Nuo dancing is like a jade in a deep mountain, like a secluded orchid in a canyon. It is simple and peaceful, with a variety of manners, and is known as the "living fossil of ancient dance in China". In 26, Jiangxi Nuo was listed as the first batch of intangible cultural heritage list, and Wanzai Nuo dance occupies an important position in Jiangxi Nuo culture, which has great artistic value for studying the history of Nuo culture, exploring the development of Nuo dance and the formation of Nuo opera.
Wanzai Nuo dance can be divided into two schools: open Nuo dance and closed Nuo dance. Although the performance styles of open Nuo dance and closed Nuo dance are different, they are all dedicated to "General Ouyang Jinjia". Nuo dance teams in Tanbu, Huang Mao, Shuangqiao, Lingdong, Gaocheng and other places are "silent Nuo", while Geng Shebu and Bailiang Fantang at the mouth of the horse stance just look are "open Nuo". Among them, the opening Nuo dance evolved from Nuo dance, which not only retained the artistic characteristics of Nuo dance but also absorbed the elements of ancient opera, and there is a trend of evolution to Nuo opera. It * * * has seven programs, such as "Mountain Opening" and "Guanbao War", and has a simple story. The characters are divided into life, Dan, clean and ugly, and almost every corner must be sung. Singing, reading, doing and playing are complete. The movements are simple and rough, and the characteristics are very distinct. "Bi Dao" is the key program of "opening the mouth". It is neither stylized like drama performance nor different from martial arts. Instead, it gathers the essence of ancient people's daily life, labor operation and other body movements. Through the processing and improvement of artists in past dynasties, it gradually forms a unique style of being strong, dry and tight. Later, "Opening Nuo" gradually developed into "Nuo Opera" and gradually disappeared as a folk form of dancing Nuo.
wearing a mask is an important feature of Nuo dance in Wanzai, and it is also an important means of figure modeling and characterization. A work of art, if it can be pondered for a long time, is exciting, and there must be an internal force accumulated in it. The reason why it touches people's heartstrings is not the imitation of nature or the smear of fantasy, but the spirit lurking in the works. There are twenty-four Nuo masks in Wanzai, carved from camphor wood. Except for the Great Bodhisattva, the other masks are face-sized, and their shapes are different, lifelike, or majestic, or gentle, or fierce, or ridiculous, which has high artistic value.
The basic movements of Wanzai Nuo Dance are relatively simple and simple in Gu Zhuo, but they have strict rules and unique styles. Every movement of Nuo Dancer must follow the principle of "square, round, flat and Nuo". "Square" refers to the movements on the hands that are square and angular, and "circle" refers to circles. In all programs, the circles can only be rotated by half a step, or in the same place, and the upper body must be kept stable. "Flat" means that when the body is twisted, the face must be clear. "Xu" means that no matter which direction you lean, you must keep the rhythm steady.
These unique performance skills have gradually formed the leisurely, solemn, light, free and easy and powerful style characteristics of Nuo dance. According to reports, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the wind of jumping around for thousands of years prevailed. At its peak, there were many Nuo temples, and the earliest existing Nuo temple in Shajiang Bridge in Tanbu Town was built in the early Ming Dynasty. In addition, there are dozens of local Nuo teams active in the countryside and neighboring counties, which have made great contributions to the inheritance of this ancient folk art.