中国杂技国际交流赢得开门红——中国杂技参加三大国际马戏节屡获佳绩的启示

文胡毓堃 Hu Yukun 译曹宇光Cao Yuguangg

中国杂技国际交流赢得开门红
——中国杂技参加三大国际马戏节屡获佳绩的启示

Behind the Good Beginning for 2017 International Exchange of Chinese Acrobatics——Reviews of China’s Excellent Achievement in the Three Top International Circus Festivals

文胡毓堃 Hu Yukun 译曹宇光Cao Yuguangg

正值欢度春节之际，中国杂技健儿踏上远赴欧洲的征程，前往摩纳哥、法国参加世界顶级马戏赛事——第41届蒙特卡洛国际马戏节、第38届法国“明日”世界马戏节、第6届摩纳哥“新一代”国际青少年马戏节，并取得一个金奖、两个银奖的优异成绩，为中国杂技2017年国际交流赢得了开门红。

这三大马戏节，分别代表着传统马戏、新马戏和青少年马戏比赛的最高水平，是世界各地杂技、马戏艺术家心中的最高殿堂。中国杂技节目在三大国际马戏节摘金夺银，持续取得优异成绩，进一步提高了中国杂技在国际马戏界的知名度和影响力；更让公众关心的是，中国杂技缘何屡获国际大奖？其中的“秘诀”有哪些？

屡获大奖，扩大中国杂技国际影响力

新疆生产建设兵团节目《向太阳——绳技》The Acrobatic Program Lasso by Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Acrobatic Troupe

1月19日至29日，第41届蒙特卡洛国际马戏节在摩纳哥大公国举行。蒙特卡洛国际马戏节是世界上第一个国际马戏节，1974年由时任摩纳哥大公的雷尼埃三世亲自创办。蒙特卡洛国际马戏节因其参赛节目种类多样化和大型化以及王室成员的支持（摩纳哥大公国斯黛芬妮公主为蒙特卡洛国际马戏节主席），使其被业内人士称为“马戏界的奥林匹克”；该节的最高奖“金小丑奖”被誉为“马戏界的奥斯卡奖”。中国自1981年首次参加蒙特卡洛国际马戏节至今，共获得14尊“金小丑”。马戏节每年举办一届，迄今已经成功举办了41届。2016年适逢蒙特卡洛国际马戏节的第40届大庆，汇集了来自世界各国各年度的金奖节目进行展演。本届马戏节共有来自俄罗斯、中国、巴西、埃塞俄比亚、法国、美国、西班牙、德国、捷克、乌克兰、加拿大、乌兹别克斯坦等17个国家的39个节目参赛，地域范围涵盖五大洲，节目种类包括高空杂技、地面杂技、马戏、滑稽、魔术，其中不乏曾多次参加蒙特卡洛国际马戏节或在其它国际马戏节摘金夺银的优秀节目。

应蒙特卡洛国际马戏节组委会邀请，中国杂协选送的新疆生产建设兵团杂技团优秀节目《生命之旅——男子倒立技巧》《向太阳——绳技》参加了本届马戏节比赛和展演。在本届马戏节比赛和展演中，《生命之旅——男子倒立技巧》用优美、抒情的音乐配乐，将芭蕾舞的舞蹈元素融入“三角支撑群顶”“双飞群顶”“牌楼群顶”“三人单臂举群顶”等诸多高难度的叠摞技巧中，每场比赛和演出均赢得摩纳哥王室成员、评委、嘉宾和观众的一致好评和起立鼓掌；《向太阳——绳技》则展现了一群阳光少年手舞长绳，通过翻腾、小花绳、双立绳等技巧，在空中“画”出绚丽图画，展现了年轻人阳光、自信、拼搏的可爱形象，在比赛和专场演出中赢得全场观众的喝彩。最终，两个节目以精彩的表现双双获得本届马戏节“银小丑”奖。摩纳哥国家元首阿尔贝二世亲王出席了开幕式和颁奖晚会，并亲自为新疆生产建设兵团杂技团的获奖演员们颁奖。

1月26日至29日，第38届法国“明日”世界马戏节在法国巴黎“凤凰”马戏棚举行。法国“明日”世界马戏节创办于1977年，每年举办一届，迄今已经成功举办了38届。我国自1981年开始参加“明日”马戏节比赛至今已35年，是国际马戏节公认的获奖大户。中国杂协自2011年起，连续多年选派代表中国的高质量节目参赛，并多次取得优异成绩。本届马戏节共有来自法国、瑞士、阿根廷、中国、英国、德国、伊朗等22个国家的24个优秀节目参加比赛，地域范围涵盖四大洲，节目种类包括高空杂技、地面杂技、滑稽，展现了新马戏艺术的精华，其中不少节目曾在其它国际马戏节上摘金夺银。

中国杂协选送的浙江省杂技曲艺总团优秀节目《白蛇传说·蹬伞》和《幻相金刚·头顶技巧》参加了本届马戏节比赛。“明日”世界马戏节注重创新，两个参赛节目也都为本次马戏节对节目的结构、技巧、音乐、服装、道具等进行了全面的革新，既展现了节目难度技巧，又体现了中国悠久深厚的文化底蕴。其中，《白蛇传说·蹬伞》取材于中国民间传统故事《白蛇传》，借助国家级非物质文化遗产——油纸伞为道具，添加精心原创的配乐和带有京剧元素的现代妆容，演员在肩上和头顶蹬耍、抛接6把伞和1把扇子，凭借地域性强的传统文化精髓和技巧难度的突破赢得了马戏节组委会、评委和全场观众的赞叹和自发起立鼓掌，最终脱颖而出，荣获银奖。

上海杂技团携《秦俑情——抖杠》参加第15届莫斯科国际马戏艺术节The Program Feelings of Terra Cotta—Russian Bars by Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe in the 15thMoscow International Youth Festival-Contest in Circus Art

2月4日至5日，第6届摩纳哥“新一代”国际青少年马戏节在摩纳哥大公国举行。摩纳哥“新一代”国际青少年马戏节创办于2012年，是第二个由摩纳哥王室创办的国际马戏节（蒙特卡洛国际马戏节主席斯黛芬妮公主的女儿保琳·杜克鲁特公主为摩纳哥“新一代”国际青少年马戏节主席），旨在为全世界最优秀的青少年杂技演员提供展示才艺的平台。马戏节每年举办一届，迄今已经成功举办了6届。马戏节汇聚了世界各国优秀的青少年杂技、马戏和魔术演员，展现了高超的竞技水准。中国自2012年起开始参加“新一代”国际青少年马戏节，多次取得优异成绩，并在2015年第4届“新一代”国际青少年马戏节首次获得金奖。本届马戏节共有来自摩纳哥、德国、法国、俄罗斯、中国、智利、瑞士等11个国家的19个优秀青少年节目参加比赛，包括高空杂技、地面杂技、马戏和滑稽。中国杂协选送的上海市马戏学校新疆班优秀抖杠节目《担当》参加了本届马戏节比赛。该节目为上海市马戏学校原创，演员为上海市马戏学校委托培养的新疆杂技团学生。抖杠节目表演形式源自俄罗斯，观赏性强、技巧要求高、难度大，是国际马戏界的优秀保留节目。上海马校所编排的《担当》以“雪山雄鹰”为主题，结合新疆班学生能歌善舞的特点创作了具有浓郁中国新疆民族音乐特色的伴奏，在服装和造型设计也凸显了这一主题，获得了一致认可。比赛中，四名首次参加国际马戏比赛的新疆维吾尔族少年表演轻盈飘逸、潇洒自如，非常出色地完成了“两个双人双翻”“三个1080度转体翻腾”“团身后空翻三周”等一系列高难度技巧动作。两场比赛和颁奖演出中，表演结束演员尚未谢幕时，斯黛芬妮公主和保琳·杜克鲁特公主便率领评委、嘉宾和全场观众长时间起立鼓掌，这也成为本届马戏节唯一一个获此殊荣的节目。凭借着稳定的发挥和精彩的表演，该节目当之无愧地荣获本届马戏节唯一金奖，这也是该马戏节成立以来中国节目第二次获得金奖。斯黛芬妮公主和保琳·杜克鲁特公主在颁奖典礼上共同为上海市马戏学校新疆班的获奖演员们颁奖。

摘金夺银，坚持创新是核心源泉

自1981年起，中国优秀杂技节目多年来持续参加三大国际马戏节，斩获无数荣誉，成为获奖最多的国家之一。摘金夺银的背后，既有演员精彩绝伦的表演，也有中国杂技多年来积极探索、与时俱进的重要影响。

文化部和各级政府的大力支持为中国杂技节目参加国际马戏节提供了有力保障和激励。从节目编排、筹备参赛、激励机制到日常训练、人才培养，各杂技院团参加国际马戏节的各项准备工作都离不开各级政府的财政支持和工作指导。纵观世界马戏界发展动态，同为杂技大国的俄罗斯和金牌大户的朝鲜更是以政府扶持的表演团队为主体，无疑是这些国家持续稳定地在各大马戏节赛场摘金夺银的重要因素。

深化文化体制改革、坚持市场化的发展道路是持续推出优秀参赛作品的动力。今年三大国际马戏节的中国参赛节目便是典型代表：新疆生产建设兵团杂技团的《生命之旅——男子倒立技巧》和《向太阳——绳技》在参加本届蒙特卡洛国际马戏节开幕之前，刚刚结束在德国为期两个月的商业演出，而在马戏节结束的一个月之后便将赶赴瑞士继续参加商业演出；而浙江省杂技曲艺总团的两个参赛节目更早已是欧洲演出商眼中的“老面孔”了，在欧洲早已有多年的商业演出经历。这些优秀节目经过国际市场和观众的检验与认可，并顺应市场需求不断改进提高，在世界顶级的马戏赛场获得优异成绩也是水到渠成。

更重要的原因是，坚持创新是中国杂技持续推出优秀节目的源泉。无论是在注重本体技巧的蒙特卡洛国际马戏节，还是在引领创新的法国“明日”世界马戏节，故步自封、因循守旧的节目最终都会失去魅力，被时代淘汰。新疆生产建设兵团杂技团的《生命之旅——男子倒立技巧》、浙江省杂技曲艺总团的《白蛇传说·蹬伞》和《幻相金刚·头顶技巧》都曾多次参加国内外马戏节比赛和杂技表演，今年的马戏节所呈现的，均是全新的主题和艺术表现形式，并在技巧难度上实现了新的突破，给观众耳目一新的感觉；而上海市马戏学校新疆班的《担当》从技巧动作到主题和艺术表现形式完全是原创节目，与传统的俄罗斯抖杠技巧截然不同。在创新的过程中，这些节目立足中国本土，将独特的中国地域文化元素融入到杂技本体技巧和艺术表现形式中，获得了评委和观众的肯定。今年的三大国际马戏节上，各国评委不仅折服于中国节目的高难技巧，也赞叹节目中的音乐、服装和演员造型。

此外，学校教育对培养优秀杂技人才、推出优秀杂技节目的作用也越发不可小觑。与传统的杂技院团人才培养模式不同，今年参加摩纳哥“新一代”国际青少年马戏节的中国节目是上海市马戏学校全日制新疆班教育培养的优秀成果。参演的四名演员都是上海市马戏学校的在读学生，平时既接受文化课教育也进行日常杂技训练，已在学校学习了七年。学校教育不仅使他们从完全不懂杂技的孩子成长为优秀的青少年杂技艺术家，更提高了他们的文化素养和学习能力。由于上海市马戏学校注重培养学生的艺术素养，开设音乐、舞蹈等课程，这些参赛演员经过学习，不仅能做出高难技巧，还能在比赛中呈现潇洒飘逸的舞姿，将中国杂技节目的“惊、险、奇、美”展现得淋漓尽致。

On the occasion of celebrating the traditional Chinese Spring Festival, Chinese acrobats set off on their journey to Europe to participate in the three top world circus events in France and Monaco, namely the 41stMonte-Carlo International Circus Festival (MCICF), the 38th“Tomorrow” World Circus Festival (TWCF) in France and the 6th“New Generation” Circus Competition for Young Artists (NGCCYA) in Monaco. Their excellent achievement of one golden prize and two silver prizes has made a good beginning for the international exchange of Chinese acrobatics in 2017.

Representing the top level of traditional circus, new circus and circus competition for teenagers and youngsters in the world, those three circus festivals have become the global sanctuaries in the hearts of acrobats and circus artists. Such constant achievement of excellence as one golden prize and two silver prizes made by Chinese acrobatic programs in those festivals has further enhanced the prestige and influence of Chinese acrobatics in the international arena and aroused the public’s curiosity to know the reason and secret of such success.

Constant Grand Prize Winning Expanded International Inf uence of Chinese Acrobatics

From January 19 till 29, the 41stMCICF took place in the Principality of Monaco. As the first international circus festival in the World, MCICF was initiated by Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1974. Thanks to the variety and large-scale feature in participant programs as well as great support from the royal family (Princess Stephanie of Monaco as president of MCICF), MCICF is reputed as “Olympiad of Circus” by professionals in circus and its prime prize “Golden Clown” as “Oscar Award of Circus” as well. Ever since 1981 when China participated in MCICF for the first time, altogether 14 Golden Clowns have been achieved among the total 41 sessions of this annual festival. As the year 2016 coincided with the 40thanniversary of MCICF, all the golden prize-winning programs of previous sessions from all over the world witnessed a reunion. 39 programs from 17 countries such as China, Brazil, Ethiopia, France, USA, Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Canada and Uzbekistan presented a geographic coverage of five continents and involved aerial acts, ground acts, animal acts, comic acts and magic, among which there were lots of outstanding programs as prize winners in MCICF and other international circus festivals.

At the invitation of the organizing committee of MCICF, China Acrobats Association (CAA) recommended two wonderful programs from Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Acrobatic Troupe (XPCCAT) to the competition and show of this session of MCICF. During the competition and performance of MCICF, the program Swanmen—Human Pyramids adopted lyric and melodious arrangement in music and integrated some elements of dance into such human stacking of high difficulty as group hand balance in triangle, ground hand balance, ground hand balance as decorated arch and trio hand balance with single arm. In every and each performance and competition, this program would invariably win the unanimous recognition and applauses in standing from royal members, jury, guests and audiences in Monaco. The other program Lasso demonstrated a group of lively youngsters who held lassos in hand and painted a beautiful outline with such techniqueas rolling lasso, fancy lasso and double erects lassos. Their adorable images of sunshine, self-confidence and perseverance won heartfelt cheers of the entire audience. Finally, both programs of excellent artistry won Silver Clown prize, and Prince Albert II of Monaco, who attended the opening ceremony and award evening, conferred the performers from XPCCAT with precious prize.

全体获奖选手与评委、嘉宾合影Group Photo of Award Winners, Jury and Distinguished Guests

From January 26 till 29, the 38thTWCF took place in the Phoenix Circus at Paris, France. Initiated in 1977, TWCF has witnessed its 38 sessions so far as an annual festival. From the year 1981, China has participated in TWCF for 35 years in succession and is commonly recognized as the main winner country by international circus community. Ever since 2011, CAA has recommended some selected acrobatic programs as China’s representative and won excellent achievement consecutively. For this latest session, 24 outstanding programs from 22 countries including France, Switzerland, Argentina, China, UK, Germany and Iran made a geographic coverage of four continents and involved such categories as aerial acts, ground acts and comic acts. Among this essenceof New Circus art, plenty of programs had won prizes in other international circus festivals.

As CAA recommended, two excellent programs Icarians & Headstand and Antipodism from Zhejiang Folk Art & Acrobatics General Troupe (ZFAAGT) participated in the latest session of TWCF. Since TWCF stresses on innovation, an all-round innovation was implemented in the respects of structure, technique, music, costume and props of both participant programs so that unique technique of high difficulty as well as profound deposit of Chinese culture were fully illustrated. In particular, the program Icarians & Headstand drew its plot from the folkloric legend White Snake Lady, introduced oil paper umbrella, intangible cultural heritage of China, as leading props and adopted original accompaniment as well as contemporary make-up of Peking Opera elements. Six umbrellas and one fan were thrown and juggled on actors’shoulders and tops of their heads, and such a breakthrough in both technique difficulty and traditional cultural essence of distinct locality won spontaneous acclamation and applause from the organizing committee, jury and whole audience of TWCF and became the silver prize winner among other programs.

From February 4 till 5, the 6thNGCCYA was held in the Principality of Monaco. Initiated in 2012, NGCCYA is the second international circus festival created by the royal family members from Monaco (Its president is Princess Pauline Ducruet, daughter of Princess Stephanie of Monaco who is president of MCICF) in order to provide a platform for the most excellent young acrobats in the world to showcase their talents. This annual circus festival has witnessed success of 6 sessions so far. NGCCYA has gathered excellent artists in acrobatics, circus and magic from all over the world and demonstrated advanced skills in competition. Ever since 2012, China has participated into NGCCYA and achieved outstanding scores on many occasions and for the first time, won golden prize in the 4thsession in 2015. For the current session, 19 teenager and youngster programs of excellent quality from 11 countries such as Monaco, Germany, France, Russia, China, Chile and Switzerland were invited, including aerial acts, ground acts, animal acts and comic acts. As CAA recommended, the excellent program of Barre Russe Holding by Class of Xinjiang, Shanghai Circus School (SCS) participated in this NGCCYA. This program is originally choreographed by SCS and involved trainees from Xinjiang Acrobatic Troupe under the sponsored training of SCS. Barre Russe has its source back to Russia and becomes the repertoire in the international circus thanks to its high demand of technique, great difficulty and strong sense of appreciation. As all the trainees from Xinjiang can sing and dance in a perfect way, this program was specially equipped with the musical accompaniment as well as national costume of distinct feature in Xinjiang ethnic groups to highlight the theme of “Eagles in the Snow-capped Mountain”, which was proved to be a good choice in the performance. During the competition, four youngsters of Uygur ethnic group, though for the first time in the international arena, presented a graceful and unrestrained performance and fulfilled a series of skills of high difficulty such as two “duo double somersaults”, three “1080 degree somersaults with twists” and one “triple full-back somersault”. In the two competitions and award performance, before actors responded to the curtain call at the end of their performance, Princess Stephanie and Princess Pauline Ducret would invariably lead the jury, distinguished guests and all the audiences to applaud while standing for quite a long time, which became an exclusive award during this session of NGCCYA. With a stable presentation and excellent performance, this program won the only golden prize as it fully deserved this honor, and it was the second time that Chinese program had won the golden prize in NGCCYA. Both honorable Princesses jointly conferred the prize to the winners from Class of Xinjiang, SCS at the award ceremony.

Adherence to Innovation is Core Source of Prize Achievement

Ever since 1981, Chinese excellent acrobatic programs have participated in the above three international circus festivals for years with numerous awards and prizes. Thus China has become one of the countries who have won most awards. Such success lies in outstanding performance from Chinese actors and actresses as well as the significant influence out of constant active exploration and timely endeavor by Chinese acrobatic circle.

Great support from Ministry of Culture and local governments of all levels has provided powerful safeguard and stimulation for Chinese acrobatic programs to participate in the international circus festivals. All the preparatory parts for international participation from program choreography, preliminary preparation and stimulus system to daily training and talent recruitment mainly rely on the financial support and working guidance from governments of all levels. In an overview of the global circus development, Russia and DPRK, as big power and golden medal dominator in acrobatics, mainly boast on those companies funded by government, which undoubtedly prove to be their national key factors to ensure a stable harvest of golden or silver prize in various circus competitions.

《白蛇传说·蹬伞》剧照 Stage Photo of the Program Icarians & Headstand

The in-depth reform on cultural system with the development approach in adherence to marketization is the constant motivation to present excellent programs for participation, which was testified through those typical programs in the three festivals. The two programs by XPCCAT had completed two months’ commercial performance tour in Germany soon before their participation in MCICF and would continue their commercial tour in Switzerland only one month after MCICF. As to the two programs by ZFAAGT, they had experienced years of commercial tour in Europe and thus achieved familiarity in the eyes of those European agents of performance. All those excellent Chinese acrobatic programs have achieved recognition from local audience and experience in the international market, and fulfilled unceasing improvement in accordance with the marketing requirement. In this sense, their outstanding score in the top circus arena in the world is a natural result.

More importantly, adherence to innovation is the core source of constant excellent programs in Chinese acrobatics. No matter in MCICF with emphasis on technique or in TWCF with advocacy in innovation, those conservative programs without innovation would eventually lose their charm and get eliminated by the tide of time. Though the program Swanmen—Human Pyramids by XPCCAT and the two programs Icarians & Headstand and Antipodism by ZFAAGT had participated in many circus competitions and acrobatic performances, a brand new theme, art expression and breakthrough on technique difficulty were presented in this year’s sessions, which gave European audience a refreshing surprise. As to the program Holding by Class of Xinjiang of SCS, the complete originality was fully demonstrated in acts, techniques and artistic expression on theme, which showed a totally different artistry from the traditional Barre Russe. In the course of innovation, the unique element of Chinese culture was integrated into the acrobatic technique and art expressions, which gained recognition from jury and audiences. In the three international circus festivals of this year, jury not only admired the high difficulty of Chinese programs but also amazed at their music, costume and art design.

Besides, school education has played an increasingly important role in fostering excellent acrobatic talents and creating wonderful acrobatic programs. Different from the traditional system of fostering actors in acrobatics, the excellent Chinese acrobatic program in NGCCYA this year was the outcome of fulltime Class of Xinjiang of SCS. As pupils of SCS for seven years, the four actors in this program have undertaken general knowledge classes as well as daily acrobatic training. School education has not only brought them from a group of kids who have no ideas about acrobatics at all into excellent young acrobats, but also greatly enhanced their cultural temperament and learning capability. As SCS offers such courses as music and dance to better pupils’ artistic sense, its pupils, capable of elegant gestures of dance in addition to acrobatic skills of high difficulty, succeeded in sufficient presentation of amazingly beauty in Chinese acrobatic programs.