What is the relationship with Shanghai?, Shigatse Everest Cultural Tourism Festival Kunqu Opera | Xizang | Relationship
On the evening of June 18th, at an altitude of 4000 meters in Shigatse, young Kunqu opera artist Zhang Ran from Shanghai sang a song called "Peony Pavilion - Garden Tour", which was gentle, delicate, and beautiful for a long time. Later, Tibetan opera actors wearing blue masks appeared, dancing wildly and with a majestic aura. The gentle and elegant Jiangnan theatrical culture collides and blends with the heroic confidence of the Tibetan ethnic culture on the plateau at this moment
This strong cultural exchange was staged at the opening ceremony of the 18th Mount Everest Cultural Tourism Festival. Appointed by the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Shanghai New Writers and Artists Federation, Zhang Ran, as the only Shanghai actor, participated in the opening ceremony performance in the form of literature and art volunteer service, and brought the art fusion work of "Tibetan Opera+Kunqu Opera" with Wang Jiu, the head of the Xizang Tibetan Opera Troupe and the first winner of the "Plum Blossom Prize" in Xizang. Coincidentally, although the birthplace of Kunqu opera and Tibetan opera is separated by thousands of mountains and rivers, both are already 600 years old.
The strong high-altitude reaction once made Zhang Ran feel nervous, and coupled with the need for strangulation and routine movements in Kunqu opera performances, the day before during rehearsals, Zhang Ran felt powerless after just over a minute on stage. However, the plateau environment is also a unique experience. "I have read 'How can spring be like this without reaching the garden' no less than 300 times, and for the first time, a scene surrounded by mountains appeared before my eyes," said Zhang Ran, who truly felt the charm of cultural exchange.
The response of Kunqu opera performance was unexpected. On the day of the rehearsal, the local Tibetan audience in Shigatse were very curious about her attire. Some had never seen her before, while others could only see her on TV. Zhang Ran held an oxygen tank and introduced Kunqu opera. Zhang Ran posted the rehearsal footage on social media for only 24 hours, with a total of over 600000 viewers. Many netizens in the comments indicated that the location was "Shigatse". Before the performance, while waiting backstage, two Tibetan girls followed her all the way to the dressing room and said, "Look at her clothes carefully." Zhang Ran taught Lan Huazhi on site.
Shigatse is one of the areas where Shanghai provides targeted support, with batches of Shanghai Tibetan aid cadres leading the way, resulting in increasingly frequent cultural exchanges between the two regions. On June 10 this year, the Sakya Thangka Art Exhibition in Shigatse, Xizang was opened simultaneously at the Shanghai History Museum and the Xuhui District Art Museum. Thangka is a kind of colorful scroll painting painted or embroidered on cloth, silk or paper. At the same time, underground in Shanghai, a subway train painted with the patterns of Shigatse Sakya Ancient City and Wukang Building shuttled back and forth, connecting the two exhibition halls; 30 Shigatse Sakya ethnic dancers who crossed 4500 kilometers to Shanghai also performed intangible cultural heritage "Suo Dance" at the Xuhui Film Theater.
In early June of this year, there was also a Tibetan cultural exchange performance, which entered the new cultural landmark of Yangpu, the YOUNG Theater. The dance "Flying Strings Stepping in Spring" with strong Tibetan characteristics immediately attracted the attention of the audience upon its debut. Having walked out of the mountains multiple times, he appeared on the CCTV Spring Festival Gala in 2007, performed at the Shanghai CICA Summit in 2014, and was showcased at the "Youth Carnival to Realize the Asian Dream - Asian Civilization Dialogue Conference" in 2019. This art form is called Lazi Duixiao, which has been included in the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage projects. With the unique six stringed lute in Xizang as the accompaniment instrument, it is popular in open fields, streets and courtyards.
However, due to natural limitations, the Shanghai style Jiangnan culture came to the plateau, and Zhang Ran can be considered one of the pioneers. "I hope there will be more attempts at high altitude in the future." Zhang Ran said that her visit this time will explore the way for the spread of Jiangnan culture in Xizang. Shanghai and Tibet are mutually integrated, sharing resources, and complementing each other's advantages. Culture grows and innovates in exchanges.
