This brisk and lighthearted melody is from the first Chinese stage ballet, Beautiful Mermaid, created in 1959. Its two composers, Wu Zuqiang and Du Mingxin, have the shared background of having studied music in the Soviet Union during the 1950s. We can easily detect the western musical elements and styles in this work, which was the first experiment in Chinese artists creating their own ballet.
Following Beautiful Mermaid, many Chinese musicians and artists joined in the experimentation that was the creation of Chinese ballet. It was not until five years later when The Red Detachment of Women was premiered in 1964 in Beijing that these efforts yielded a breakthrough. Strictly speaking, it is the first, and the foremost, successful large-scale Chinese ballet to boast a strong Chinese flavor and style.
Also composed by Wu Zuqiang and Du Mingxin, as well as some other musicians, The Red Detachment of Women was adapted from a movie of the same title. The story comes from the 1930s in China's southernmost Hainan Island. Wu Qionghua, the female lead, flees her home and joins the local Red Army troop, gradually becoming an outstanding soldier with the Red Detachment of Women.
Since its birth, the ballet has been highly acclaimed for its moving and tragic plot, magnificent stage design, and graceful choreography. Its music, undoubtedly, also contributes a lot to the ballet's success and popularity. Let's enjoy an extract.
Another Chinese ballet classic, The White Haired Girl, made its debut only one year after The Red Detachment of Women. Composed by Yan Jinxuan, it was first performed by the Shanghai Ballet Theatre. Adapted from an opera of the same title, it tells a story about a girl who couldn't stand the insults of her landlord and hided herself deep in the mountains, her hair turning white. Finally the girl is saved by the Eighth Route Army and is reunited with her lover.
This stage ballet makes good use of elements of Chinese folk dance, making a perfect combination between realism and romanticism. The piece we'll be listening to now is called Dance of Window Decoration, displaying the girl's happy feeling when waiting for her father to come back home on the eve of Spring Festival.
Both The Red Detachment of Women and The White Haired Girl played a significant role in the development of Chinese ballet. They are the epitome of works by Chinese artists combining European ballet with Chinese characteristics. Recent years have seen both ballets performed abroad at the invitation of foreign theatres and troupes, and are widely recognized as two 20th century classics.
(Edited by Li Guixiang)
