Last Friday, on the 45th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, Morishita Yoko and Songshan Ballet successfully performed a new version of White-haired Girl in the Great Hall of the People, and 69-year-old Morishita Yoko performed White-haired Girl, which once again created a vivid "Japanese joy".
This daughter is unusual.
"I know Morishita Yoko, and I also know Songshan Ballet. When Sino-Japanese relations were most tense, they always insisted on performing in China. " Before the performance, an audience told reporters: "I have seen Morishita Yoko dance on TV, but I haven't seen the scene yet. It is not easy to see a' live' today. "
This is not easy, because Morishita Yoko, the actress who plays the heroine Xi 'er, is 69 years old this year. Ballerinas are injured all the year round. It is a miracle that Morishita Yoko is still active on the stage and can finish all the performances.
Although her face is no longer as young as it used to be, Morishita Yoko has accumulated a more profound and pure calm temperament through the tempering of time. She is modest and friendly, with big eyes and a girl's smart look.
In an interview with the Beijing Evening News reporter (pictured above), she admitted that in order to keep fit, she still had to practice dancing for five hours every day. "She is still dancing the Nutcracker at the age of 60, and I cried when I watched it, because I can't imagine that a person can be so obsessed with art."
In the short film of "White-haired Girl" rehearsed by Songshan Ballet Company, Morishita Yoko and other young actors insisted on leg press, and didn't miss a basic lesson. Xin Lili, head of Shanghai Ballet, said: "She can devote her life to ballet. I advised her not to work so hard. She told me that it doesn't matter, she was born for ballet. "
Up to now, most of Morishita Yoko's life has been accompanied by his beloved ballet. Morishita Yoko was born in Hiroshima, Japan on 1948. He began to learn ballet at the age of three and could perform Swan Lake at the age of fifteen. 1970, 22-year-old Morishita Yoko watched the dance drama White-haired Girl by Songshan Ballet, and was deeply moved. Thus, she came up with the idea of learning dance from the heroine Matsuyama Mikiko. A year later, Morishita Yoko formally joined Songshan Ballet, studied under Matsuyama Mikiko, and quickly became the pillar of the dance company and even the Japanese ballet world.
Morishita Yoko in his youth.
From 65438 to 0974, Morishita Yoko participated in the 1st12nd Varna International Ballet Competition with Shimizu Masao, the founder of the company, and Tetsutaro, the eldest son of Matsuyama Shuzi. In the eyes of people in the industry at that time, the ballet stage was destined to be dominated by European and American actors, and it was impossible for Asians, especially Japanese who were not dominant in height, to dance ballet well. However, Morishita Yoko won the gold medal in one fell swoop with her outstanding performance, breaking the international prejudice against Japanese and Asian actors. Since then, Morishita Yoko has gradually emerged on the world stage, and in 1982, he became the first Japanese ballet dancer to step on the stage of the Paris Opera House.
Despite his petite figure, Morishita Yoko is very expressive and explosive on the stage. When he is on the same stage with tall European and American actors, his impression is undiminished. From 65438 to 0985, Morishita Yoko won the Laurence Lawrence Oliver Award, the most important drama and music award in Britain. From 65438 to 0997, with her outstanding contribution to ballet, Morishita Yoko became the youngest Japanese female "cultural contributor". 200 1, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his career, Morishita Yoko officially became the head of Songshan Ballet.
? Japanese dance company that has been broadcasting the story of China revolution for decades.
Now, it has been 59 years since the Japanese ballet White-haired Girl was first staged in China, and 40 years since Morishita Yoko became attached to Xi.
If we want to talk about the reason why Morishita Yoko insists on personally performing White-haired Girl, we have to mention her Songshan Ballet Company.
Songshan Ballet was founded by Shimizu Masao in 1948. The company is named after another founder, Matsuyama Mikiko, who is a famous Japanese ballet dancer and the wife of Shimizu Masao.
Shimizu Masao and Matsuyama Mikiko.
Over the years, Songshan Ballet has become one of the most famous ballet companies in Japan, with the artistic aim of "creatively performing classical ballet" and "creating ballet with national characteristics". A Japanese dance company, whose original intention is to promote national characteristics, has performed the story of China for decades, which even Masao Shimizu himself could not have imagined at first.
1950, three Japanese politicians visited the Soviet Union and China on their way home from a European conference. One of them, named Iizuji, wanted to introduce the new Japanese culture to the Japanese people and asked Premier Zhou Enlai to make the film White-haired Girl. After returning to China, he handed it over to the Japan-China Friendship Association and held "White-haired Girl Screening" in various parts of Japan. "I happened to see this film in a small venue in downtown Tokyo."
Shimizu Masao recalled: "I was deeply moved, and I was crying from beginning to end. Under my recommendation, Songshan also chased after various venues to see "White-haired Girl". What moved and impressed us was how the oppressed peasants sought the liberation of their country. " From then on, Shimizu Masao had the idea of adapting this film into a ballet.
However, when he started writing, Shimizu Masao encountered great difficulties-in Japan, he couldn't find any information about white-haired girls, so in despair, he tried to write a letter to the then Chinese Dramatists Association. At the end of 1953, Mr. Tian Han, then chairman of the Dramatists Association, sent back to Shimizu Masao the materials of the film White-haired Girl and the stage stills of the opera White-haired Girl. After more than a year's efforts, Shimizu Masao and Matsuyama Mikiko finally put the white-haired girl on the stage for the first time at 1955, and Songshan Ballet became the first performance of the white-haired girl.
Matsuyama Mikiko often recalls this past, saying, "I still remember the excitement of the first performance of White-haired Girl. At that time, many Japanese audiences also watched ballet for the first time. Their enthusiastic eyes spread all over my body. I danced so hard that I forgot everything. "
During the period of 1958, Sino-Japanese relations have not been normalized, and Songshan Ballet made its debut in China under heavy pressure and achieved great success. Six years later, when Songshan Ballet visited China for the second time, it was received by leaders of Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De and other countries in the Auditorium of the Great Hall of the People.
Tian Hua and Morishita Yoko met.
Art without innovation has no vitality. For decades, Songshan Ballet has improved and perfected White-haired Girl. ? 197 1 year, Morishita Yoko took over the baton of White-haired Girl from Matsuyama Mikiko and became the actor of the second generation of Xier.
In last week's performance in the Great Hall of the People, Tian Hua, a famous performance artist who played Xi 'er in the 1950 film version of White-haired Girl, also came to watch. At the end of the performance, she couldn't help standing up and clapping.
When communicating with Morishita Yoko backstage, Tian Hua kept praising: "This version is really a new white-haired girl, and I especially like your adaptation. Like this detail that Aunt Wang can't see this time, I feel very good, and the touch force is enhanced; There is also a clip in which Xi 'er recognizes Da Chun because of the red rope in his hand. It's really in place. Good. "
In addition, the white-haired girl in this version is not the only one who has a daughter. Images of white-haired girls appear in groups. When many white-haired girls struggling in the snow appeared together, the oppression of the people and the resistance of the poor in the old society have already appeared on the stage. These ingenious arrangements are undoubtedly attributed to Shimizu Tetsutaro, the chief choreographer of this version of the dance drama.
Besides being the general representative of Songshan Ballet, Shimizu Tetsutaro has another identity, that is, Morishita Yoko's husband. The young couple got together because of the ballet. 1976 officially got married. Like their parents, Shimizu Tetsutaro and Morishita Yoko, an artistic couple, devoted their lives to ballet. After the death of Shimizu Masao in 2008, the important task of friendly exchanges between Japan and China completely fell on their shoulders.
Shimizu Tetsutaro has the experience of studying in China, so his understanding of White-haired Girl is probably deeper than anyone else. In a short film recording the white-haired girl's rehearsal, Tetsutaro, who has always been gentle, felt that the actor who played the ordinary people was in a bad mood, so he rarely explained loudly: "Da Chun is back, pay attention to everyone's mood! The Lugouqiao incident happened, pay attention to emotions! " Then he turned to Da Chun, pointed to his Eighth Route Army armband and said, "This is a responsibility. You have to know what this means. "
Regarding this performance, Shimizu Tetsutaro commented: "In fact, every time we perform, we need to improve our technology, but this time I want to say that the enthusiasm shown by our actors is perfect. Performing next to the Monument to the People's Heroes, I seem to have heard countless people like Xi 'er shouting for liberation in history. Xi 'er's story happened in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, and this bloody history can't be forgotten. I am very grateful to the audience in China for their understanding and welcome. I hope that "White-haired Girl" can convey our introspection and apology for history. "