【Approaching Literary Artists】

  She is one of the "five golden flowers" in the field of contemporary Huangmei opera performance, and is called "Xiaoyan Fengying" in the industry. She has studied music, worked as a singer, filmed a TV series, and also acted in dramas and musicals. It is probably the most cross-border attempt among Huangmei opera performing artists, using the nutrients drawn from different art categories for the traditional Huangmei drama belt. A touch of bright color came.

  There are probably two types of opera people today. One is to pursue the original taste and strictly adhere to the "gadgets" of the predecessors, without taking a step further; the other is to dare to try and innovate and constantly play new tricks in traditional art. Wu Qiong, a famous Huang Mei, obviously belongs to the latter.

  In the recent period, Wu Qiong's vibrato has been playing well, singing opera songs and ticketing Peking opera, the main thing is to sing, introduce and promote Huangmei Opera.

  The idea of ​​playing Douyin was originally made by fans. "I went to perform everywhere, and many fans told me, 'Teacher, you can open a vibrato, so that we can see you often'." Wu Qiong said, at that time, she didn't know what vibrato, nor Did not seriously consider using new media to promote Huangmei Opera. After some understanding, she found that this is indeed a feasible idea. "When I first started playing Douyin, I would post some knowledge about Huangmei Opera, arias and my life. Later, I became more and more focused on Huangmei Opera. One day, my daughter said that her classmates saw me by vibrato. I think Huangmei Opera is very nice. Gradually, my fans are more and more, and there are more and more people who like Huangmei Opera. "Wu Qiong said.

  Wu Qiong not only popularized Huangmei opera on Douyin, but also met many young friends, actively understood the art categories and expressions that young people like today, and thought about combining it with Huangmei opera. In Wu Qiong's view, the opera is very inclusive and contains infinite possibilities.

  Wu Qiong became famous in his early years and was known as "Little Yan Fengying" in the industry. It is also one of the "five golden flowers" in the contemporary Huangmei drama. It is Wu Qiong's long-term pursuit to expand the boundaries of Huangmei Opera and explore the possibility of "grafting" of opera and other arts. Among the many Huangmei opera actors, Wu Qiong is probably the one who has tried the most in crossover. She has studied music, worked as a singer, filmed a TV series, and also acted in a drama or musical. Wu Qiong feels that seeing more and learning more about the advantages of other art forms, even if there is no cross-border success, will be good for his performance. "Although there is a saying called" Every line is like another mountain ", art is always connected in aesthetic terms." Wu Qiong said.

  In 2018, Wu Qiong starred in the musical "Ouch, Mom!" ". "Ouch, mom! The two composers Zhao Jiuyue and Xiong Jialin are not very familiar with the Huangmei Opera. Wu Qiong provided them with the basic materials of the Huangmei Opera, and they studied and selected together to ensure the authenticity of Huangmei's singing in the play. Inadvertently inserting Liu Liu into the shade, the composer's strangeness and freshness to Huangmei Opera just made their music design break through the traditional form of Huangmei Opera, instead of crossing the door traditionally, using vocals and harmony to connect Huangmei Opera's singing, fresh and unique.

  Solve the problem of "sing", but also pay attention to "speak". Huang Mei's drama is mainly about singing, and there aren't many chants. Wu Qiong said frankly that she said the lines are not as strong as singing. "Ouch, mom! The large number of lines in "once made her voice feel strenuous, so she mobilized many years of stage performance experience and spent more than two months to find the support of the lines with breath without the language feeling and performance of the opera fan. The rhythm is finally able to cope with ease.

  Wu Qiong was courageous to try across the border, but he never forgot his old bank. In the field of Huangmei Opera, Wu Qiong is also a "challenger" who is brave in innovation. In Huangmei drama "Taibai drunk", Gong Danxing's reciprocating behavior shaped the first poem fairy Li Bai on the stage of Huangmei drama. In the past performances, Wu Qiong used to weaken the drama formula and emphasized the livelihood of the performance. This was also the case with "Tai Bai Zui" at first. However, while watching Qiong Wu's rehearsal video, Wu Qiong gradually discovered the problem. "The actress plays the role of a dandan, and it's natural to show it. It's okay to live a bit; but if you don't play a male role, if you don't add a program, the audience will feel different." So, she began to adjust her performance habits. Before the show in Beijing, Also received the guidance of Huang Meixi performing artist Huang Xinde. After "Taibai Zui" performed in Beijing, Wu Qiong received quite a high evaluation: "The 'program' is among the characters."

  Wu Qiong has always paid attention to the feedback and feedback from the audience during the performance. "When I was performing" Tai Bai Zui "in Beijing, several audiences responded very positively, which was not found when I was performing outside. I wanted to consolidate this effect." Wu Qiong said, "The reason why the predecessors are famous The creation of classics is precisely the result of respecting the feedback of the audience, repeated exploration and adjustment in countless stage practices. The good show comes from the performance. "

  A good show comes from a show, and it is also pondered. Wu Qiong likes to think about the play-not only does the new start work have to work hard to figure out, and has performed hundreds of times of old plays, such as "Female Concubine" and "The Celestial Pair", she also always pays attention to looking for the freshness of the work. "The freshness at a certain point can drive the excitement of the whole performance. If the acting is always the same, it will be too boring," she said.

  For example, there is a play where the seven fairies collide with Dong Yong in "The Celestial Match", Wu Qiong often changes the way of playing, trying to make it more interesting and better looking; in "Female Concubine", Wu Qiong will talk to Master Liu according to the scene. The performance state adjusts the language rhythm to make the dialogue more "play". "Sometimes when the actor finishes a sentence, the audience will laugh or applaud. At this time, the actor should pause and wait for the audience's reaction before continuing to chant. If the response to the audience is regardless of blindly acting" silly ", the effect will definitely not be good." Wu Qiong said that to a certain extent, theater art is performed by actors and audiences. Good actors should have the ability to interact with the audience and grasp the rhythm and situation of the performance.

  It is easier said than done. This ability requires long-term accumulation of art practice before it can be slowly cultivated. On one occasion, when she and her partner performed "Red Ropa", when the heroine Chen Saijin asked her husband Wang Keju not to drive himself out of the sad part, Wang Keju's pair of cap wings suddenly fell off. Faced with a sudden stage accident, Wu Qiong hurriedly sang the lyrics that urged her husband to keep herself beside him, while picking up the cap wings, and gently inserted it back into Wang Keju's head. This treatment not only saved the scene, but also met Chen Saijin's mood at the time.

  Wu Qiong used the nutrients drawn from different art categories to bring a bright color to the traditional Huangmei drama. The tradition in the bones and the modernity in individuality have also made Wu Qiong a unique landscape in Huangmei opera today.

(Author: Luo Qun, the Department of Youth drama critic)