万玛尖措重建人之初心

万玛尖措重建人之初心

艺术来源于生活又高于生活。

从万玛尖措的个人生活体验与理想追求中，我们不难发现其中影射了他对童年时光的留恋、族群身份的认同、精神信仰的思考。无论是舞台版还是影像版的《香巴拉》，都暗含着对生死轮回的苦苦思索，对香巴拉净土的无限向往。无疑这些都是从滋养他的青海湖畔的那山、那水、那天空，那里每个人心中纯粹而圣洁的理想国而来。

回归的意义，旨在重建人之初心。

《香巴拉》让万玛尖措走向了另一个艺术的高度，尘归尘，土归土。《香巴拉》舞台营造的效果让人们在欣赏的过程中获得静谧与安详的心境，感受内心深处星空般的深邃与美好。

相传香巴拉在历史中是存在于北印度到克什米尔、喜马拉雅山附近的一个国家。当古印度的释迦佛成佛后，受香巴拉国王的邀请去宣讲佛法。后来，据说这个国家因为都修学密法而成为一个隐藏起来且众生所看不到的净土世界。这里的人都彩虹光身，丰衣足食，具足诸多的快乐。这个神话里的国度从此成为了信众向往的佛国净土，千百年来引人发愿往生奔赴香巴拉。

万玛尖措“梦想一日回归山野，砍柴、种田、喂马、放牧，无限欢喜”。万玛尖措是安多藏族人，1979 年出生在青海省海南藏族自治州，青藏高原黄河边的卡里岗村庄。父亲是当地艺术乐团团长，童年生长在艺术气息浓厚的文艺大院以及单纯温馨的家庭。由于国家对少数民族地区教育的相关政策和各种机缘巧合，在 1992 年 9 月，13 岁的他身负父亲的厚望，并且带着对外界的好奇和兴奋，从家乡来到北京求学，十年光阴从民大附中到民大舞蹈学院首届本科生 , 接受了专业的学院派民族舞蹈教育。

万玛本科毕业后的工作经历了多重选择，最终以自由舞蹈创作者的身份运营着“体制外”的民营舞蹈院团，接受着来自市场的各种考验。现如今尽管有一系列头衔诸如万玛舞蹈剧团创始人、艺术总监，美国芝加哥西林艺术中心艺术总监中国文化促进委员会委员、沈阳音乐学院客座教授等等，仍以“一介舞夫”自居，“非家不著名，平静得自在，相信而坚持，且舞且行，无限欢喜”。在这一系列头衔和“明星”光环的背后，除了脚踏实地的步步艰辛和对舞蹈艺术的执着热爱，也暗含着他对自我生存状态的思考以及对本民族文化的认同和归属。

香巴拉最初的文学剧本来自于万玛13岁那年的日记。而日记的内容有感于那一年亲身经历的天葬场景。儿时的他所看到的那种恐怖的、惊悚的、充满血腥味的画面给他带来了莫大的震撼，母亲告诉他，“不要害怕，他们去了香巴拉”。第一次听到“香巴拉”，懵懵懂懂地产生好奇，引发他追寻“我是谁、从哪里来”等生命终极答案。于是在多年沉淀下，总结童年的回忆、族群身份的认同与反思，在这部舞剧中重点探索了藏传佛教生死轮回的思考。

作为藏族，万玛了解西藏的文学、宗教、风俗、习俗等，对其具有深厚情感，立志继承民族文化。当然，他也很欢迎其他民族关注、爱好、学习及融入藏族文化。而藏族文化中，最重要的就是信仰部分；没有藏传佛教，就没有西藏文化。

作为佛教徒，万玛尖措认为，人们看到出生就欢喜，看到死亡就悲哀、恐惧，但佛教看生既非起点，死也不是终点，未成佛前一直都要轮回。所以我们应该放下对此生的执着，节制欲望，保持心境平和。他个人认为，物质和精神两种追求应该平衡，只偏重其中一者，都会产生问题。香巴拉正是物质与精神的支点。那里既有优美的环境，也有心灵的修持，两个层面可以和谐共生。

WANMA JIANCUO THE REDISCOVERY OF THE ORIGINAL BEING

Art comes from life, and goes beyond it. Dancer Wanma Jiancuo’s performance in the musical Shambhala tells much more than human’s sheer yearning for paradise - it also conveys the artist’s understanding of the cycle of birth and death. Beneath his performance, lies Wanma Jiancuo’s childhood memory, his recognition of his identify and his spiritual belief.

Text by Yang Yin Translation by Madeline Weng, Shi Yu Photos Provided by Wanma Jiancuo

Shambhala allows Wanma Jiancuo to go to a place in art unattainable for most people. Whilst watching Shambhala, viewers are able to fully enjoy the tranquility and peaceful feeling brought by the show.

“Shambhala” is a transliteration from Tibetan. It is also translated as “Shangri-La”, meaning“paradise”. Legend has it that there was once a kingdom seated among north India, Kashmir, and the Himalayas. When Sakyamuni from the ancient India became a Buddha, he was invited to preach in Shambhala. After his sermon, the entire kingdom began to practice this mysterious magic, and thus became an unseen pure land, in which everyone wears a rainbow and lives in an abundance of happiness. This legendary kingdom later became the most sought after paradise for believers who wished for a next-life in Shambhala.

It is also Wanma Jiancuo's dream, to be able to return to nature, and indulge himself in the simple pleasures such as farming and feeding horses.

Born in 1979, Wanma Jiancuo is an Anduo Tibetan from a village in Qinghai, which is located by the Yellow River that flows through the Tibetan Plateau. With his father as the leader of the local Orchestra band, Wanma grew up in an artistic atmosphere. In 1992, the 13-year-old boy left his hometown to pursue an education in Beijing. Ten years flew by, and Wanma graduated as one of the first students from Central University of Nationalities. All the hard training he had during those ten years later proved to be beneficial to his dancing career.

Wanma was faced with many choices when he first graduated. However, he chose to become an individual dancer in a private dance company instead of accepting the arranged position in the system. He felt it necessary to go through the tests of the market.

Although he has been given numerous titles such as “Art Director and Founder of Beijing City Shepherd Studio”, “Professor of Shenyang Conservatory of Music”, Wanma still prefers to simply call himself a dancer. He said∶ “I believe in modesty and a peace of mind, instead of titles and honour. Dancing itself gives me infinite joy.”

The original script of Shambhala came from Wanma's dairy. When he was 13 years old, he wrote about his first experience in witnessing a celestial burial.The striking image and the bloody smell shocked him greatly. His mother, however, whispered in his ear∶ “Don't be scared, my child. They have gone to Shambhala.” Hearing this word for the first time, Wanma could not fully understand what it meant; yet he was curious and interested. Young as he was, he started to ask himself questions like “who am I?” and“where do I come from?”

Through years of pursuing the philosophy of life, he came up with the dance drama Shambhala, which combines both his reflection of his childhood and his understanding of his identity.

As a Tibetan, Wanma understands Tibetan culture. He has deep feelings for Tibet, and has set his mind to inherit their valuable culture. He believes that the most essential part for Tibetan culture is the religion. “There would not be Tibetan culture if there hadn't been Tibetan Buddhism.”

As a devoted follower, Wanma Jiancuo believes that birth is not the beginning and neither is death the end. Instead, everything will forever exist in a circle, until one becomes the Buddha. Therefore, he says, we should put down the persistence on this life, try to control our desires, and maintain a peace of mind.

“There must be a balance between the spiritual and material. An inclination towards either side would bring out problem,” he said, “and Shambhala is this pivotal point. It is where these two layers of our life can coexist harmoniously.”

Wanma Jiancuo, Tibetan, choreographed Hot Drum, Passionate Dance, the Best Choreography Award winner by the Canadian Arts Festival Commission Running Away wins the Gold Medal for Creation in the National Dance Competition

Silent Marnyi Stone wins the Gold Award at Seoul International Dance Competition

万玛尖措，藏族，创作舞台剧《热鼓热舞》并获得加拿大艺术节委员会最佳编舞奖舞蹈《出走》荣获全国舞蹈大赛创作金奖。

舞蹈《静静的玛尼石》获得韩国国际舞蹈大赛金奖

N=NIHAO

W = WANMA JIANCUO

N: As a Tibetan dancer, how did you develop under different cultural backgrounds?

W: Inspired by Pina Bausch, German modern dance master, I started to do dance theatre. Based on her concept of “Tanzetheater”, meaning “dance theatre”, I combined these utterly powerful aesthetics of body with my own ideology. What I expect is not for the traditional dance drama to unfolded chapter by chapter, but a highly integrated theatre performance. My principle is cultural identity of ethnicity, and my source is the Tibetan culture, including music, dance and religion. So wherever I present my performance, the cultural recognition given by Tibetan audiences will always be the final factor weighing whether it is a success or not.

N: As an artist, how do you evaluate the relation between artistic creation and the popular demand?

W: Let's take Shambhala as example. Tibet is my hometown. What's the difference between the hometown in my understanding and Tibet in most people's understanding?

Most people fancy the mystery of an exotic land, whilst I live my life there, for real. It's in my eyes and it's in my mind. I want to express a theme, and this quiet and exotic way cannot express the legends that I've seen in Tibet. What I need is a roar, either at the top of my voice or as pensive as can be, to set up a bridge between “life” and“death” and this will be closer to the real life. So in the performance of Shambhala we can see a heavily-loaded body walking slowly, we can see breath gets softened in the sound of the Tibetan bell, and we can also see the power that can reach for the top of the sky and the bottom beneath the ground.

N: Let's talk about the theatrical interpretation of Shambhala.

W: Newly interpreted with modern dance and live performance art, Shambhala absorbes elements from traditional Tibetan dances. The source of the interpretation is from the daily life of the Tibetan people. For example, how Tibetan pilgrims join their hands together devoutly and creep on the ground is presented in this way∶ touch the forehead, jaw, and chest softly with the forefinger of the right hand; and then take a deep breath; and finally kneel. They are all simple movements, quiet and slow though, the emotion will be fully expressed at every moment the actor touches the ground.

The figure of Buddha appears several times during the drama. The dancers' gestures sometimes look like the figure of Buddha dancing, creating a strong sense of motion. And also I flexibly use the props, giving them more symbolisations. No direct narrations, through moments of dead space, the form of the prop leaves the audience more space for thinking.

N：作为藏族舞者，你在不同的文化背景下是如何成长的？

W：我做舞蹈剧场是因为受到了德国现代舞大师皮娜·鲍什的影响。借用她开创的“舞蹈剧场”的概念，将这种“摧枯拉朽”的崭新肢体美学融入到自己创作的理念中。我所期待的不是传统的情节性分章分节的舞剧形式，而是一种手段高度综合的剧场演出形式。族群文化认同是我的创作原则。藏族文化，包括音乐、舞蹈和宗教信仰是我艺术创作的根基。所以无论我将作品带到世界何地，藏族观众的文化认同都会是我衡量这部作品是否成功的最终考量。

N：作为艺术家，你如何看待艺术创作与大众心理需求间的关系？

W：举《香巴拉》为例。西藏是我的故乡，我所理解的故乡和大众所理解的西藏究竟存在何种差异？大众需要异域神秘，而我的故乡是生活，可能只在眼神中、在心中。对于我表达的题材，这种安静的表达方式不是我们所看到的西藏“传奇故事”，需要声嘶力竭或是故作深沉地摇旗呐喊，而在“生”与“死”之间架起了桥梁，更接近一种十分真实的生活状态。所以我们看到了背着沉重行囊俯身缓慢行走的身体，看到了在法铃声中软化的呼吸，看到了手触天空脚陷大地的张力。

N：请你谈一谈《香巴拉》的舞台语言。

W：《香巴拉》融合了西藏弦子舞、金刚舞等传统藏族舞蹈的元素，以现代舞和现场行为艺术的方式进行了全新演绎。舞蹈的代表性语言素材正是源于日常生活絮语，朝圣者双手合十俯地前行——用舞台语言呈现则是“右手食指轻触额头、下巴、心口，再呼吸含胸沉膝”，动作极简，平静而缓慢，情感却凝结在与大地亲密接触的每一个瞬间。

舞剧中多次出现藏传佛教中佛像的造型：赤足拧腰，莲花手五位摊开，身体前倾，右腿曲起、左腿独立，头尖略微倾斜，目视左前方。似是呈舞蹈姿势的智行佛母立像，营造出强烈的动感。我对于道具的运用是很灵活的，有很多象征性意味的言说。它并不固定直白地叙说，而是赋予道具以形式感，通过留白将更多的思考空间留给观众。