The Gate of Revolution-Gate of Art Youth Art Troupe
革命大门－艺术大门 青年文工团
It was the “years of burning passion”. In addition to fundraising for the charity performance, do you still beat the gongs and drums every three to five times? “Goodbye! Mom, don’t be sad, don’t be sad, and wish us a safe journey!” The passionate and generous singing sent farewell to the students who joined the army. But because of our age, our junior high school is out of the round, so we can only sigh on the side that we are not born in time, and we can’t keep up with the heroic age of throwing heads and blood.
In the summer of 1950, I participated in a summer camp organized by the Youth Art Troupe (Note). Every night, Ye Yinzhang and Yan Ji beat the drums, and Ye Ye and Zheng Qi taught us how to dance the Miao nationality. The two of them wore big braids, and they flicked and twirled with the drums, and their rash and unrestrained looks fascinated me.
Soon after school started in 1951, I was notified by the school to go to the Youth Art Troupe. The acquainted leader of the dance team, Bai Shui, sat in the middle of the hall and chatted with me for a while, taught me a few more moves for me to learn, and then returned to school. I just forgot it in my head, and didn’t even think about it. Why did I want to go to the art troupe all by myself. It once again confirmed my confusion, but the good thing is that my life is rarely disturbed by these things, and I still live my student life happily and carefree. After another month, one day, the teaching office suddenly notified me: “Mayor Chen Yi personally called and sent the Shanghai Youth Cultural and Artistic Troupe to the DPRK to show condolences to the ‘loveliest person.’ For an extremely glorious and arduous task, the art troupe has to add a new force. After an assessment, you have been officially admitted, and you should immediately report to the art troupe.”
What? I was selected to participate in the revolution, and I am going to North Korea soon, to the most difficult place, to undertake dangerous and arduous tasks! I did not return home, rolled up the blanket, and left behind the prestigious Chinese and Western schools that many people admired, and moved directly from the school to the art troupe. What I thought in my mind was that I finally stepped into the door of the revolution with rewards as I wished. I didn’t realize that the day I stepped into the door of the cultural troupe was the day I stepped into the door of art. This is how my professional art career began. It was 1951, exactly 70 years ago.
In the end, North Korea and I missed each other. When finally deciding on the list of personnel to go to North Korea, the superiors instructed that the situation on the battlefield in North Korea was severe and that the personnel going to North Korea must be over fifteen years old, and I was more than two months away from my 15th birthday when the condolences group departed. Ugh! Passionately looking forward to “going to the front line and going to the battlefield”, the difference between these two months has created a lifelong regret. But to be honest, “going to the battlefield” is really not a child’s play, not to mention the rain of bullets, the ice and snow, minus 30 or 40 degrees below zero, wearing thin dance clothes for continuous performances, sweating and hiding in the dripping ice cave, only forty-seven days, Youth Art Troupe At that time, many comrades who participated in the sympathy group to North Korea suffered from severe arthritis for life. Glory always goes hand in hand with sacrifice.
The group organized the new members into a group, and I was appointed as the group leader. I have always been a follower behind the older children, but in fact, among all my companions, I am still the youngest this time. Suddenly the old comrade went to North Korea and asked me to take charge of the left-behind group. I can’t help but feel the trust and responsibility of the leader. I dare not neglect and are always serious. To this day, when these old comrades who are now 80 to 9 years older than me, they would jokingly say that you are our first leader after joining the revolution, and I can immediately imagine that I must have been the same. The chicken feathers look like an arrow, and they blush. However, everything should lead by example, and the feeling of strict requirements everywhere is also good for tempering a person. A small burden has really played a big role in getting rid of my usual carelessness.
In any case, I stepped into the door of the revolution and lived the life of a civilian soldier. Why is it called a “warrior” in civil engineering? Because the so-called cultural work troupe is the cultural work propaganda team, which was originally part of the PLA establishment. At this time, although the Youth Art Troupe was placed under the local government (Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League.), it still maintained the same set of troops during the war. Life was tense and orderly. Every morning, every morning, when listening to the whistle, get up and run, every second counts. The housekeeping requirements are strict, the quilts are folded with corners, and personal items are placed uniformly. After returning from the exercise, the house had already called a big pot of food, and the cooks distributed them one by one, and even the group leader and instructor had to line up, all of them were equal. (Although they are all equal, they are not complete. For example, when the cook sees me, he will shake the spoon more silently because he is the youngest).
Then again, although fighters are “cultural and artistic” fighters after all. Since joining the Youth Arts and Crafts Troupe, art activities have been the norm, going to schools and factories, or performing performances, or holding classes every other way. When I left Shanghai to perform in the countryside by accident, he gave an order and set off with a backpack. The action was as agile as a soldier, and the backpack was as square as a piece of dried tofu like a soldier, all militarized.
Most of the performances are some programs that were created when they were brought by the liberated areas and when they went to North Korea for condolences, such as “Glorious Lantern”, “Happy News”, “Lianxiang”, “Big Yangge” and so on. “Victory Waist Drum” and “Advance Waist Drum” are the brands of the Youth Art Troupe, and they are very famous among various literary and artistic groups. There are also the duet dance “Balloon Gorge” that Ye Ye, Zheng Qi, Wang Qin, and Zhang Jie learned from North Korea; the Russian “Carriage Dance” performed by Ye Yinzhang, Yan Ji, He Si, Zhou Wei, and Yu Shancheng; Mo Ming’s solo “Turnover Dao Qing” is the most popular repertoire. The members of the cultural industry troupe came from all directions. Many of them came from poor backgrounds. For example, Wang Qin and other workers went to night schools in the underground party before liberation. Ye Yinzhang, originally a newsboy, has an outstanding talent for music and dance. There is also Situ Han, who later became a great conductor, and Wu Li, who became a great director. In short, there are a lot of talents. For half a century, they have become the pioneers and pillars of the new Chinese music and dance career. Their contributions are recorded in the annals of history. . And I just follow, singing and dancing happily all day long. Later, I asked Yu Shan and I to call the Korean double dance “Balloon Rhythm”, and it became clear that my dancing talent was not very good, and the movements were stiff, unlike Ye Ye Wang Qin and the others.
At that time, the life supply system was implemented. Every year, gray cloth uniforms and two sets of cotton-padded clothes were issued. All living needs such as board and lodging were provided by the organization. You don’t have to worry about yourself. Individuals just need to focus on work. In fact, this is not accurate. The economy was still very difficult just after liberation, and the funding of the art troupe was also the same. In fact, there were a group of old comrades such as Jin Ming, Fang Ping, Guo Ming, Wu Kexin, and Tao Minglan (the two of them were returned overseas Chinese). Wait, (it was only in my early twenties at the time.) Volunteer to teach at school. I don’t take any money I earn every month, and all of it is handed over to the league department to feed everyone. It’s just that most of the league members like me don’t know.
Although I don’t know, this kind of spirit and atmosphere permeates every cell of the body of the art troupe, enduring hardship first, making silent dedication, everyone loves me, and I love everyone. Those naive but young, pure, sincere, sunny, hard but extremely happy, vigorous and youthful years are the most precious page in my life. In fact, I only spent more than a year in the art troupe, but such a colorful, passionate, innocent life, I have had it in my life, that’s enough! Thank God for giving me such a beautiful youth. Life is happy when there are sincere ideals and beliefs. What’s more, a serious and rigorous attitude to life, agile and capable work, are the foundation laid at that time. Fourteen-five years old is a critical moment in the formation of a person’s outlook on life. I am very lucky to grow up in the embrace of the Youth Art Troupe.
那是“激情燃烧的岁月”。除了义演募捐，还隔三差五敲锣打鼓吗，一遍一遍响起“再见吧！妈妈，别难过，莫悲伤,祝福我们一路平安吧！”激昂慷慨的歌声，欢送参军参干的同学。可是因为年龄杠子，我们初中是轮不上的，只能在一边大叹“生不逢辰”，赶不上这抛头颅洒热血的英雄年代。
1950年夏，我参加了青年文工团（注）办的夏令營。每天晚上，由叶银章、严戟打鼓，叶野、郑琪教我们跳苗族舞。她俩留着大辫子，合着鼓点又甩又转，那率性又潇洒的样子，让我着迷。
1951年开学不久，接学校通知，让我到青年文工团去一趟。熟识的舞蹈队队长白水端坐大厅正中和我聊了一会儿，又教了几个动作让我学，然后就返校了。我就此把它忘在脑后，甚至连一丝儿也没去想一想，为什么独独要我一个人有事没事的往文工团跑一趟。它再一次印证了我的糊涂，但好处是，我的生活很少受这些事的干扰，仍然快快活活无忧无虑的过我的学生生活。又过了个把月，一天，教导处突然通知我：“陈毅市长亲自点名，派上海青年文工团赴朝慰问 ‘最可爱的人’，（那时全国人民对志愿军的称呼。）为完成这极端光荣又艰苦的任务，文工团要增加一批生力军。经过考核，你已被正式录取，马上去文工团报到。”
什么？我被挑选参加革命了，而且马上要去朝鲜，去最艰苦的地方，承担危险而艰巨的任务！我家也不回，卷起铺盖，将多少人钦羡的名校中西抛诸脑后，直接从学校搬到了文工团。脑子里一心想的是终于如愿以賞踏入革命大门了，根本没有意识到，踏进文工团大门的那一天，就是我踏入艺术大门的那一天。我的专业艺术生涯就这样开始了。那是1951年，距今正好70年。
最终我和朝鲜还是失之交臂。在最后决定赴朝人员名单时，上级指示，朝鲜战场形势严峻，赴朝人员年龄必须在十五岁以上，而慰问团出发时我离15岁生日还有两个多月。唉！满怀激情地盼望“去前线，上战场”，就这两个月之差铸就终身遗憾。不过说实在，“上战场”可真不是儿戏，枪林弹雨不说，冰天雪地零下三四十度穿着单薄的舞衣连续演出，出了汗又捂在滴水成冰的山洞里，仅仅四十七天，青年文工团当时参加赴朝慰问团的不少同志终身落下了严重的关节炎。荣耀总是与牺牲并行。
团里把新团员编成一个小组，我被任命为组长。我一向来是大孩子后面的跟屁虫，其实这次在所有同伴中，我年纪仍是最小的。突然老同志赴朝了，竟要我来负责这留守小组，不免深感领导之信任与责任之重大，不敢怠慢，时时认真。直至今日，这些现已八十奔九比我年纪还长的老同志见面时，还会调侃地说，你可是我们参加革命后的第一任领导，我马上能想象出自己当初一定是一副鸡毛当令箭的模样，不觉脸红。不过事事应该以身作则，处处必需严格要求的感觉，对于磨砺一个人也有好处，小小一副担子，对我改掉一贯来大大咧咧的毛病，真还起到不小的作用。
上海青年文艺工作团 中国新民主主义青年团上海市工作委员会领导下的文艺宣传团。1949年5月在丹阳县成立,当时只有17人,都是解放前夕从上海撤退出去的青年中的中共党员、青年团员和进步学生。是年7月4日在华山路676号（今戏剧学院实验剧场）正式建团,团员增至80人左右。李云翔任团长、伍黎任副团长、李振家任中共党支部书记，下设音乐组、戏剧组、舞蹈组、美术组、创作组、行政室、资料室；另有一小型乐队。是年主要在各种庆典、游行、晚会上表演,节目有《胜利腰鼓》、《进军腰鼓》、活报剧、快板、说唱等。1950年举行音乐、戏剧、舞蹈晚会；是年又创作演出歌剧《生产立功》。1951年由伍黎、吴锡祺带队参加中国人民赴朝慰问团第三分团。是年还演出抗美援朝、镇反文艺创作晚会。此时,团员已增至108人。
不管怎样，从此我踏进了革命的大门，过起了文工战士的生活。为什么说文工“战士”？因为，所谓文工团，就是文化工作宣传队，本来就是解放军编制的一部分。此时青年文工团虽划归地方，（上海团市委。）但整个仍然保持着战争时期部队的一套，生活紧张有序，每天早上听哨起床，出操跑步，分秒必争。内务要求严格，被子叠的带角，个人用品统一摆放。出操归来，伙房早已打来大盆饭菜，炊事员逐个分发，连团长指导员都要排队，一律平等。(虽说一律平等，也不完全，比如炊事员老何看见我，因为最小，就会一声不响的把菜勺多抖一抖)。
话又说回来，虽说战士，毕竟是“文化艺术”战士。自加入青年文工团始，艺术活动就是常态，隔三岔五去学校和工厂，或演出，或办班。偶然离开上海下乡演出，则一声令下，打起背包就出发，动作象战士一样敏捷，背包也跟战士一样方正得象一块豆腐干，全部军事化。
演的大部分是解放区带来及赴朝慰问时创作的一些节目，像《光荣灯.》《喜报》《莲湘》《大秧歌》》等。《胜利腰鼓》、《进军腰鼓》是青年文工团的品牌，在各文艺团体中很是有名。还有像叶野、郑琪和王勤、张洁她们从朝鲜学来的双人舞《桔梗谣》；叶银章、严戟、何思、周伟、郁善称跳的俄罗斯《马车夫舞》；莫明的独唱《翻身道情》，都是最受欢迎的保留剧目。文工团成员来自四面八方，其中不少出身贫寒，像王勤等解放前在地下党办的工人子弟夜校读书，解放后年长的参军参干，年幼的就分到文工团来了。叶银章，本来是卖报童，对音乐舞蹈却有着出类拔萃的天赋。还有后来成为大指挥的司徒汉，成为大导演的伍黎，、、、、、，总之人才济济，半个世纪以来都成为新中国音乐舞蹈事业的开拓者和顶梁柱，他们的贡献载入史册。而我只是跟跟，整天乐呵呵的唱歌跳舞什么都干。后来让我和郁善称排朝鲜双人舞《桔梗谣》，就看出来了，我的舞蹈天赋不怎么样，动作硬邦邦的，不像叶野王勤他们那样柔顺自然有韵味。
那时生活实行供给制，每年发灰布军装单衣两套棉衣一套，食宿等一切生活所需由组织供给，不用自己操心，个人只要一心扑在工作上就行了。其实这样说也不确切，刚解放，经济还是很困难的，文工团的经费也是如此，实际上是有一批老同志如金铭、房屏、郭明、吴克莘、陶明兰（他们两位是归国华侨）等，（当时也不过二十出头。）自告奋勇去学校教书，每月所得自己分文不取，全部上交团部，养活大家，只是大部分团员如我之类不知道而已。
虽然不知道，但这种精神和氛围却渗透在文工团这个机体的每一个细胞里，吃苦在先，默默奉献，人人爱我，我爱人人。那幼稚却年轻、纯洁、真诚、阳光，艰苦却极其快乐，朝气蓬勃，充满青春活力的岁月，是我生命中最珍贵的一页。其实我在文工团的时间只有一年多，但那样多姿多彩，充满激情，天真无邪的日子，一生中拥有过，足矣！感谢上苍赐予我一段如此美好的青春。人生，有真诚的理想、信念的日子，是幸福的。何况认真严谨的人生态度，敏捷干练的工作作，都是那时打下的基础。十四五岁正是一个人人生观形成的关键时刻，我很幸运，成长在青年文工团的怀抱里。