舞剧“剧中人”的表现方式探究

Exploring Possible Presentations of the Characters in Dance Dramas

在舞剧中,人物形象的刻画与呈现是极为重要的。一部作品如果没有深刻的人物形象,那么它所具有的艺术价值就大大降低了。作品中人物形象表现的好与坏直接影响着舞蹈的创作水平。而"剧中人"也就是舞剧中主要塑造的人物形象,其形象的刻画受表现方式的影响和制约。笔者认为,在舞剧的编创过程中,应该明确人物形象的塑造与舞剧结构和舞蹈形式之间密不可分的关系,强调重视舞剧结构的设计与舞蹈形式的运用,以使鲜明的人物形象呈现,努力为作品的思想和艺术价值打下坚实的基础。

Building and presenting images are of great importance in creating the artistic value of a dance drama. Through the creative practice and exploration of the dance drama Dream Yi’an, the author has gained certain understandings of the means of building images. To present the characters in dance dramas effectively, the creators shall pay heed to the following two perspectives.One is to present the characters through the structure of the dance drama. The structure of a dance drama and its contents to present the characters are interactive. The contents, in a certain degree, determine the form of the structure. And the arrangements of the structure have an influence on how the emotions and thoughts of the characters can be conveyed. The main character of the small-scale dance drama Dream Yi’an is LI Qing-zhao(pseudonym Yi’an Jushi). During the creating process, the textual structure of the dance drama was centered on presenting, building, and shaping the character, and thus determined the textual contents. As the time and space of the stage is limited, it is impossible to display every aspect of the character to the audience. Rather, it needs to choose representative events to present the characteristics, personality, and emotions, and arrange them logically, so as to meet the intention of the choreographer. Dream Yi’an is mainly based on LI Qing-zhao’s poems in three periods — Northern Song Dynasty, the turn of Northern Song and Southern Song Dynasties, and Southern Song Dynasty — to structure the dance drama. Taking 'dream' as the clue leading the storyline, the shuffling of the different dreams demonstrates her different life attitudes upon different situations, enabling the audience to experience her life in different periods. In addition to framework and organization, structuring also includes handling the overall rhythm, or in other words, handling the different layers of the story, so as to better express and highlight the themes. In understanding and analyzing Yi’an, the personality that impressed the author most is her charm of perseverance and talent. She turned all the sorrow and bitterness of human life into poems. The whole structure of the dance drama is divided into four parts, and one of them is called 'Displaced.' This part was a turning point and the hardest time of her life, yet it can show her character of strength and toughness. It was also the key part that the choreographer had devoted time and energy to.The other one is to present the characters through dance form. Comparing with other forms of art, the uniqueness of dance dramas consists in that the presentation of the characters need to be realized through dance forms. There are three important forms worth noting: Firstly, using 'monologue' to build the image of the character. 'Monologue' refers to self-expression and self-statement, the most direct way of expressing the features and emotions of the characters. In dance drama, monologue of the main character is realized through solo. Accordingly, the choreography of the solos is to reveal the features of the characters and display their emotions and thoughts. Secondly, paying attention to the complementary performance of the 'related characters.' The 'related characters' refer to those connected in a dance drama, such as lovers, mother and daughter, and brothers. The related characters are normally represented in the form of two, three, or a group of people. The performance of a group of people here cannot be regarded as the 'group dance.' It plays a different role from the 'group dance' — it emphasizes the relationships between the characters and the overall situation formed by the characters. Thirdly, bringing out the characters by using the 'group image.' The 'group image,' realized by a group of people, requires the individuals in the group to complete the expression of certain emotion and willingness or to create an atmosphere together. In other words, while they mean the same thing, the individuals could present either similarly or differently. In short, a dance drama that can build and present characters profoundly will make itself impressive and memorable. The dance drama will be better presented if the characters are firmly built. As different dance dramas are building different characters and highlighting different features, the design for structure and application of dance forms will be different. However, the means of expression, no matter what it is, is in service of the creators’ intention and the presentation of the characters.