The Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region is known for its legendary beauty, and a legendary beauty, Liu Sanjie, a storied character of folk tales who disregarded the entreaties of a wealthy but cruel suitor, then proceeded to vanquish rival singers hired by that suitor to oppose her in a competition of song. Based on that tale and staged on a picturesque river in Yangshuo, in 2004 famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou headed up a grand production piece, Impression on Liu Sanjie. The event garnered great acclaim with its extravagant melding of song and dance backed by real-life natural landscapes. At the opening ceremony of the 2006 Guangxi Cultural Vessel held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, another amazing folk performance, entitled Grand Song from Guangxi, also generated a big buzz.
On the evening of June 9, 2006, the audience waited out long lines to enter the Great Hall of the People. This was the second time that Grand Song from Guangxi was staged in Beijing, having first been unveiled in May 2005.
As the curtain rose, the lyrical scenery projected by neon lights on the background drew in the audience, then melodic but primitive fairy-like melodies seemed to emanate from light and shadow. But the audience saw no singers on the stage. Eyes followed sound and then they discovered the singers on the second floor.
All songs and dances were derived from the scenes of daily life among ethnic minorities in Guangxi. Transplanting Rice Seedlings tells the story of a young man from the Yao ethnic group laboring in terraced fields; Cloth Beating depicts Dong girls making cloth; Sailing at Sunrise simulates the fishing life of the Jing people. The Song of Rice Pestling reproduces scenes of Zhuang girls grinding rice used to cook glutinous rice paste; Lovers in Quarrel depicts a couple tangling with each other; Fancy Man in Heart describes a girl in a bamboo tower who misses her lover; and in Lovers on the Moon a couple is suspended upon a"Crescent,"their feet swaying in the air.
Grand Song from Guangxi integrates ethnic performances with modern production. Neither a collection of folk songs nor a traditional evening party, the diverse performance piece is an idyllic melding of ethnic custom and beautiful song and dance. In addition to more than 40 folk songs, also part of the format are ethnic dances, costumes and instrumental music. All go to praise two eternal themes: labor and love in the lives of ethnic groups in Guangxi, such as the Miao, Yao, Dong, Zhuang and Jing.
Situated on the southwestern border of China, traditional culture and art is revered and preserved in Guangxi. Such primitive philosophic conceptions as totem worship are still found in folk songs. For instance, Praying for Rainfall represents the harmony of man and nature and our ancestors"respect for gods. Director-in-Chief Zhang Jigang attributed the success of Grand Song from Guangxi to its dedication to Pescribing the image of ordinary people with their own language and praising the lives with their own songs."He said, "All songs and dances are based on real lives of local people. All lyrics are modified at least 20 times so as to be close to real life. For instance, praying for rainfall and shouldering rice bundles are both based on scenes of daily life."
The gorgeous costumes in Grand Song from Guangxi are also very impressive. A total of 600 costumes in nearly 500 categories of designs, as well as 70 masks, 500 pieces of headwear and 400 chest and hand ornaments are used in the performance. Costumes are designed for different occasions. In Ode to Labor, brown coarse-cloth costumes decorated with white straw weavings and headwear with ancient totems convey a touch of a primitive past. The most festive costumes are wedding clothes embroidered with phoenixes and other birds found in the dance Wedding.
Long Hua, a costume designer from the Guangzhou Soldiers Song and Dance Ensemble, acted as designer-in-chief of Grand Song from Guangxi. Many times he traveled to Miao villages for inspiration. He gave priority to visual effects and adopted many illuminant materials in his designs, adding costumes of astounding beauty and exotic primitiveness.
Since its debut in Liuzhou in April 2003, Grand Song from Guangxi has been staged 85 times in such cities as Nanning, Zhengzhou, Guilin and Jiaxing. It was listed among the National Top Ten Excellent Theatrical Masterpieces and won the Cultural Prize of the Chinese Ministry of Culture. The overriding goal for the producers of Grand Song from Guangxi is to provide the audience with a window through which they can learn about and appreciate the ethnic customs of Guangxi.
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