Yesterday, Shanghai Ballet held a rehearsal ceremony for the original ballet "Lilies" adapted from Ru Zhijuan's 1958 book of the same name. coincided with the Lantern Festival, and the main creators of the crew and the actors "reunited" in the rehearsal hall. The screenwriter of the play is Ru Zhijuan's daughter Wang Anyi, the first ** rehearsal made her deeply "surprised": "The storyline is very simple, to turn it into a ballet, it needs a lot of content to enrich, to my surprise, the current presentation in the rehearsal hall has been very full and vivid." ”
The most difficult part is handled the most skillfully.
When invited to be a screenwriter, Wang Anyi promised very happily: "My mother died in 1998, more than 20 years is not a long time, but the world is changing too fast. I am very touched that everyone has not forgotten this short story that is so long**. Although it is her mother's work, she also bluntly said that it is not easy to adapt: "*It exists on paper, it is difficult to turn it into an intuitive dance, and it requires many people to work together and work together. ”
According to Ru Zhijuan's record in "The Writing of Lilies", the battle in ** took place in 1946 in the Soviet-Chinese Seven Battles and Seven Victories. The location of the headquarters of this famous battle is now Nantong Hai'an. At that time, Ru Zhijuan was doing combat service work on the front line of the General Offensive Regiment, and the first task she received was to "borrow a quilt".
When he wrote this short story**, Ru Zhijuan was only in his early 30s. Seeing that the main creator and actors are very young this time, Wang Anyi also applauded this "youth drama": "The positioning of the 'youth drama' is eye-catching, and the main creator and actors are very young. Writing ** is a personal labor, and the opportunity to work with so many young creators is not as lonely as one person. ”
The dance drama focuses on the emotional collision and communication between people in the war, and expands dramatically on the basis of the original work, through the intersection of three characters with different identities, different personalities and different life backgrounds, "correspondent", "new daughter-in-law" and "female soldier of the art troupe", due to the trivial matter of "borrowing a quilt", the simple, pure, sincere and beautiful emotions between the three people like lilies are narrated, showing the beauty of human nature during the war years.
The first ** rehearsal made Wang Anyi slightly surprised: "I didn't expect that the most difficult part was handled the most cleverly. She bluntly said that the matter of "borrowing a quilt" is too routine, and the action is very realistic, but the director has a trick, and the handling is very vivid and clear, which is surprising. The scene between the new daughter-in-law and her husband on the wedding night also touched her: "The scene was handled very boldly, and I think this paragraph should be repeated to emphasize the importance of this quilt to the new daughter-in-law." ”
Stories like this should not be forgotten.
*"Lilies" was published in 1958 in "Yanhe", the full text is just over 5,000 words, but the impact is far-reaching. When the work was published, Mao Dun, then Minister of Culture, commented: "The image of the character is from light to thick, like a person coming to him, the closer he gets, the more clearly he can see, and in the end, not only let us see his appearance, but also his heart." ”
How to show the "noble and elegant, delicate and delicate" style of Shanghai-style ballet while maintaining the fresh and handsome tone of the original work is the challenge that director Wang Ge has to face. In order to create this romantic and lyrical ballet with red themes, he was very strict in the rehearsal hall, and many young actors were scolded, but they understood that "high requirements lead to high quality".
Composer Yang Fan's ** for "Lilies" is only partially presented, but the magnificent melody has made Xin Lili, the head of the Shanghai Ballet, teary-eyed. This young composer who was born in the military compound read ** "Lilies" in the language books of his student days as early as his students, and after accepting the invitation, he returned home as soon as possible to rummage through the box and found out what his grandparents were shooting in military uniforms. "I don't think stories like this should be forgotten today," he said. Although I have encountered many difficulties in the process of creation, I hope that I can work with you to create a red theme ballet that young people will enjoy. ”
As a producer, Xin Lili deeply feels that it is not easy to create, she always accompanies everyone in the rehearsal hall, and can also feel the pressure of the director and actors. Yesterday, she said emotionally to the creators and actors: "Don't worry, I will always accompany you through the creative process, I will laugh with you when you laugh, and I will comfort you when you cry." At the rehearsal site of "Lilies", you can feel the ingenious combination of folk dance, folk dance elements and Shanghainese ballet in the dance section, as Xin Lili said: "We have never stopped on the road of exploration of national ballet, which is the mission of Shanghai Ballet." We hope to create Shanghai-style ballet works with Chinese style and international vision. (Xinmin Evening News reporter Zhu Yuan).