Wu Xiaobang

Wu Xiaobang

Wu Xiaobang (December 18, 1906 - July 8, 1995), born in Taicang, Jiangsu Province, died in Beijing. He is a Chinese dancer. His masterpieces include Chou Biao Gong, Si fan, hungry fire, poppy flower and tiger Lord.

Wu Xiaobang is a pioneer, pioneer and fireman of Chinese new dance art in the 20th century.

Dance career

Inspired

From 1929 to 1936, Wu Xiaobang went to Japan three times to learn from the dancers Yasuo takada and his wife Nagoya Jiangkou. During his study abroad, he studied the dance theories of modern dancers I. Duncan and m. Wigman, and was greatly inspired by them.

Start writing

In 1932, he founded Xiaobang dance school in Shanghai, and in 1935, he founded Xiaobang Dance Institute, which started the creation and teaching of new dance art. In September 1935, the first individual dance conference was held in Shanghai, His representative works are: puppet, which portrays an image of a running dog by means of simulation, exposing and satirizing the traitorous face of the puppet Manchukuo emperor; funerals, which is composed according to F.F. Chopin's music, symbolizes the demise of China's old system; night of Pujiang River shows the struggle of the youth living in semi feudal and semi colonial China. The works of this period, starting from the real life, carried out a variety of experiments in the theme, genre and expression techniques. Wu Xiaobang started his career of dance creation with his artistic ideal of exploring the true meaning of life.

Contribution to the Anti Japanese War

After the outbreak of the Anti Japanese War, Wu Xiaobang left Shanghai to join the ranks of Anti Japanese and national salvation. At this time, the content and form of the works have changed with the real life. Dance "March of the volunteers" and "song of the guerrillas" are the main works of this period. The two dances are simple and passionate. The author expresses the passion of Anti Japanese War reflected in the song of the same name with the dance image, which has aroused strong resonance among the people.

Activities

From 1938 to 1945, Wu Xiaobang carried out new dance activities in Guangdong, Shanghai, Guilin and Chongqing. In 1943, the dance department was set up in the provincial art college in Qujiang, Guangdong Province, which is the earliest formal professional dance education institution in China. Through his teaching and creation, he planted the seeds of dance. In this period, his "ugly expression of merit" is divided into four paragraphs: "flattering", "flattering", "ecstatic" and "downfall". The dance adopts the banter style music and mask, which sharply exposes and castigates the acts of traitors and traitors. "Thinking of the world" shows the pain of a young monk in the conflict between reason and desire. The dance is natural and fluent, focusing on the description of the characters' heart, full of philosophy. Through the change of emotional color and the flow of action lines, hungry fire contains the theme of "wine and meat stink in Zhumen, frozen bones in the road". After 1938, he also created dance drama poppy flower, tiger Lord and pagoda archway. Poppy flower and tiger Lord reflect the author's desire for cooperation between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party and common resistance against Japan. "Pagoda archway" uses dance art image to expose the destruction of feudal system on young men and women's love, and criticizes the hypocrisy of "loyalty, filial piety and righteousness".

In June 1945, Wu Xiaobang arrived in Yan'an, the holy land of revolution, and taught dance in Lu Xun Art Institute of Yan'an. Since then, he has been around the liberated areas to carry out new dance activities. In 1948, the dance team of the propaganda team of the General Political Department of the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army, together with the army dancers, created and performed March dance. This dance shows the heroic spirit of the people's Liberation Army's victorious march. It is a step higher than the original soldier dance and reaches a new level.

Personal point of view

Wu Xiaobang advocated that dance should express social life. Most of his works expose the dark side of the old society by means of exposure, irony, hint and symbolism, which has profound social significance and progressive effect. He is one of the pioneers of Chinese new dance art.

Training the backbone

In 1951, Wu Xiaobang presided over the teaching of the dance cadre training class of the Central Academy of drama, cultivating the backbone for the development of new China's dance industry. In 1954, he served as the chairman of the Chinese Dance Research Association, leading the research on the history of Chinese dance, investigating and studying the dances of Confucianism and Taoism. Tianma Dance art studio was established in 1957, which is the continuation of his theoretical system experiment. From the melody and rhythm of ancient music, he explored the psychological law and means of expression of expressing emotion with music, endowed dance with new imagination and conception, and created works such as "three lanes of plum blossom", "falling wild geese in Pingsha", "Fisherman's music", "ambush on all sides" and "plum blossom gymnastics".

Teaching contribution

In 1979, Wu Xiaobang was elected president of the Chinese Dancers Association. In order to promote the prosperity and development of the national dance industry and the active academic theory, he made an important contribution. He has held dance workshops in Beijing, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Liaoning, Zhejiang, Fujian, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Hong Kong, held special lectures on basic theory, applied theory and dance history of dance, and organized and led students to conduct creative practice. From 1982 to the end of 1983, he also taught dance theory courses for the Education Department of Beijing Dance Academy and the dance department of Art Department of Central University for nationalities.

Teaching system

Wu Xiaobang, based on the natural law of early modern dance, combined with the characteristics of Chinese folk dance, established a teaching system combining theory with practice. In teaching, he adopted the teaching method of "reading, thinking and writing", which inspired the imagination and creative ability of dancers. Wu Xiaobang has trained a large number of dance talents and is an influential Dance Educator in China.

Main works

Wu Xiaobang expressed his ambition by dancing, warned the world by dancing, and danced for life. He insisted on the trinity of dance education, creation and theory, and cultivated a large number of dance successors. In his life, he created 18 popular new dance programs, such as hungry fire, yearning for the world, ugly performance, wild geese falling in the sand, welcome spring, autumn resentment, tiger Lord and pagoda archway. His works include introduction to new dance art, new theory of dance, record of talking about art, sequel of dance, research on dance, etc. These works contribute to the construction of Chinese dance art theory.

Previous positions

Wu Xiaobang has successively served as the Standing Committee member of the Chinese Federation of literary and art circles, the head of the central national song and dance troupe, the chairman of the Chinese Dance Research Association, the chairman of the Chinese Dancers Association, and the director of the dance Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts.

Characters and deeds

overview

Wu Xiaobang (1906-1995) is a pioneer of Chinese new dance art in the 20th century. Born in 1906 in a rich family in Jiangsu Province. He traveled to Japan three times from 1929 to 1932, and studied ballet and modern dance from German expressionists, such as Yasuo Takada, ryukoya Jiangkou, and gongdaozi.

Memorabilia

After returning to China, he set up "Xiaobang dance school" in Shanghai. At the same time, in 1935 and 1937, he held two works exhibitions and performed more than ten dances that directly reflected the social reality, such as "puppet", "funeral", "clown", "night of Pujiang River" and "vision of peace".

Facing the war of resistance against Japan, Wu Xiaobang stepped out of his "dance kingdom" and rushed to the battlefield of national salvation. During this period, he created nearly 100 works with strong spirit of the times and artistic appeal, among which the most representative ones are: the solo "March of the volunteers" (1937) composed by the famous composer Nie Er's song of the same name; the group dance "song of the guerrillas" (1938) composed by the famous composer He Luting's song of the same name.

In June 1945, he went to Yan'an with his wife Sheng Jie (a dancer), and then joined the army. In addition to teaching dance, he also served as the head of the "four fields" dance company.

In 1951, he presided over the teaching of the cadre training class of the Central Academy of drama, and cultivated a large number of backbone forces for the development of Chinese dance.

In 1954, he served as the chairman of the Chinese Dance Art Research Association and trained a group of researchers on dance history.

In 1957, he set up "Tianma art studio" and created dances such as "three lanes of plum blossom", "wild geese falling in Pingsha" and "ambush on all sides".

In 1979, he was elected president of the Chinese Dancers Association. In 1981, he also served as the director of the dance Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Arts, served as the tutor of dance graduate students, and trained the first batch of senior researchers on dance history in China.

He died in 1995. In order to develop and prosper China's dance industry, promote the research of dance academic theory and cultivate dance talents, he has contributed his whole life energy and is a pioneer in the field of Chinese dance.

Express one's ambition by dancing

Wu Xiaobang went to Yan'an and taught dance at Lu Xun art school in Yan'an. After that, Wu Xiaobang traveled around the liberated areas to carry out new dance activities. In 1948, in the dance team of the propaganda team of the General Political Department of the Northeast Democratic Alliance Army, he and the Army Literature and art workers created the March dance. In 1951, he presided over the teaching of the dance cadre training class of the Central Academy of drama. In 1954, he became the chairman of the Chinese Dance Research Association. To lead the research of Chinese dance history. In 1957, Tianma Dance Art Research Institute was established to explore the combination of ancient Chinese music and dance, and created "three lanes of plum blossom", "wild geese falling in the sand", "ambush on all sides", "plum blossom gymnastics" and other works.

After 1979, Wu Xiaobang was elected president of the Chinese Dancers Association. Based on the natural laws of modern dance and the characteristics of Chinese folk dance, he established a teaching system combining theory with practice. Author《

Chinese PinYin : Wu Xiao Bang