英歌，又稱“鷹歌”、“鸚哥”、“唱英歌”或“秧歌”，是一種融舞蹈、南拳套路、戲曲演技于一體的民間廣場舞蹈，表演氣勢豪壯，氣氛濃烈，流傳于廣東、福建等地，由男子表演，有歌頌英雄的含義。

據(jù)說，英歌最為正宗的發(fā)源地在廣東的普寧，相傳已有三百多年的歷史了。前不久，筆者慕名專程來到了廣東普寧，一睹其真容，時到今日那震撼人心的英歌舞還在我的腦海里舞動著呢，久久不能忘卻。

英歌在普寧被認(rèn)為是揚正壓邪、吉祥平安的象征，深受群眾喜愛和推崇，具有廣泛的群眾基礎(chǔ)和社會基礎(chǔ)。普寧英歌起源于人民群眾勞動之余喜習(xí)武，借以消除疲勞、健身壯體，后又在習(xí)武的基礎(chǔ)上，根據(jù)宋朝梁山泊英雄攻打大名府的故事創(chuàng)編了“唱英歌”，后代代相傳，發(fā)展為南方漢民族優(yōu)秀民間傳統(tǒng)秧歌舞蹈形式。

在潮汕傳統(tǒng)民俗里，英歌具有驅(qū)鬼逐疫、鼓舞士氣、震懾敵人之說，而以其中“驅(qū)鬼逐疫”尤為突出。有研究英歌的學(xué)者認(rèn)為這是古代儺舞的遺存。英歌演員配合舞蹈動作發(fā)出的叫聲，尖厲有力，勝似猛獸發(fā)出的吼叫，以此達(dá)到驅(qū)鬼逐疫的目的。每次活動中，也總以英歌為先鋒隊伍，伴隨其動作吼叫，甚為震撼！

普寧英歌是一種壯美陽剛的漢族男性群體舞蹈，表演者勾畫風(fēng)格獨特的臉譜，按梁山泊英雄形象造型，著武士服，緊身短打，手執(zhí)特制雙短棒叩擊起舞，并配以鑼鼓、螺號節(jié)奏。表演時隊列圖形變化豐富，有“雙龍出?！薄懊突⑾律健薄胞溗牖ā薄疤锫萑Α钡葮邮剑瑒幼魈资揭辔寤ò碎T，有“布田”“洗街”“旋槌”“槌花”等形態(tài)各異的舞姿動態(tài)，形成特有的動律，場面恢宏，氣勢磅礴。普寧英歌表演風(fēng)格威猛、雄渾、粗獷、豪邁，體現(xiàn)了中華民族果敢、堅強(qiáng)、團(tuán)結(jié)戰(zhàn)斗、勇往直前的可貴品格和精神風(fēng)貌。

在普寧期間，我了解到英歌原是邊唱邊舞，故名“唱英歌”。一老藝人向我介紹說，由于舞蹈節(jié)奏強(qiáng)烈，要唱又要跳，因而這“唱”的部分也就逐漸被棄，為當(dāng)?shù)靥赜械蔫尮乃?，沿襲至今。鑼鼓節(jié)奏既簡單又熱烈，為增添氣氛，還在音響上加進(jìn)螺號，使鑼鼓節(jié)奏更為快速，鮮明、熱烈、雄壯，伴著有力的動作，更顯得氣勢磅礴。

英歌的表演形式，全班分為前部分、中間部分、后部分。前部分是唱英雄，它是全班的主要部分。表演道具為短棒和小鼓，鼓旁有弓，可以單手持拿。表演人數(shù)大體為16～24人，也有增至32或36人，最多可至108人。中間部分是化裝拉弦唱戲，節(jié)目有《洗佛》《牽豬 》《拖車》《拋網(wǎng)》《雙搖櫓》《桃花過渡》等，其節(jié)目可視隊伍人數(shù)而增刪，但節(jié)目不能少于三個。后部分為“打布馬”。由一身穿清朝服飾，頭戴紅纓帽、掛上鼻須、手執(zhí)雙锏、腰裝一頭布馬像騎馬姿態(tài)的“老爹”與一和尚裝扮、手持長棍者對打。后來還加進(jìn)若干武術(shù)人員作徒手、刀、劍、棍等單打、對打的武術(shù)表演。最后以“老爹”被打敗狼狽逃走，作為英歌整個活動過程的結(jié)尾。

“打布馬”是以本地故事發(fā)展而成的一個藝術(shù)程式，雖與宋朝梁山英雄大鬧大名府的時代背景不符，但根據(jù)梁山英雄喬裝進(jìn)城這一情節(jié)巧妙地連接起來，并把它編入英歌后部分，使英歌的整個活動更加完善。

英歌目前在普寧為群眾所喜聞樂見，基本上村村有英歌隊，實力較強(qiáng)、水平較高的就有160支，僅泥溝村就有6支英歌隊。

普寧英歌藝術(shù)的杰出的傳承人、泥溝英歌總教練張伯琪時刻關(guān)心普寧英歌的發(fā)展，經(jīng)常創(chuàng)新改編英歌舞的表演形式，豐富充實英歌舞的表演內(nèi)容，同時還打破了“傳內(nèi)不傳外、傳男不傳女”的束縛，并建立了不少“女子英歌隊”和“少年英歌隊”，給這一廣東傳統(tǒng)的民間藝術(shù)奇葩更增添了無限情趣。每逢佳節(jié)、喜慶日子，村村少不了英歌這一活動項目，英歌鑼鼓響遍城鎮(zhèn)村寨，英歌所到之處，村民聞聲而至，扶老攜幼，圍得水泄不通，整齊的踏步聲、扣棒聲、鑼鼓聲、喝叫聲，聲聲催人急，觀者的歡呼喝彩聲把熱烈場面推向高潮。

普寧英歌突出的精神價值、社會價值、藝術(shù)價值得到有關(guān)專家的重視，在民間還獲得了“北有安塞腰鼓，南有普寧英歌”的美譽。普寧也因此被評為“廣東省英歌文化藝術(shù)之鄉(xiāng)”，普寧英歌被列入第一批國家級非物質(zhì)文化遺產(chǎn)名錄加以重點保護(hù)。

Yingko Dance in Guangdong Province

By Liang Zi

It is said that Yingko dance， a rural folk dance popular in Guangdong and Fujian provinces， is just another variation on Yangko， an extremely popular rural folk dance in northern China. The similarity in the names does not mean the two are actually like each other. Yingko dance in Guangdong and Fujian provinces is a fascinating mix of dance， southern kongfu and theater performance. Moreover， Yingko dance is traditionally performed by a team of men.

It is said that the Yingko tradition in the south goes back to about 300 years ago and originated in Puning， a rural area of Guangdong Province. It started as a kongfu practice in villages. Something quite dramatic was added to the sequence of kongfu movements: a story that relates how outlaws of the marshes in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) besieged a city. The dance gradually evolved from one generation of dancers to another and absorbed local folk arts. In rural areas， the dance was developed and staged during festivals mainly for exorcising ghosts and plagues， deterring invaders and encouraging soldiers. In particular， the dance was designed to exorcise ghosts and plagues. The dancers screamed like ferocious animals to scare evils and ghosts. Yingko dancers are usually the vanguards of rural parades.

In a typical Yingko dance， dancers are dressed like the outlaws in the legend of the Song Dynasty. Every dancer has two specially made short sticks in the hands and each has a drum. As they dance， they change the formation in various ways. They not only have special formations but also special movements with the sticks. The team dance features power， vigor， ferocity， unity， and battle spirit. The original form of the Yingko had singing. Performers danced and sang. But singing part was later dropped as dancers thought it too difficult to sing while dancing to such powerful movements.

A complete Yingko performance is like a dramatized story. A team is usually composed of 16 to 24 men. A super large team may have 108 performers. A team is usually divided into three groups: the front group， the central group and the back group. The front group is the major group. With drums， they dance. The central group performs short dramas. Players are all dressed up. The group can put up as many shows as possible and the minimum number is three. The last group stages a kongfu show. It is often called “Battling the Cloth Horse”. A man dressed like a government official of the Qing Dynasty wears a cloth horse around his waist as if he were riding a horse. The government official fights a man that dressed like a monk with a long stick. The battle usually ends with the government official beaten and driven away. Some teams have more complicated kongfu shows.

Different villages feature different styles of Yingko dance. Some display steady steps and stick movements. Some exhibit more exaggerating and dramatic steps and hand movements. Yet some show fancy choreographic work and display more jumping and kicking movements. A village team even shows some slow kongfu fist movements.

Yingko is extremely popular in rural areas of Puning. Every village has at least a team. Some villages have as many as six. A survey shows that， of the hundreds of teams across Puning， 160 are very good. During traditional festivals and celebrations， Yingko teams are a must across villages in Puning. The folk art is on the first list of state intangible cultural heritage.