Wu Xiaobang Dance Art Museum

Wu Xiaobang Dance Art Museum

Wu Xiaobang, born in Shaxi Town, Taicang in 1906, is a pioneer, pioneer and practitioner of China's new dance art. He is an outstanding dancer, theorist and educator. He once served as chairman of China Dance Association, member of the second, fifth and sixth CPPCC National Committee and member of the Party group of China Federation of literary and art circles. Wu Xiaobang dance art museum is located in Taicang new area, with two multi-function halls with a construction area of 400 square meters each.

brief introduction

Wu Xiaobang (1906-1995) is a pioneer of Chinese new dance art in the 20th century.

At the beginning of the century when he was born, Western dance was introduced into China.

whole life

The Qing Dynasty

Yu rongling (1882-1973), the daughter of a diplomat in the late Qing Dynasty, once traveled abroad with her father when she was young. I have the honor to learn dance under the door of Isadora Duncan, and I have made great achievements. After returning to China, she combined her Western dance with her own creation and often performed in the palace. She was deeply loved by Empress Dowager Cixi and was able to stay in the palace to study dance.

Study abroad

At the beginning of the 20th century, when writing books about the west, overseas students also introduced the local conditions and customs of foreign countries, including dance.

In addition, the plug-in dances in European and American movies and dances taught by overseas Chinese have attracted more open Chinese, especially the western social dance with social function.

In the process of promoting the new teaching system, campus dance and children's dance are also quietly rising, among which Li Jinhui's children's song and dance and the Mingyue song and dance troupe founded after that have a greater influence.

Innovation and development

At the same time, the innovation and development of traditional dance by opera masters can not be ignored. For example, Mei Lanfang and other four famous dans of Beijing opera have created beautiful dance fragments in their respective repertoires, which have relatively independent preservation value and are widely spread. Ouyang Yuqian, who is familiar with Peking Opera and has learned modern art, has made indelible contributions to the innovation of traditional dance.

All these give birth to the sprout of new dance art, and promote it to reshape its own independent character.

But Wu is different. He is an outstanding professional dancer with the height of the times and the significance of the century. He takes dance as a lifelong career to pursue the true meaning of life, and closely connects his own destiny with that of the nation.

Wu Xiaobang, who came from a wealthy family in Jiangsu Province, did not study dance in Japan in his early years. The dance image of "ghosts", which reveals the darkness and evils of the real society, shocked his soul, so he resolutely devoted himself to the dance. Wu Xiaobang's choice has profound similarities with Lu Xun's abandoning medicine and following literature, which sparkles the idealism of China's new culture movement and a strong sense of national hardship.

From 1929 to 1932, he traveled to Japan three times and studied ballet and modern dance from Ma Sao Takada, tacaya Eguchi, MI Sako Miya, etc., who had inherited German Expressionism. He is not confined to the pattern of teachers, but pays attention to scientific physical training and creation. At the same time, we should also pay attention to the study of traditional art -- sucking the essence of national culture. After returning to China, he set up a dance school in Shanghai. At the same time, he held two exhibitions in 1935 and 1937, and performed more than ten dances that directly reflected the social reality, such as "puppet", "funeral", "clown", "night of Pujiang River", "vision of peace". His artistic idea and practice of "dancing for life" is like a breeze, which has a strong impact on the pornographic and vulgar dances in the metropolis full of red and white lights.

Facing the war of resistance against Japan, Wu Xiaobang stepped out of his "dance kingdom" and rushed to the battlefield of national salvation. After many hardships, he made a brilliant career in dance. During this period, he created nearly 100 works with strong spirit of the times and artistic appeal - fighting against fascism, against the ideological shackles of feudal ethics, and arousing the public. The most representative 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. Every performance, the audience is always excited, common hatred. In his memoirs, Wu Xiaobang wrote that " A cavity of blood and a heart interwoven together, in order to produce such a magical power. In 1945, with Zhou Enlai's care and support, he went to Yan'an with his wife Sheng Jie (dancer), and then went to war with the army, which strengthened the self-consciousness of the integration of loyal soldiers and sensitive artists. It can be said that every creation is a life struggle of his pursuit of the true meaning of life and art. "Hungry fire" (a solo dance written and performed by myself) created in 1942 focuses on the cry of a body and soul burned by "hungry fire", which has a strong shock. When we face the picture of "asking the sky angrily", we will chant the eternal quatrains of Du Fu, a famous poet of Tang Dynasty: "the wine and meat of Zhumen stink, and the road is frozen to death.".

In 1994, "song of guerrillas" and "hungry fire" were recognized as the 20th century dance classics of the Chinese nation (hereinafter referred to as "20th century classics").

After the founding of the people's Republic of China, his main energy was devoted to teaching, theoretical research and organizational leadership. In the 1960s, he founded "Tianma art studio" which integrates teaching, creation and performance, devoted to the exploration of Chinese modern dance and neoclassical dance; in the 1980s, he established the only dance department in China to cultivate master's and doctor's degree students of dance in the Chinese Academy of Arts; he was diligent in writing - writing books for the theoretical construction of dance discipline - publishing millions of words. Wu Xiaobang is recognized as a great master of the new dance art in China today.

Address: Dongcang Road, Taicang City, Jiangsu Province

Longitude: 121.12245396869

Latitude: 31.454800832975

Chinese PinYin : Wu Xiao Bang Wu Dao Yi Shu Guan