Zhejiang Song & Dance Troupe 浙江歌舞团（十）

In 1959, I transferred from Shanghai and came to Zhejiang Song and Dance Ensemble.

In China’s system, after the army’s cultural and industrial troupe entered the city, they were reorganized and transformed into local provincial and municipal song and dance troupes. The only exception was the cultural work troupe of the Zhejiang army after entering the city: experimenting with male and female co-stars to transform Yue Opera, so they did not transform into a song and dance troupe, but turned into the “Cultural Yue Opera Troupe” (the name of the troupe at the time), which was the only exception. In 1957, the first music week was held across the country. Because there was no song and dance troupe, Zhejiang had to temporarily recruit folk artists from the province to form a group to participate. From this, it turns out that there is no “new literary and artistic group” such as a professional song and dance troupe in Zhejiang, which seems incompatible with the situation of “has already entered socialism.”

It spurred the Provincial Party Committee to make up its mind to quickly form a professional song and dance troupe based on the team participating in the Music Week, under the name of the “Zhejiang Folk Song and Dance Troupe”. The site of the regiment was chosen in a small bungalow near Yuquan, near the picturesque West Lake, in Hongchunqiao. Liu Shikun, who led the team to participate in the music week, was temporarily in charge of Gu Zixiu, and then Xie Yinan was transferred from the army to take the lead. Based on the members who participated in the “Music Week” and the inherent “gene” decision, this team excels in folk music, with many national super masters such as Zhao Songting, Yang Zhongru, Zhang Liang, etc.; folk songs are also good, in order to participate in the national competition, from the whole The province transferred a group of young girls, simple and fresh, very likable, not to mention that on the basis of going deep into the folks, they have created and excavated such outstanding and distinctive songs as “Girls’ Wish”; only the dance is completely blank. Xie Yinan loved performing arts since he was a child, and has a good voice, can sing Peking opera, but knows nothing about the art of dance. So he personally rushed to Shanghai, painstakingly single-handedly, poached me, with the aim of choosing him as the burden of building a professional dance team in Zhejiang from scratch.

His primary goal is to have a pillar, so since joining the Zhejiang Folk Song and Dance Ensemble, the responsibilities of the main actors have naturally fallen on my shoulders. But in fact, to perform requires a repertoire, so while completing the heavy performance tasks by myself, I also serve as a coach. On the one hand, I discharge the dances I master in the opera house one by one, and try to make up for the Zhejiang Folk Song and Dance Troupe’s lack of dance programs. This short board. On the other hand, we also need to give everyone a basic training course, two-pronged approach, and bring out a professional team as soon as possible. In this way, the time for my own training is squeezed out, so I get up two hours early every day for self-study, and when others wake up, I have finished practicing. Persist in this way for seven years without interruption. I also take Guan Yi as an example. No matter where I go, no matter how tight the time is, I would rather give up eating and sleep, and I must first go straight to the stage. Others set up the shop. I am familiar with the venue, practice difficulties, and know how to do it, so I don’t care. Extremely heavy, but my performances are always of stable quality with few errors.

Xie Yinan gave me the greatest trust. He even took dance magazines to ask me for advice. Only then did he know that he specially subscribed to a dance magazine and read each issue carefully to make up for his lack of professional knowledge as a leader of a literary and artistic group. He regularly discusses with me every week. And most of them are only a few days away, and some of my suggestions will be reflected in his administrative measures and implemented. It is him that allows me to give full play to all aspects of performance, teaching, mentoring, editing, and leadership of art organizations (I am a member of the art committee), and I have room for a full-scale take-off in my career. Let me usher in the peak of my acting career. “When books are used, they hate less.” At that time, I was famous for my hard work. The daily schedule is densely packed, and no matter how tired or sleepy, I still clenched my teeth. This way, day after day, great gains have been made. Become mature.

At the end of 1959, the dance drama “Stealing the Immortal Grass” by the China Opera and Dance Theater caused a huge sensation. “Stealing the Immortal Grass” is based on the White Snake Biography, and the White Snake Biography is a story that happened in Hangzhou. It is a household name, so the regiment decided to send me and Jiang Yupei to Beijing to learn this program. With the greatest enthusiasm, we quickly learned well and brought it back to Hangzhou. Guan Jihua played the Antarctic Immortal Weng, Jiang Yupei, Zhu Yaorong played the Flower Deer Boy, and I played Bai Suzhen and went into rehearsal. The troupe attaches great importance to it as a main battle, and the band’s stage art is fully dedicated. An outstanding example is the special invitation to the full-time makeup artist of the troupe (our troupe does not have this organization.) Sun Mingchang to model me and observe the whole troupe. Don’t underestimate this class, this is unprecedented in the history of Zhejiang Song and Dance Troupe! I remember that after putting on my makeup that day, everyone (including myself) exclaimed “It’s so beautiful!” All of this created good conditions for me and helped me to devote myself to the character creation.

In fact, I have always liked shows with characters and plots, such as “The Big Tea Mountain”, “Donkey Running”, and duet dance “The Police and Wife”, but this is the first time I have performed a serious dance drama. “Stealing the Immortal Grass” is an early successful dance drama in our country. Its character plot, music composition, and dance arrangement are not the same as those small programs I performed before. At this time, I have no burden on the technical level. More importantly, my life experience is completely different from before. I can feel the same with the white snake and have a profound experience. Although I learned this role, I experienced it carefully and portrayed it with my heart. Where it should be strengthened, where it should be simple, and prioritized, carefully study and deal with it. After all the hardships in the performance, I finally got sympathy from the Antarctic Xianweng. I personally donated Ganoderma lucidum to the time. Following the chorus’s “Love is heavy, …,”, I threw down on my knees and fell from the peak. The abyss, full of slander, full of grievances and nowhere to tell, is superimposed with the characters, and mixed feelings for a while, it is really tearful, crying, and completely integrated into it.

At that time, the stage conditions were very poor, and some were even concrete. Every time I put myself in a performance like this, I even hurt my knees. Since then, “Stealing the Immortal Grass” has become the most popular finale of the Zhejiang Song and Dance Troupe. Bai Suzhen, played by Shen Bei, is also well-known, and even the actors of this group are eagerly rushing. Jiang Youmei of the song team told me that despite the strict ban, they all prepared in advance. From the beginning of “Stealing the Immortal Grass”, everyone showed their magical powers. From the lighting stage to the seam on the side of the curtain, I tried every means to watch, to the emotional place, on and off the stage, a sigh, the form of the dance drama was generally accepted and recognized by the audience, and I became a practitioner of “head three feet”. In the earliest experiment, he contributed his own strength to the construction of Chinese dance drama. “Stealing the Immortal Grass” created the pinnacle of my acting career and left a story that can be recalled to future generations.

Speaking of this, there is another episode: In order to express the urgency of the White Lady to fight back to save Xu Xian after getting the fairy grass, the choreographer arranged a tumbling and spinning followed by a big jump from a high platform such a large combination of skills. Push the whole play to the climax, and make the end of the whole dance drama wonderful and simple. Due to the difficulty of this series of actions, the characters are in a high level of excitement, and the actors are jumping from the bright part of the stage to the dark backstage, and they can’t see anything at all, so there is a certain degree of danger. Comrades who usually work in the backstage They were very careful and laid a mat under the platform to ensure my safety. Unexpectedly, one day, with such a violent action, it was not the usual cushion when it landed, but it was actually a high raised item box. Not only did the landing height completely differ from the usual, but with the momentum, the whole person fell to the left. The left foot is still on the box, that is to say, the body is pressed down on the left calf, and the weight can be imagined.

Fortunately, “Stealing the Immortal Grass” has always been the finale. The curtain fell, and the audience was still applauding. People have carried me to a famous local traditional Chinese doctor who specializes in traumatic injuries. At this time, my ankle was swollen. The old man looked at the calf level, and the old man was amazed and said that fortunately you are a man of skill. If you change one, you will have broken a few knots a long time ago. He immediately found several herbs he had collected, mashed them and mixed them into a paste with eggs, and wrapped them in three layers inside and outside. The swelling would disappear within three days. However, if the muscles and bones are injured for a hundred days, within a hundred days, you must not move, and you can heal without leaving any sequelae. It’s really amazing. After three days of such a serious injury, the swelling completely subsided. I met the “noble person” again, but this time, I failed the noble person. How could it be possible not to move for a hundred days? This round of the tour has just begun and the tickets have been sold out. Among them, “Stealing the Immortal Grass” is the main selling point, and many audiences are here for this show. Moreover, the role of Bai Suzhen does not have a B card, and no one can match it. What can I do?

We have been educated since childhood: the stage is the battlefield. Rescue is like fighting a fire. Gai told the sky to break his leg and went on stage. He was slightly injured and couldn’t get off the line of fire. The problem was that his left foot couldn’t stand at all, so we discussed it. As I changed the original white lady chasing two grass guards all over the world to the grass guards, she surrounded Bai Suzhen and beat her. I stood in the middle of the stage and could still be agile without moving my feet. In this way, after dozens of consecutive performances, the entire tour, “Stealing the Immortal Grass” just didn’t pull it off. But to be honest, no matter how you change it, it is impossible for the first protagonist of a dance drama to stay still. No matter how careful you are, I twisted it a few times in the middle. And somehow, my feet are usually very stable, but now it seems that the rubber band is loose. , Walking on a flat road will also suffer. After a few consecutive times, it will swell up again, and since then, the ankle will change shape, and it will be more painful on rainy days, and even worse in old age. Conversely, I don’t know why, “Stealing the Immortal Grass” was so heavy in the repertoire at the time that there was not even a still picture, let alone a video. The brilliance of my career as an actor, except for the lifelong imprint of deformed ankles. , The others are submerged in the dust of history, there is no trace to be found.

Note: “Stealing the Immortal Grass” was the first three experimental small dance dramas created by the Chinese Dance Drama Research Group. The so-called “three-legged folk dance drama”: “Green Lotus Pond”, “Liu Hai Opera Golden Toad”, “Stealing Fairy Grass” “One of”. The audience at the time was still very unfamiliar with the form of dance dramas, so the selection of dance dramas was generally adapted dramas or literary works and myths and legends. They made “pre-experiments” for future large-scale dance dramas based on drama, literature and performance techniques. At the beginning of 1957, he appeared on the stage of the first national professional group music and dance performance, which caused a strong response. Among them, “Stealing the Immortal Grass” was the most successful.

In the summer of 1962, I was once again sent to the Beijing Chinese Opera and Dance Theater to study. The content talks about carrying a sedan chair to pick up the bride. The story is very traditional and grounded. Besides, dance has never performed such a comedy theme, so once it was launched, it became popular all over the country. The technique is not difficult. The Central Opera and Dance Theater is also familiar. There are many old friends such as Zhao Qing. It is only four months after I gave birth to my son, Xiaohu. I have not practiced for more than a year, and my mother gave me trotters and crucian carp. Yeah, it’s not as fat as it looks.

I think the colleagues in the opera and dance theater would think, how to send such a person here. I was very embarrassed. They gritted their teeth and followed the class every day for training. Besides, they also added indicators to themselves. In addition to “Snatching Relatives”, I also learned Mongolian “Top Bowl Dance” and Indian “Blapping Ball Dance”. These two solo dances were very popular at the time, and they also occupy a place in the history of Chinese dance, especially “Blapping Ball Dance”. To use it together, it is necessary to show that there is a “ball” in hand, both virtual and real, and to maintain the charm and rhythm of Indian dance. The difficulty is very high. At that time, except for the performance by Zhang Junneng, an expert specializing in oriental dance, I was probably from China. The only second person. After half a month, kung fu and body shape have completely recovered to their previous state. If there is no opportunity to go to Beijing, I will probably not be able to do it, at least not so fast and perfect.

Although I not only fulfilled the required tasks in Beijing, but also added the materials myself, in reality, my heart gradually changed at this time. Returning from school, according to the original arrangement of the leader, there was no suspense. I was the first protagonist of the play, but this time I suggested that Song Shuqun, a young and beautiful Chengdu girl from the dance team, should take the post. There are six or seven roles in the play, all of which I learned by myself. I taught others one by one. I didn’t play any of the roles myself. I only acted as the director for the whole time. I only acted as a matchmaker a few times when needed.

1959年，我调离上海，来到浙江省歌舞团。

中国的体制，当年部队文工团入城后，一律整编转制组成当地省市歌舞团。唯独浙江的部队文工团进城后接到一个特殊任务：实验男女合演改造越剧，所以他们没有转型为歌舞团，而转型成了“文工团越剧团”（当时剧团名称。）成为绝无仅有的例外。一晃到了1957年，全国举办第一届音乐周，因为没有歌舞团，浙江便只好临时从全省抽调民间艺人组团参加。由此发现浙江居然没有专业歌舞团这样的“新文艺团体”，与“已经进入社会主义”的形势显得格格不入。










它促使省委下决心，就以参加音乐周的这支队伍为基础，以“浙江民间歌舞团”为名，迅速组建专业歌舞团。团址选在风景如画的西湖边，玉泉附近，洪春桥的一幢小洋房里，先暂由带队参加音乐周的刘式琨，顾自修负责，再从部队抽调谢逸南来担任一把手。由于以参加“音乐周”的成员为基础，先天”基因“决定，这支队伍民乐出类拔萃，拥有众多像赵松庭，杨仲儒，张亮等这样全国超一流高手；民歌也不错，为参加全国比赛，从全省调来一批小姑娘，纯朴清新，极讨人喜欢，何况在深入民间的基础上，创作挖掘了如《姑娘的心愿》这样颇有特色的优秀曲目；唯有舞蹈完全空白。谢逸南自小热爱表演艺术，并有一条好嗓子，会唱京剧，但是对舞蹈这门艺术一窍不通。遂亲自赶到上海，苦心孤指，把我挖来，旨在和他共挑为浙江从无到有，建设一支专业舞蹈队伍的重担。

他的首要目标是要个台柱，所以自从到浙江民间歌舞团，主要演员的职责就理所当然地落在了我的肩上。但事实上，要演出就得要剧目，所以我在自己完成繁重的演出任务的同时，兼任教练，一方面把在歌剧院掌握的舞蹈一个个排出来，努力补齐浙江民间歌舞团没有舞蹈节目这个短板。另方面还要给大家上基训课，双管齐下，尽快带出一支专业的队伍来。这样，自己训练的时间就被挤掉了，于是我每天提前两小时起床自修，别人起床，我已经练完功了。这样坚持七年从未间断。并以关鹔鹴为榜样，不论到哪里，不论时间多紧，宁肯舍弃吃睡，也一定首先直奔舞台，别人整铺位，我则在熟悉场地，练习难点，做到心中有数，所以尽管担子极重，但我的演出始终质量稳定，极少差错。













谢逸南给了我最大的信任，他甚至常常拿了舞蹈杂志来向我讨教。这才知道，他专门订了舞蹈杂志，每期认真阅读，弥补自己作为文艺团体的领导在专业知识方面的不足。他每周定期与我深入探讨。而且大部分不过几天，我的一些建议就会在他的施政举措中体现出来，落到实处。是他，让我在 表、教 、导、编以及艺术组织领导等（我是艺术委员会成员）各方面充份发挥，有了在事业上全面起飞的空间。让我得以迎来演艺生涯的高峰期。“书到用时方恨少”。 那时我的刻苦勤奋是出了名的。每天的时间表，排得密密麻麻，再困再累也咬牙坚持。如此日复一日，大有所获。变得成熟起来。

1959年底，中国歌剧舞剧院的舞剧《盗仙草》，引起巨大轰动。《盗仙草》是根据白蛇传编排的，而白蛇传就是发生在杭州的故事，家喻户晓，所以团部决定，派我和蒋玉培到北京，把这个节目学下来。我们以最大的热情，迅速学好后带回杭州，由管继华饰演南极仙翁，蒋玉培，朱耀荣饰演花鹿童子，我饰演白素贞，投入排练。剧团极为重视，把它作为一场主战役，乐队舞美全力投入，一个突出的例子是，特别邀请话剧团的专职化妆师（我团没有这个编制。）孙明昌来为我造型，全团观摩。别小看这堂课，这在浙江歌舞团的历史上，可是空前绝后的呐！记得那天化完妆，大家（包括我自己）都惊呼“好美喔！”这一切，都为我创造了良好的条件，帮助我更好的全身心投入到角色的塑造中。








其实，我一向来喜欢有人物有情节的节目，像《大茶山》、《跑驴》，还有双人舞《警察与妻子》等，但演正儿八经的舞剧，这还是第一次。《盗仙草》是我国早期的成功舞剧，其人物情节，音乐作曲，舞蹈编排，和我以前演的那些小节目又不可同日而语。而这时的我，技巧层面已无负担，更重要的是，此时我的人生历练和以前已完全不同，对白蛇的内心也就能感同身受，有深刻的体验。这个角色虽是学来的，但我细心体验，用心刻画。哪里该强化，哪里该简捷，轻重缓急，都仔细研究和处理。演到历尽千辛万苦，最终得到南极仙翁的同情，亲手将灵芝赠于时，随着合唱队一声“恩爱重、、、、”，我扑通一声双膝跪下，自己从巅峰坠入深渊，受尽诽谤中伤，满腹委屈无处诉说的人生经历和角色叠合在一起，一时百感交集，真的是泪流满面，泣不成声，完全融入其中。







那时舞台条件都很差，有的甚至干脆就是水泥地，每次这样投入的表演，后来甚至把膝盖神经都跪伤了。从此，《盗仙草》成为浙江歌舞团最受欢迎的压轴戏，历演不衰。沈蓓演的白素贞也盛名在外，连本团演员都趋之若鹜，歌队的姜幼梅告诉我，虽有严格禁令，他们都提前作好准备，《盗仙草》一开始，所有人就各显神通，从灯光台到幕边缝缝里千方百计设法观看，演到动情处，台上台下，一片唏嘘，舞剧的形式得到观众普遍的接受和认可，我也成为“头三脚”的实践者，参加到最早的实验中，为中国舞剧建设贡献了自己的一份力量。《盗仙草》铸就了我演艺生涯的巅峰，也留下了可向子孙后代回忆的故事。







说到这里，还有一个插曲：为了表现白娘子得到仙草后争分夺秒回去救许仙的急迫心情，编导在这里安排了翻滚旋转紧接一个大跳从高平台纵身而下这样一大段技巧组合，把全剧推向高潮，使整个舞剧的结束精彩干脆。由于这串动作难度大，角色情绪处在高度激动亢奋中，而演员又是从舞台的亮处往漆黑的后台跳，根本什么都看不见，所以有一定的危险性，平时后台工作的同志们都非常小心，在那平台下方铺上垫子，以保证我的安全。不料有一天，这么猛烈的动作，落地时不是平时的垫子，而竟是一只高高隆起的的道具箱，不仅落地的高度与平时完全不符，而且随着冲力，整个人向左边倒下，左脚却还在箱子上，也就是说，身体是压着左小腿栽下去的，分量可想而知。







幸好《盗仙草》从来都是压轴戏，大幕落下，观众还在鼓掌，人们已经七手八脚地把我抬到当地一位著名专治跌打损伤的老中医那里，这时脚脖子肿的和腿肚子齐平了，老人家一看，啧啧称奇，说幸好你是有功夫之人，换一个早就断成几节了。马上找来好几味他自己采集的草药，捣烂后用鸡蛋调成糊状，给我里三层外三层的裹上，说不出三日，肿即可消。不过伤筋动骨一百天，百日之内，绝不可乱动，便可痊愈，不留任何后遗症。真的神了，这么重的伤，三天后，肿就完全退了。我又一次遇到了“贵人”，但是这次，我辜负了贵人。一百天不动，怎么可能？这一轮的巡回演出刚刚开始，票已经卖光，而其中，《盗仙草》是主要卖点，很多观众就是冲着这个节目来的。而且白素贞这个角色还没有B卡，没有一个人能顶得上。怎么办？有什么怎么办。







我们从小受的教育：舞台就是战场，救场如救火，盖叫天腿断了还上台，轻伤不下火线，、、、、、、问题是，左脚根本还站不住，于是我们就商量着把原来白娘子满世界追着两位护草童子打改为护草童子将白素贞团团围住打，我站在舞台中间，脚不动仍然可以身手敏捷。就这样，连着几十场，整个巡回演出，《盗仙草》硬是一场也没拉下。不过说实在的，再怎么改，一个舞剧的第一主角，不动是不可能的，再怎么小心，中间又扭过几次，而且不知怎地，我平时脚力特别稳，现在却好像皮筋松了，平路上走着走着也会崴，连续几次后，又肿了起来，从此脚裸就变了形，下雨天更会隐隐作痛，晚年更甚。反过来不知道为什么，《盗仙草》在当时演出剧目中，这么吃重，竟然连一张剧照都没有，更不要说录像了，我演员生涯的璀璨光辉，除了变形的脚裸这终身印记外，其他都淹没在历史的尘埃之中，无迹可寻咯








注：《盗仙草》是中国舞剧研究小组第一次创作的三个实验性小舞剧，所谓“民族舞剧头三脚”：《碧莲池畔》、《刘海戏金蟾》、《盗仙草》中的一个。当时的观众对舞剧的形式还很陌生，所以舞剧选材一般都是改编戏剧或文学作品及神话传说。它们为未来大型舞剧题材改编于戏剧、文学以及表现手法做了“前期实验”。1957年初在第一届全国专业团体音乐舞蹈会演舞台上亮相，引起强烈反响。其中又以《盗仙草》最为成功。

1962年夏，我又一次被派到北京中国歌剧舞剧院学习，这次的剧目是《抢亲》。内容讲抬轿子接新娘，阴错阳差，抬来个狗熊，故事特别传统接地气，外加舞蹈还从未演绎过这样有浓浓喜剧色彩的题材，所以一经推出便风靡全国。技巧并不难，中央歌剧舞剧院也是熟门熟路，有许多老朋友如赵青等，只是我刚刚生儿子小虎才四个月，一年多不练功了，加上妈妈给我猪蹄呀鲫鱼呀猛补，肥的不像样子。






我觉得歌剧舞剧院的同行们会想，怎么派这么一个人来，很不好意思，便发了个狠，咬紧牙关，每天跟着上课训练，除此之外，还自己给自己加指标，除《抢亲》外还学了蒙古《顶碗舞》和印度《拍球舞》，这两个独舞当时红极一时，在我国舞蹈史上也占有一席之地，特别是《拍球舞》，要腰腿手眼并用，既要虚拟又要真实的表现出手中有一个“球”在运行，还要保持印度舞蹈的韵味和节律，难度非常高，在当时除专攻东方舞的专家张均能表演外，我大概是国内仅有的第二人。半个月下来，功夫和体型完全恢复到以前的状态，如果没有去北京的机会倒逼，大概做不到，至少没有那么快和完美。







虽说我在北京不仅完成了规定任务，还自己加料，但实际这时，心中已渐渐变化。学成归来，按领导原来的安排，毫无悬念，我是该剧的第一主角，但这次我却建议由舞蹈队年轻漂亮的成都姑娘宋淑群来担任。该剧有六、七个角色，都是我一个人学的，我一个个教给他人，自己一个角色也不演，乐此不疲的只担任导演。只在需要时演过几次媒婆而已。