A 63-year-old man, hand-held fish lanterns, sometimes crouching and sometimes jumping up, the hand of the fish lanterns as if into the sea jumping fish, light and flexible. This is January 10 in Sha Tau Kok Return Square held in the "2007 Shagang Spring Festival Cultural Evening" on the scene, the old man's name is Wu Guanqiu, in his efforts, very fishing village characteristics of the traditional dance "fish lantern dance" in Sha Tau Kok can be inherited.
Wu Guanqiu, 63, began to learn the fish lantern dance at the age of 18 under the guidance of the late Zhong Bao, a veteran entertainer, and has played a key role in the inheritance of the fish lantern dance, which is affectionately referred to as the ball uncle. Wu Guanqiu showed the reporter the technique of performing the fish lantern dance, only to see that he has been walking quickly with a low horse stance, carrying heavy fish lanterns or squatting or leaping, the amount of movement is very large. According to the ball uncle, Sha Tau Kok fish lantern dance originated in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, in Yantian District has been circulating more than 300 years of history, for the local fishermen in the New Year festivals, worship God ancestor, celebrate the harvest of the necessary programs.
The ball uncle told reporters that the fish lamp dance comes from the villagers of Shalan scared village fishing daily life, the fish lamps used with bamboo sticks and fabric tied, about 1-2 meters long, modeling and patterns from the sea of different fish, and with the three sections of the "joints", is a vivid folk "! Seabed mobilization": the traditional fish lanterns are lit with candles inside, which are often replaced by electric lamps in modern times, when the fish lanterns are lit, the actors squat into a horse stance and cover their bodies with the fish lanterns, as if the colorful fish swing their tails and swim freely, the beautiful red carps, the witty sandgrouse fish, and the bossy and domineering snakehead horns... ...Han Chinese folk artists use amazing artistic expression to vividly express the fish's emotions of joy, anger, sadness and joy, presenting the underwater world full of vitality on the stage.
Uncle Ball recalled practicing on the beach back when he was learning the art. In the past, fish lanterns were made of paper and easily damaged, so he used broomsticks and straws instead of fish lanterns to practice, and performed the fish lantern dance in a low horse stance, sweating with a sore back until he grasped the charm of the fish lantern dance.
The most unforgettable performance experience for Uncle Ball was the 1959 Foshan District Mass Literary and Artistic Performance, in which more than 30 performers dismantled the heavy fish lanterns, packed them in a large cardboard box, walked over the mountains into the city, and boarded a large truck in Bao'an County (now around the Dongmen area), and won the highest award in the performance - the Award of Excellence - the first grand debut of the fish lantern dance, and also the first time that the fish lantern dance was presented in the city, and the first time that the fish lantern dance was presented in the city. This was the first grand appearance of the lantern dance and the most glorious one in the villagers' collective memories. A representative card for the performance, made of pink cloth, is old after more than 40 years, but is still treasured by Uncle Ball and other old performers.
But the Cultural Revolution interrupted the tradition, and with the deaths of the old performers, the fish lantern dance, which had no musical score or video footage, was nearly lost. 2003, with the support of the cultural departments of Shenzhen and Yantian districts, the village's three surviving performers, Wu Guanqiu, Qiu Huongsheng, and Wu Yajiu, began to teach from memory the musical score, steps, and fish tying techniques associated with the fish lantern dance. Despite the fact that they do not earn any income from performing the fish lantern dance, the old men insist on inheriting and promoting the traditional culture, and cannot let this traditional art be lost in their hands.
The old people's insistence is strongly supported by the residents of Shalanxian Village. Those young people in their twenties, who make a living by driving a car and selling vegetables, work very hard, but they all attach great importance to the rehearsal of the fish lantern dance. Two or three nights a week, these young people have to rehearse from 8 o'clock to 10 o'clock, but after a little rest, they have to drive to Hong Kong to sell vegetables at 2 o'clock in the morning and work until dawn. In the old, young and middle-aged artists *** with the efforts of the 2003 Mid-Autumn Festival, lost for 40 years of the fish lantern dance in the return of the square in Chung Ying Street grand staging, fish lanterns lit in the candle flickering and flickering, gongs and drums joyful and noisy, and even a lot of Hong Kong residents came to watch, and now the fish lantern dance has become an important festival of the residents of the folklore of the Chung Ying Street project. It is understood that "Sha Tau Kok Fish Lantern Dance" has passed the first batch of Guangdong Province Intangible Cultural Heritage List publicity.