The Tibetan dance theater "The Extreme Land" poetically shows the magnificence of the plateau and the vastness of the grassland. (Photo provided by Shanghai International Dance Center)

  The sagna plays the ancient charm, and it shows off its brilliance, presenting the charm of the intangible cultural heritage of the snowy plateau. Last weekend, the Tibetan dance theater "The Extreme Land" was unveiled at the Shanghai International Dance Center Grand Theater, poetically showing the magnificence of the plateau and the vastness of the grassland. At present, Tibetan dance, Mongolian dance, Xinjiang dance, etc. are waving the "most dazzling national style", sweeping over video platforms such as Douyin and Bilibili; national dance dramas such as "Cavalette" and "Five Stars Out of the East" are touring nationwide, attracting a large number of audiences. "The Land of Extreme Realm" focuses on the ancient Tibetan salt road at an altitude of 4,500 meters, and composes a clear and holy pastoral song on the clouds.

  Solang Qundan is the soul of "The Extreme Realm". He walks and dances, connecting five chapters including "moving, clouds, sacrifices, rituals, and wings", telling the proposition about "snow mountains, grasslands, and inheritance". Having starred in major productions such as the dance drama "The Road of Heaven" and "Five Stars Out of the East", Solang Qundan admitted that the dance movements of "The Extreme Land" are not difficult, and the important thing is to find the inner fulcrum of the performance. "Looking up, it is the glorious history that our ancestors have made without fear of the wind and snow; the road under their feet is the long life that everyone will go through."

  Holy

  Solang Qundan was born in Shigatse. In his childhood memories, there are not only the peaks and forests of Tibet, but also the unique local music and dances. "Adults will gather together to eat, drink, sing and dance. This is the happiest moment for children." According to Solang Qundan, the singing and dancing in various places of Tibetans have different meanings and charms. Kangba's singing and dancing are unrestrained and enthusiastic, while Shigatse people's expressions are implicit and restrained. "Especially, Bangor Seichin from Nagqu, northern Tibet has a sacred sense that people dare not touch easily."

  Bangor Xieqin is a national intangible cultural heritage, which means "auspicious protector" in Tibetan. It is a traditional form of singing and dancing in Nima Township, Bangor County, Nagqu District. It originated from the production and life of Tibetan herdsmen more than 1,000 years ago, integrating the salt songs when carrying salt, grain songs when transporting grain, milk bucket songs when making yogurt, etc. "The Land of Extreme Realm" picks up elements of Bangor's Seichin and reinterprets traditional folk dances with contemporary artistic techniques. "The actors' movements are small and subtle, and their smiles are clear and transparent, as if the holy spring water cleanses the fatigue of their hearts." said the audience member Wang Huijia.

  Following the dance steps of Solang Qundan, Wang Huijia also found traces of traditional Tibetan musical instruments such as Zha Nian and Eagle Flute on the stage. Zha Nian is also known as "Six-Stringed Piano", which means "a pleasant sound"; the eagle flute is made of eagle wing bones, carrying a heavy regional and national characteristics. "The thoughts are high and melodious, and the eagle flute is ethereal and clear, like the wind blowing through snow-capped mountains and lakes." Wang Huijia sighed that "The Extreme Land" incorporates rich intangible cultural elements, and uses dance to reproduce the Tibetan hand-woven skills, which is dazzling.

  The fresh things in Wang Huijia's eyes have already left a mark in Solang Qundan's heart. In 2002, 12-year-old Solang Qundan went to the dance school affiliated to Shanghai Theater Academy to study dance alone. He has participated in the school dance team since he was a child. For the first time, he knew what "soft opening" is. With the tenacity brought by the plateau, the Tibetan children with "zero foundation" injected their love for singing and dancing into the stage. In 2014, he went to the Central University for Nationalities to study, and after graduation, he became a free dancer who "drifted from Beijing". "At first, I was afraid of being idle because I didn't know what to do next. I also wanted to find a job to check in to work, but I couldn't bear to have this kind of life state that was not bound or defined." Solang Qundan said, "Now, I regard the free passages as a process of testing my heart and accumulating energy, and look forward to the next full-hearted flying dance."

  Trade-offs

  Tibetan culture is abundant and splendid, and it seems to be everywhere, but the choice and translation of literary and artistic creation are not simple. "The Land of Extreme Realm" begins, Gongsang Deji sang a high-pitched and clear mountain song, instantly bringing people to the frozen snowy plateau. "The meaning of the song is - there is a white cloud on the other side of the mountain, which slowly floats, like my heart..." Director-in-chief Rabazashi told reporters that every mountain song contains beautiful poetry, but it is difficult to present it on the stage of the theater. "We have considered annotating in the form of subtitles, but after thinking about it, we finally gave up. On the one hand, the exposure of the long passage does not conform to the expression of the dance theater; on the other hand, the word-by-word annotation may make the song lose its ethereal mood."

  The stage space is extremely limited. The poet Ga Dai was invited to write a poetry script for "The Extreme Realm", but only one poem was projected onto the curtain in multimedia. Several short poems were published in the program, which became a path for the audience to understand the dance theater: "The salt-packing people resolutely moved forward in the whistling wind and snow, and each step was the drum beat that inherited the will of the ancestors, and started a life journey of dialogue with the world."

  "I wanted to pour more content into my work, but every time I gave up became a painful choice." Rabazashi revealed that during a field trip in 2015, he had the idea of ​​bringing the ancient Tibetan salt road to the stage, and even created a small work "Tu Yan·Dao" for this. It was not until he cooperated with Wuhan Art School in 2023 that he promoted the birth of "The Extreme Land". "Although short videos of Tibetan dance are very popular on the Internet, most of them are fragmented expressions. I hope to create a complete stage work so that the essence of Tibetan culture can be spread. Therefore, "The Extreme Land" not only creates dances, but also invites Tibetan musicians and singers such as Dorji, Dava Tseren, Gongsanderji to present the face of national culture in multiple dimensions. This is a noble praise for natural life and a cultural traceability spanning thousands of years." Reporter Xuan Jing

[Editor in charge: Susan]