China News Service, Beijing, September 16th. On the evening of the 15th, the closing ceremony of the 13th China Arts Festival was held in Xiongan, Hebei.
In the list of winners of the 17th Wenhua Award announced at the closing ceremony, the dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East" selected by Beijing won the Wenhua Award.
It is understood that the dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East" is produced by the Propaganda Department of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Propaganda Department of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region Party Committee of the Communist Party of China. Xinyu Song and Dance Troupe performed together.
The play has fully started its creative work since February 2020 and will premiere in Beijing in June 2021.
Over the past year, it has toured more than 30 times across the country, and is known as "a masterpiece with a high degree of historical and national character and a strong sense of community of the Chinese nation".
Witness: Rare cultural relics rejuvenate
The concept and theme of the dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East" came from the Han Dynasty brocade armguards unearthed in 1995 at the Niya site in Hotan, Xinjiang, on the ancient Silk Road.
The brocade is 18.5 centimeters long and 12.5 centimeters wide, with eight Chinese characters in seal script: "Five stars come out of the East to benefit China". The brocade is now a national first-class cultural relic, and its unearthed is known as one of the greatest discoveries in Chinese archaeology in the 20th century.
As a woven product produced in the Central Plains, the five-star brocade armguard was unearthed at the Niya site in ancient Xinjiang, where Jingjuecheng is located, and the precious historical information it carries has attracted much attention.
Experts speculate that the owner of the tomb of the wearer of the armguard is the leader of Jingjue, which fully demonstrates the identification of the Western Regions with the culture of the Central Plains.
The small armguards became the testimony of the integration of various ethnic groups in the Han Dynasty.
A still from the dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East".
Photo courtesy of Beijing Performing Arts Group
Based on the precious creative resource of the five-star brocade armguard, the dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East" begins at the Niya archaeological site. After archaeologists discovered the "Five Stars Out of the East, China" brocade armguard, they entered the time-space tunnel in the wind and sand to unfold this piece. The story behind the brocade: When the brocade armguard of "Five Stars Out of the East Benefiting China" re-emerges from the yellow sand, it seems to knock on the door of time and space in the Western Regions for thousands of years... Deep in the desert, the Han Dynasty general Feng and the son of the northern leader Jiante encountered Sandstorm was rescued by monks into the ancient city of Jingjue, and became acquainted with Chunjun, the daughter of the leader of Jingjue.
The wind and sand have been tempered, and there have been several changes. In the watch and help of the characters in the play, the brocade armguards worn close to the body embody the deepest feelings of family and country, witnessing the deep friendship between the Central Plains and the people of the Western Regions.
Vivid: stage art makes cultural relics "live"
In order to accurately and vividly restore the historical and humanistic features of the Western Regions two thousand years ago, that is, ancient Xinjiang, the dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East" deeply explored the unique cultural aesthetics of the Central Plains and the Western Regions during the Han Dynasty, and placed cultural elements in different time, space and situations. Diversified forms of expression such as singing and dancing make cultural relics "live" on the stage, and use dance to "tell" stories.
A still from the dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East".
Photo courtesy of Beijing Performing Arts Group
The play cuts from the archaeological site, travels to the Han Dynasty two thousand years ago, and travels through flashbacks many times, and finally returns to the real archaeological site. Finally, a real archaeological environment and a virtual historical scene are presented in the same play. Use a fictional story to tell historical facts.
The dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East" not only conforms to the original appearance of history, but also has a unique aesthetic that surpasses the times. All the dance segments, costumes, music and dance beauty in the play are derived from the in-depth research and reproduction of historical materials. The presentations are well documented, ensuring that the stories are told strictly in accordance with the historical context, reflecting a high degree of rigor and professionalism.
The dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East" extracts the truth of art from the truth of history, maps the "truth" of history with fictitious "events", and sublimates the "will" of the family and country with romantic "feelings", thus showing the splendid and colorful national culture , the story laughs with tears, and becomes a grand tribute to the community of the Chinese nation.
Tolerance: The fusion of dance species to achieve innovative expression
The dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East" shows a strong inclusiveness in the play.
Numerous characters are constructed in the dance drama, and the interaction, communication and blending between different ethnic groups are shown through the interaction between different characters.
A still from the dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East".
Photo courtesy of Beijing Performing Arts Group
This kind of inclusiveness is also reflected in the dance presentation: in the lantern dance, the elite dancers come out holding the lantern, graceful and agile, like flying fairies; in the soldiers dance, the warriors and soldiers are mighty and majestic, golden and iron horses, declaring that they are defending their hometown. Determination; Ladies Dance, Han Dynasty ladies walking, dignified and graceful... It shows the profound artistic skills and rich artistic imagination of the main creator. It is a bold innovation to use dance to interpret and show the inclusiveness of Chinese civilization.
"From a national treasure to a dance drama, the creative process of "Five Stars in the East" is a journey of artistic archaeology that has gone through hardships and fruitful results." Zhao Jiachen, secretary of the Party Committee and chairman of Beijing Performing Arts Group, said that on the screenwriter 12 In the plot of the easy draft, "Five Stars Out of the East" presents the historical value of this precious cultural relic artistically with its beautiful stage presentation, innovatively expressed dance vocabulary and sincere and full performance of the actors; In the film, creators and audiences travel through time and space to experience the beautiful scene of extensive exchanges, comprehensive exchanges and deep integration of various ethnic groups.
Beijing Performing Arts Group will take the dance drama "Five Stars Out of the East" as a new starting point, continue to deepen the creation of stage art works, and strive to produce more high-quality masterpieces.
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