Dragon Dance Culture in Tongliang

Dragon Dance in Tongliang, Chongqing, "Dragon Dance" and "Dragon Dance" have a long history. "Dragon Dance on Tongliang" has also been included in the list of the first national intangible cultural heritage in the State Council. Artists and dragon dancers who visit the dragon lanterns in Tongliang can appreciate the majestic, delicate and exquisite "Dragon Dance in Tongliang".

Zhalong artists have been handed down from generation to generation.

Among the numerous Zhalong artists in Tongliang, three are called "Three Descendants of Tongliang Dragon Lantern": Jiang Yulin, Zhou Junan and Fu Quantai. Jiang and Tuesday have passed, and only 72-year-old Fu Lao is still innovating his tying skills. Seeing that Mr. Fu is in his small workshop, neighbors who are familiar with him say that Mr. Fu is the best at painting and is one of the "Top Ten Folk Artists in Chongqing". The old man witnessed the development of bronze dragon lanterns. Speaking of the history of dragon lanterns, Fu Lao relishes: "Bronze dragon lanterns began in the Ming Dynasty and flourished in the Qing Dynasty. Legend has it that 1400 years ago, the famous ancient temples in the county, Lvfeng Temple and Bolun Temple, had all kinds of dragon ornaments and patterns, and people enjoyed playing with dragons ... ""Tongliang is a land of fragrant rice, and the earliest dragon was grass dragon, which was easy to burn people when playing dance because of fireworks, and later it was transformed into a hard-necked dragon. It stands upright, and the lights in the festival complement each other, which is very spectacular. Because this dragon neck is long and hard, it is not convenient to play and dance, and it is still not ideal. " According to the old man's introduction, around 1924, the famous architects Li Jiezhi and Liu Lianshan in Chengguan added a circle of tendons to each building on the basis of this dragon, making the dragon round and firm, and each building can freely expand and contract and rotate, thus a new dragon with bones and flesh and peristalsis appeared, which is called "big dragon" or "creeping dragon" by the people. In this way, after careful production and improvement from generation to generation by skilled craftsmen such as Fu Lao, the original cloth-backed colorful dragon with more than 20 people dancing was reduced to a new type of small colorful dragon with 5 or 3 people dancing. According to different industries, seasons and intentions, there are simple and practical Wolong, Huang Jinglong, who begged for rain in dry season, and filial piety dragon for mourning. There are more than 100 kinds of dragon-themed craft products in Tongliang, which are not only used for dancing, but also for decoration. Exported to more than 20 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in China and the United States, France, Italy and other countries 10.

Dragon master dances out of Asia.

After bidding farewell to Zhalong's masters, we met Yongjiang Zhang and Zhang Shunsheng, famous dragon dancers in Tongliang. As soon as he saw master Yongjiang, he assumed a posture of "flying dragon in the sky" and said heroically, "We Tongliang people can't dance in any township! Everyone can dance! " Master Yongjiang said, "The key to dragon dancing is to have a dragon in your heart, usually my dragon head and other dragon balls ..." When they first started dancing, they felt elegant and generous when they danced slowly, but they felt bold and unrestrained when they danced fast, which was really touching. They said, "The bronze beam fire dragon is more charming. It hits the iron, hits the water, spits fire, people dance in the fire, dragons fly in the fire, and the scene is warm and colorful. " Master Zhang Yongjiang recalled that when I was young, I was looking forward to the 13th to 15th of the first month, which was the climax of the dragon dance and the most lively. In the street, dragons leap and roar, fish lights and lion lights fly like shuttles, and when they enter the dragon, there is a peaceful scene of fire trees and silver flowers. At this time, business travelers from afar and friends and relatives from other places have gathered in Chengguan, and the whole city is brightly lit and hotels are full. ...

Dragon Dance on Tongliang is rooted in tradition and blended with modern elements. Percussionist Wu Shuo, we not only use gongs and drums, but also use electronic harmony effect to combine traditional performance with modern instrumental music to compose new music, create a turbulent and mysterious artistic conception of the sea, and give the audience an immersive feeling. "We skipped the' Dragon' in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan and other places, and were also invited to the United States, Britain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, India and other countries and regions." Master Shunsheng proudly said, "We have also received many foreign apprentices!"

Reflections on the Bearing Culture of Tongliang Dragon Dance

Cao Dingfu, director of Tongliang Cultural Bureau, said, we have sorted out and traveled to various towns and villages, and we should continue to collect the endangered Tongliang Dragon Dance into books for future generations to research, whether it is oral teaching or audio-visual recording. Tongliang people, relying on their infatuation with dragons, have created a brand-new look of Longxiang. Soon, the first book that systematically records the dragon dance culture in Tongliang, Integration of Folk Dragon Dance in Tongliang, will be published soon. This book has completed data collection.

Tongliang county is expected to invest more than 3 million yuan in the next five years to rescue and protect Tongliang dragon dance culture. It is mainly used to collect, sort out and publish relevant information about dragon culture, innovate the dragon dance project in Tongliang, establish the ecological protection community of dragon dance, train the backbone team of dragon dance, improve and innovate the dragon lantern technology, and enrich and update the display of Tongliang Dragon Museum. Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance, with its cultural characteristics and unique artistic appeal, was identified as the finale of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games. In order to show the unique customs of Bayu culture in the cultural performances at the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympic Games.

It is understood that the cultural performances before the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games include folk songs, national dances, folk sports, percussion and other art forms. Since accepting the program recommendation at the beginning of last year, the organizing committee for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games has carefully understood and reviewed 134 programs. After many comparisons and screening, 20 programs of * * * were finally determined and became the official performances of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, including Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance with strong regional cultural characteristics and auspicious and festive artistic appeal.

The person in charge of the new bureau of Wenguang in Tongliang County said that the content of the dragon dance performance requested by the Olympic Organizing Committee was "unheard of, unseen". According to this requirement, the Tongliang Dragon appeared at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, mixed with a large number of competitive dragon performances, which is very different from traditional performances. The "moves" of the Olympic dragon dance are more skillful and coherent than before, creating a new "12 strokes of the Olympic dragon dance", followed by "Dragon going out to sea-recruiting thousands of troops horizontally-dragon playing in the water-rippling blue waves-Longxing Taiji".

At the same time, we also made special improvements to the music and costumes of Tongliang Dragon Dance. There are four dragons participating in this performance, each about 60 meters long. In order to embody the concept of "green Olympics" in Beijing Olympic Games, the cloth used to make dragon tools is made of new environmental protection materials imported from the United States, which is more flexible. "Longlin" has a brighter color and a stronger sense of color. Under the irradiation of sunlight or light, the reflected brilliance is more dazzling. "Dragon dancing is elegant and dynamic, which can meet the needs of all kinds of difficult action performances. The innovation of music combines musical elements such as Sichuan Opera, Symphony, Harmony, etc., and has the effect of "combining Chinese and Western, crossing ancient and modern times, and integrating heaven and man". The clothing is specially designed by the designer designated by the Olympic Games and produced by the manufacturer designated by the Olympic Games. Innovative styles and colors, combining elements such as Sichuan opera costumes, traditional double-breasted buttons, samurai armor, dragon dancing seaweed and western animation. In addition, this dragon dance performance also has new breakthroughs and new highlights. Total performance time ***5 minutes. It is unprecedented for an actor to complete "12 leg kicking, lotus blooming, dragon dancing and other innovative and difficult movements".

Zhou Keji, the commander-in-chief of the Olympic Dragon Dance Performance Organizing Committee, said that unlike previous Tongliang Dragon Dance Performances, more than 100 actors who participated in this performance were young people, ranging in age from 45 to 17. It is composed of school music, physical education and beauty teachers, amateur athletes and staff of party and government organs. Experts explained that the traditional dragon dance on Tongliang is simple and difficult to perform, and the elderly with rich performance experience can complete it, but the difficulty and taste of this performance are different from the past, which requires higher strength and cultural literacy. The participating teams take off-the-job training, practice for 6 to 7 hours every day, and dance the dragon body about 1000 times. The whole performance team has entered the final sprint state. "Rehearsal is very hard. The number of dragon dances per day exceeds 1000. Injuries are common in rehearsals. Used dozens of boxes of band-AIDS. Since April 2nd, more than1000 dragon dance enthusiasts have been training hard every day at the Dragon Dance Training Base in Tongliang County Sports Ground. Even in hot weather, their enthusiasm has not diminished. Because, in the hearts of these dragon dancers, there is a common belief: to successfully complete the performance task at the opening ceremony of the upcoming Beijing Olympic Games and show the majestic Bayu culture. In order to fully prepare for the performance before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, and make the elegant demeanor of Tongliang Dragon and the majestic posture of Bayu culture perfectly displayed at the Olympic Games, the Tongliang Dragon Dance Team is very strict with every technical move, and its members have also trained very hard. Members of the Tongliang Dragon Dance Team once told reporters: "We start at 7: 00 every morning, run three laps on the 400-meter runway of the sports ground, and then do fast dragon dance exercises. We have to swing our arms around more than 2000 times, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. "High-intensity training every day has made many members of the Tongliang Dragon Dance Team grind blood bubbles on their hands. After the training, they bought dozens of band-AIDS and wrapped the blood bubbles tightly. Team member Wang Gang strained his thigh muscle and was swollen, but he didn't rest for a minute, sprayed Yunnan Baiyao and threw himself into training. Team member Wang Ji fractured his left ankle and continued training in plaster. Yi Long, a fair-skinned dragon dancer, has become a "black peony" after four months of outdoor training in the scorching sun. She smiled and told the author that although she is now a greasy black, as long as she can dance the dragon well and contribute to the country and her hometown of Chongqing, it is worthwhile. "

Get 8 applause in 5 minutes.

Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance Team was very excited after performing in front of tens of thousands of "spectators" in the Bird's Nest Stadium for the first time. According to Zhou Keji, head coach of Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance Team, yesterday was the first time that Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance performed according to the official procedures of the opening ceremony. The audience liked the program very much and applauded warmly for 8 times. According to the arrangement, Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance has three rehearsals before the official performance of the opening ceremony. After the first two rehearsals, the team will rehearse in the "Bird's Nest" on August 5 according to the official performance process of the opening ceremony, which will be their last rehearsal opportunity. Yesterday, the team suddenly received a notice to participate in the rehearsal. Chongqing Tongliang Dragon Dance Team did not disappoint the director. They conquered the audience with their wonderful performances. The whole performance lasted for 5 minutes, and they won 8 applause from the audience. The audience applauded for the last collective modeling action for more than 1 minute. After watching the performance, Zhang Yimou, the general director of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, praised the Tongliang Dragon Dance as the "most ambitious and distinctive" program in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. At the end of 1970s, mass cultural activities in Tongliang County began to return to noumenon. 1980 On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the cultural department of Tongliang County organized folk artists to tie a big dragon to play dance in the county. Since then, after being dormant for more than 20 years, the annual Tongliang Dragon Lantern Festival has been reborn.

During the period of 1982, Tongliang County comprehensively arranged its own dragon lantern art under the guidance of Chongqing Cultural Department.

At the end of 1983, Tongliang Dragon Lantern participated in a cultural performance in Chongqing Square, which was well received.

1984 On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Tongliang Cultural Bureau teamed up with hundreds of people to bring the main varieties of Tongliang Dragon Lantern to the street exhibition in the main city of Chongqing, which attracted wide attention from the news media.

1In April, 984, Chongqing Acrobatic Troupe took two bronze beams and climbed dragons to perform in France, Britain, Switzerland, Belgium and other countries in western Europe, which was well received by the local people.

1 98410/0/month1day, at the grand celebration of the 35th anniversary of the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), Shougang workers took part in the Tiananmen Square parade, dancing with nine bronze dragons, which attracted worldwide attention.

1In September, 1988, at the National Dragon Dance Competition held in Beijing, Tongliang won the first gold medal by twisting the waist.

1992, won the highest prize in the second Shenyang International Yangko Festival.

1994 won the first place in Fuzhou Zuohai Cup National Dragon Dance Invitational Tournament.

In the same year, Tongliang dragon tools were designated as the standard props of the competition by the State Sports Commission; Tongliang Dragon Dance Routine was designated as the standard routine by the State Sports Commission.

/kloc-0 won the first place in the first national dragon dance competition held by the State Sports Commission in May, 1995.

In July of the same year, he won the gold medal in Guangdong "Hanging Green Cup" International Dragon and Lion Invitational Tournament.

65438-0996 Tongliang Dragon Lantern Delegation went to the United States for cultural exchange.

From 65438 to 0997, Tongliang Dragon Dance Troupe won three awards: best performance, best organization and best director at the first Dragon Dance Art Festival in Beijing.

1998, Tongliang Dragon Lantern went to Singapore to hold a lantern festival.

1999, Tongliang Dragon Lantern went to Malaysia to hold a lantern festival.

In September of the same year, Tongliang Dragon Dance Team won the championship in Xijiang "Longgang Cup" Dragon Dance Invitational Tournament.

In the same month, Tongliang Dragon Dance Team won the naming right of "China National Dragon Dance Team" in Jinan National Dragon Dance Championship.

In June 5438+10, a 450-member delegation of Tongliang Dragon Lantern composed of "Jiulong Square", "Dragon and Phoenix Peony" and "Erlong Play Pearl" went to Beijing to attend the 50th anniversary celebration of People's Republic of China (PRC), which once again caused a sensation at home and abroad.

In September, 2000, Tongliang Dragon Dance Team won the standard routine gold medal and team championship at the 4th National Agricultural Games.

At the end of June 65438+in the same year 10, the first China Tongliang Dragon Lantern Art Festival was held in Tongliang County. At that time, the "Dragon Soul" large-scale song and dance party, the "Dragon Wind" China Dragon Dance Invitational Tournament, the "Dragon Foundation" Dragon Culture and China Dragon Dance Art Seminar, the "Dragon Rhyme" Dragon Culture and Art Exhibition in 2000, and the China Tongliang Dragon Lantern Festival in 2000 were launched one after another, which significantly raised the dragon lantern culture in China to a new level.

In June, 20001,the delegation of Tongliang Dragon Lantern once again went to the United States for cultural exchange.

In the same year, Tongliang Dragon Lantern went to the United Arab Emirates to hold a lantern festival.

In May, 2002, Tongliang Dragon Dance Team won the standard routine gold medal and team championship in the second national games.

In June and July, 2002, Tongliang Dragon Dance Team went to Hong Kong and Macao to participate in cultural exchange activities.

On June 5438- 10, 2003, Tongliang Dragon Lantern went to Thailand to hold a lantern festival and dragon dance performance.

Tongliang Dragon Dance has won many awards, such as the National Day Ceremony to commemorate the 35th anniversary, the first prize of Baxi Cup, the gold medal of Beijing Tourism Year, the first prize of Guaqing Cup, the gold medal of the 2nd National Games, the gold medal of Farmers Games and the gold medal of Longgang Cup.