impermanence, Qian 抲 [kuo Kuo] (Shaoxing Dialect, meaning "catch") Liu, Diao Nan Diao, Diao Nu Diao, Civil and Military Examination Ghost, Pai Shackles, Murder Husband Qijie, Hungry Ghost Gambling Ghost, Datouxi Liu Cui, Yan Wangfa Five Ghosts, Hou Ji Mrs. Liu, knocking on paper and copper wires, going to funerals and hanging filial piety, and the ghost king sweeping the stage.

A Mulian opera has completely become a dance drama. After the hard work of artists in Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the art of opera performance reached maturity in the Qianlong period in the middle of Qing Dynasty.Dance has increasingly become an integral part of opera art, and an indispensable artistic means to express characters, describe the environment, and express the theme.All successful opera performances require actors to have solid dance skills.The Kunqu opera "Lin Chong's Night Run" expresses Lin Chong's ambivalence of "throwing one's heart into the water margin, looking back at the heavens". The young monk and the nun in "Si Fan Down the Mountain" both performed wonderful dances, vividly depicting a young couple's yearning for a better life.

During the long-term performance process, opera artists have explored a wonderful way to express space and time.They use the virtual performance of dance movements to mobilize the artistic imagination of the audience to describe the dramatic scene.When the generals in Yuan Zaju come on stage, they have to ride a bamboo horse.In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the bamboo horses on the stage were gradually replaced by dances.The actor holds a horsewhip and performs a "(foot still) horse" dance, which can make the audience feel like they are on the battlefield of gold and iron horses.The actor holds a wooden paddle and performs a rowing dance, which can express the ups and downs of a flat boat on the river, and the audience seems to feel that they are in the same boat as the characters in the play.Two actors perform a dance in the dark, which can make the audience feel that the brightly lit stage has suddenly turned into a dark nightclub.By extension, many things on the opera stage can be expressed by dance.Those dance moves gradually formed a certain pattern, usually called "program".This stage method of opera art enables actors to display infinite expressive power and audiences to generate infinite artistic associations, making Chinese opera stand alone in the forest of world drama arts.

Another interesting fact is that Chinese folk songs and dances can continuously evolve new opera varieties.Tea-picking operas in various parts of Jiangxi, flower-drum operas in Anhui, Hubei, and Hunan, Yangko operas in Shanxi, Hebei, and Shaanxi, lantern operas in Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan, and Jilin operas in Jilin, etc. It was formed on the basis of folk songs and dances such as Yangko, Lantern, and Errenzhuan. The relationship between Chinese dance and Chinese opera is too close.Therefore, when it comes to dance, we must talk about the art of opera. A prominent feature of traditional opera is that it attaches great importance to explaining stage actions and drama logic with the beauty of dance, and uses the beauty of dance to reproduce life and describe life.The dance beauty of opera runs through the two exercises known as "doing" (expression and body movements) and "fighting" (a special form of body movements - fighting) in the opera performance system.All the actions of the characters on the opera stage are danced.The image of characters on the opera stage can be said to be the image of dance art.Because the opera stage movements are all musicalized.That is to say, opera movements are dissolved in the overall harmonious music rhythm, rhythm, melody and sound of music.This movement is dance.

The major actions of the characters on the opera stage are dances such as martial arts, bullying, (foot-shang) horses, walking, rounding, plunging, knife dancing, and sword dancing; Small movements such as shaking the beard, pulling out feathers, fanning, and playing with handkerchiefs are also dances.Even some movements with a strong sense of life, such as going out and entering, going up and down stairs, feeding chickens and booming chickens, threading needles, etc., are all danced.Whether it is static or dynamic movements on the opera stage, they are all danced, and what are made are not prototypes of life, but processed and refined dance postures.For example, the "stand" of opera characters is different from that of characters in life.Martial arts students use "T-shaped gait", while old dans use "eight-shaped gait". Wu Chou has one foot in front and the toes touch the ground; Danjiao has one foot behind and the toes touch the ground;These static "stands" have become rhythmic dance postures, dance steps and dance shapes.The dynamic "finger" expressed in opera is also different from the extended finger in life.Use softer "double fingers" for raw corners, exaggerated "double fingers" for clean corners, blooming "orchid fingers" for female roles, and subtle "orchid fingers" for niche corners.Regardless of the fingering method, when pointing, the right finger must start from the left, and the left finger must start from the right. From the shape of the fingers to the curvature of the shoulders, arms, and elbows, as well as the coordination of various parts of the body, the curves of the entire movement are consistent. become a dance.Even if the opera characters are shy, they also have to do the shameful gesture of turning their heads back and covering their faces; when they are angry, they also have to do the angry gesture of attacking the case and waving their sleeves, all of which become a kind of dancing posture.The external movements of the characters on the opera stage are full of rhythmic beauty from head to toe, and are strictly restricted by the rhythm of music. From modeling to expressing emotions, they are not simple life movements, but dances.

The vocabulary of opera and dance is very rich.Opera performers need to mobilize all factors of their bodies and spirits to achieve beautification and dance, and even costumes and props have also participated in the creation of beautification and dance.What opera performers hold in their hands, wear on their heads, and tie around their waists can all form dance-like body combinations, such as feather fan dance, group fan dance, folding fan dance, closed fan dance, double fan dance, square scarf dance, and horsewhip dance , paddle dance, umbrella dance, handkerchief dance, water flag dance, Lingzi dance, water sleeve dance, knife dance, gun dance, sword dance, stick dance, fireball dance, etc. Hair, dancing red silk, etc., when any kind of living utensils are incorporated into the opera stage and become props, they will produce wonderful dancing postures, forming expressive dance vocabulary and dance combinations. Some opera dances are the sublimation of life movements, and some movements (inner activities) that were originally invisible in life are also exaggerated and depicted as dance-like movements.Some dances also depict the dynamics of birds and beasts, such as double flying swallows, roc spreading its wings, kite turning over, pounce on tiger, tiger jumping, golden rooster standing alone, carp standing upright, oolong twisting pillars, etc.While absorbing classical dance and folk dance, opera also absorbs a large amount of martial arts and acrobatic skills, enabling actors to acquire the ability to use their bodies magically and freely. Opera dance is expressive.For example, the fan in the hand of the romantic niche is not all for cooling, but for expressing feelings and portraying characters.Open the folding fan and fan your chest leisurely, which looks chic and elegant; close the fan and stroke your palms, expressing thinking; draw a circle with the fan hanging down, expressing happiness; knocking the forehead with the fan, expressing forgetfulness; striking the hand with the fan, expressing sudden enlightenment.On the stage, picking flowers upside down, raising a fan to beat a butterfly, turning a fan to point at the forest, etc., beautiful dances can find the interpretation of life.As for the "water sleeves", there are more than 200 styles, and their expressiveness becomes stronger when they are danced. The relationship between opera dance and life is very close.The "walking side" that expresses sneaking in the quiet night, the "(legged) horse" that straddles and gallops, and the "sitting sedan chair" that flickers and trembles are not difficult to evoke people's life experience.Various postures on the stage of opera, such as walking, walking, sitting, lying, pointing, watching, writing, worshiping, happy, angry, sad, happy, frightened, crazy, drunk, sick, dead, etc., are all danced. , also has the basis of life.Even some highly decorative martial arts units have life connotations.For example, "Cloud Hand" expresses heroism rather than decadence; "Kite Turning Over" expresses vitality rather than fatigue;Because of the close relationship between opera dance and life, the movements of different "professional" characters (Sheng, Dan, Jing, and Chou) on the stage of opera have their own charm and strict rhythm.Actors in various professions must receive strict dance training. Dance occupies an extremely important position in the art of opera.The rich traditional dance art has been preserved and developed in the opera art.Opera dance also continuously delivers artistic nutrition to Chinese folk dance.After the founding of the People's Republic of China, dance workers established a unique Chinese classical dance system based on opera dance and referring to traditional martial arts postures, skills and other forms of expression.