馬黎?楊琳惜
今天夏天,16歲的邢邑青出了溫州蒼南火車站后,又坐了一個(gè)半小時(shí)汽車才到達(dá)泰順,再經(jīng)過蜿蜒的山道,來到翁山社區(qū)梨垟村。
層巒疊嶂,綠樹成陰,他站在聽得到鳥鳴、推窗就是群山的“翁山書院”講臺(tái)上,看著眼前的同齡人,感覺像一場(chǎng)夢(mèng)一樣。
幾天前,他還在美國,剛剛在南加州大學(xué)完成了為期一個(gè)月的夏季表演課程,和同學(xué)排練了莎士比亞的戲劇《仲夏夜之夢(mèng)》。沒想到,幾天之后,他回到家鄉(xiāng)浙江,竟能為大山里20多個(gè)孩子,排一出他寫的戲,還是用英語演的,叫《等明天》。
爸爸邢岷山和媽媽鈕曉晴坐在教室的最后排。邢岷山是著名的昆劇演員,后來又演影視劇,最近的作品是在《瑯琊榜2》里飾演段桐舟。
下一堂課,輪到他的外公鈕驃——著名的戲曲評(píng)論家、教授,和外婆沈世華——昆劇藝術(shù)教育史上第一位女教授,去年77歲了還在臺(tái)上演《牡丹亭》里的杜麗娘。兩位加起來已經(jīng)164歲的藝術(shù)家為孩子們帶來《20世紀(jì)昆曲前世今生》的講座。
這個(gè)藝術(shù)世家,五口,三代人,連續(xù)兩年暑假,都會(huì)來到這個(gè)地處深山的地方,支教。
邢岷山的朋友——畢業(yè)于中國美術(shù)學(xué)院國畫系與雕塑系的翁志丹、曾齊寶,都是地道的泰順人,從小受宗族鄉(xiāng)賢照拂。2016年冬,他們?cè)诩亦l(xiāng)建立翁山書院。每逢寒暑假,請(qǐng)來中國美院的老師、文藝界的學(xué)者專家,為泰順的孩子免費(fèi)開設(shè)書法、繪畫、國學(xué)等課程。
去年暑假,邢邑青就跟著家人來了。孩子們對(duì)這個(gè)人高馬大、風(fēng)趣幽默的哥哥很是親切,知道他從美國來,更是好奇,一下課就圍著他問東問西。來上課的孩子們跟他同齡,但大多數(shù)人去過的最遠(yuǎn)的地方只是最近的瑞安,連溫州市區(qū)都沒去過。
所以今年一到書院,邢邑青先做了一個(gè)小講座,題目是《中美教育環(huán)境的差異》。他主講,家屬們配合。
剛到翁山的第一天,崎嶇不平的山路讓外婆沈世華扭傷了腳,她忍著疼為孩子們表演了昆劇《牡丹亭·游園》片段?!巴馄叛萘艘惠呑佣披惸?,這還是她第一次一腳穿著拖鞋、一腳穿著球鞋演完她的《牡丹亭》?!毙弦厍嘈χf。
他發(fā)現(xiàn),很多孩子都對(duì)表演很有興趣。
“我發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個(gè)有趣的現(xiàn)象:大多數(shù)孩子都有一顆文藝的心。如果你問他理想,得到的答案也許都與藝術(shù)有關(guān)——跳舞、唱歌、畫畫、當(dāng)明星、當(dāng)攝影師……這些美好的愿望不會(huì)因?yàn)樯硖幊鞘?、鄉(xiāng)村而有所不同。只是這里的孩子,沒有機(jī)會(huì)得到優(yōu)質(zhì)的教育?!?邢邑青說。
2011年以前,翁山還是一個(gè)“鄉(xiāng)”,大部分人都出去打工了,很多孩子也就成了留守兒童。
有一次,邢邑青和男孩翁國雍聊天。翁國雍在縣城的寄宿中學(xué)讀書,很獨(dú)立。但聊天時(shí),邢邑青感覺他的神情很緊繃,小動(dòng)作很多,手一直掐著,有一種釋放不出來的緊張。
邢邑青從小學(xué)表演,知道戲劇有療愈作用,這在國外一直被視為戲劇最重要的社會(huì)意義。
他也想在這里試一試,“也給他們打開一扇門,看看外面的世界是怎么樣的。”
第一堂英語表演課,邢邑青用英語說了半小時(shí),結(jié)果一片寂靜。為了讓大家玩起來,他設(shè)計(jì)每堂課一半時(shí)間練習(xí)日??谡Z,一半時(shí)間排演英語舞臺(tái)劇。他帶著孩子們坐在蒲團(tuán)上,讀劇本,做游戲,放松身體,彼此了解。
邢邑青沒有選擇那些莎士比亞的經(jīng)典劇目,覺得離孩子們太遠(yuǎn)。他想起自己正在寫的童話劇《等明天》,講的是一只小猴子的故事,“對(duì),就排這個(gè)。”
男孩翁俊豪和邢邑青同歲,長得特別機(jī)靈,被選中演“男一號(hào)猴子”。得知自己要當(dāng)主角的那天晚上,翁俊豪騎著自行車,沿著山路,到了邢邑青住的地方,聊了4個(gè)小時(shí),交流臺(tái)詞該怎么背,怎么準(zhǔn)確發(fā)音。
有天晚上8點(diǎn)多,邢邑青收到了翁俊豪爸爸發(fā)來的微信,翁爸爸剛從蘇州回老家?!白詮奈炭『廊赫J(rèn)識(shí)老師之后,好像變了個(gè)人,學(xué)習(xí)的欲望特別強(qiáng)烈。我會(huì)讓他好好加油的?!?/p>
“感覺自己影響到了別人的人生,興奮,也有一點(diǎn)壓力?!毙弦厍嘁粋€(gè)晚上沒睡著,“大家都需要成長,包括我自己。孩子在成長的過程中都需要外界的鼓勵(lì),但他們從小獲得的鼓勵(lì)太少了?!?/p>
最后一節(jié)英語表演課,15分鐘的《等明天》謝幕,孩子們嘰嘰喳喳,有的還演哭了,情感完全釋放。
邢邑青很想拍一部紀(jì)錄片,給美國的老師和同學(xué)看看,中國的文化在一個(gè)16歲男孩的眼中是怎樣的。他本來打算記錄一位昆曲武生的日常,但和這些孩子們相處后,他決定記錄這些大山里的孩子,題目就叫《翁山的孩子》。
他把想法告訴了他在美國的兩個(gè)老師,其中一位是美國南加州大學(xué)的電影研究專家駱?biāo)嫉浣淌冢⊿tanley Rosen),他研究中國30余年,非常贊同邢邑青的想法。
邢邑青隨機(jī)找了10個(gè)孩子,這也是他第一次用采訪的方式,與他們溝通。
“這些山里的孩子很淳樸,很快樂,但他們也容易情緒化,生活中遇到的困難或者委屈,因?yàn)楦改覆辉谏磉?,只能憋在心里。?dāng)父母的愛在童年中缺失,終究會(huì)有些遺憾?!?/p>
邢邑青打算把紀(jì)錄片制作剪輯后,放給他在美國的老師同學(xué)們看,“我要讓世界了解中國鄉(xiāng)村的美,了解鄉(xiāng)村的故事。鄉(xiāng)村孩子的教育,也需要更多的人重視?!?/p>
兩次進(jìn)山,邢邑青都被那條蜿蜒曲折的盤山公路繞得七葷八素。但他跟孩子們約定,明年暑假,他一定會(huì)帶著紀(jì)錄片,再進(jìn)翁山。
16-Year-Old Teaches English Performing in Mountain School
By Ma Li, Yang Linxi
This summer, the 16-year-old Xing Yiqing ran an English performing course in Liyang Village in mountains in Taishun County in southern Zhejiang. He reached Cangnan, a county-level city near Wenzhou, by train. Then he took a one-and-half-an-hour bus ride to Taishun before he trekked along a zigzagging path to arrive at the village.
From the classroom at Wengshan Academy in the village, the teenage teacher could see peaks and woods and hear the chirps of birds. All of his students were his teenage contemporaries.
Just a few days before, he had finished a one-month summer performance course at University of Southern California. He and his classmates rehearsed and performed A Midsummer Nights Dream by William Shakespeare. At the village academy, he was going to direct a show titled Wait for Tomorrow in English, a play he wrote.
His father Xing Minshan and his mother Niu Xiaoqing sat at the back of the classroom. The father is a celebrated Kunqu Opera actor who now often appears in television series. The next course was taught by Xing Yiqings maternal grandparents Niu Biao and Shen Shihua. Niu Biao is a theater critic and professor and Shen Shihua is also a professor specialized in Kunqu Opera.
In 2017 and 2018, the five members of the family taught an education course in the mountains of Taishun during the summer break.
Wengshan Academy was set up in the winter of 2016 by Weng Zhidan and Zeng Qibao, two graduates from China Academy of Art based in Hangzhou. They are natives of Taishun. The two invite teachers from China Academy of Art and other cultural institutions to run free courses in calligraphy, painting, and Chinese classics at the village.
Xing Yiqing visited the Wengshan Academy in the summer of 2017. The teenagers at the academy were curious about this tall young teenager who had just returned from America. They asked him a lot of questions about the outside world. Though they were of the same age, most children at the village have seen little of the outside world. Some had visited Ruian, a county-level city about 95 kilometers away. None had visited Wenzhou, the central city in southeastern Zhejiang, which is about 150 kilometers away from Taishun.
Xing Yiqing found that most students at the academy were interested in performance. When asked about their dreams, they gave answers largely in art- and culture-related fields. One wanted to be a dancer, the other wanted to be a singer, some wanted to be artists, one wanted to be a pop star, and one wanted to be a photographer. “These aspirations are universal no matter whether you are in a city or in a village,” commented the 16-year-old Xing Yiqing.
Wengshan was a rural town where many adults are working away from home, with their children left behind in villages. In a chat with Weng Guoyong, who studied at a boarding school in the county capital, Xing Yiqing found Weng was intensely emotional, moving his hands constantly. Xing sensed that there was a pent-up intensity inside Weng waiting to find a way out. Xing Yiqing, a student who began to learn performance from a very young age, knew the signs pretty well. He understands that theater performs a soothing therapeutic function, which is considered the most important role theater plays in a society.
That is exactly why Xing Yiqing wanted to do: open a door for them to take a look at the outside world. Waiting for Tomorrow, a play about a monkey, was perfect for the teenagers at the academy, thought Xing Yiqing.
Weng Junhao, also 16 years old, came to visit Xing Yiqing in the evening after he knew he was picked for playing the role of the monkey. The 16-year-old student and the 16-year-old teacher talked about the play for about four hours.
A few days later, Xing Yiqing received a text message from Weng Junhaos father, who had just returned from Suzhou. The text message was about the positive changes taking place in the son. “Weng Junhao has changed since he met you at the academy. He now has a strong urge to study and learn. I will help him do his best, ” texted the father.
Xing Yiqing was sleepless that night. “It is exciting to know someones life has changed because of me. This, however, also brings pressure on me,” said Xing. “All people need to grow up, including myself. All children need positive feedback when growing up. The children here hardly receive encouragement.”
The 15-minute play was a success. After the performance, the students were excited for a long while, some chatting enthusiastically, some applauding, some even weeping.
In the summer of 2018, Xing Yiqing did more than directing an English play. He also shot a short documentary. He had planned to document a martial art player in a Kunqu Opera Troupe. But seeing the children at the academy, he changed his mind. To get a different documentary, he talked with two of his teachers at the university. One of them was Stanley Rosen, who has studied China for over 30 years and supported Xing Yiqings new idea.
Xing randomly chose ten students at the academy and interviewed them. “They are honest and simple and they can feel happy easily. But they are also emotional. They cant tell anybody about their difficulties and wrongs they encounter since their parents are not at home. There will be a regret resulted from the lack of immediate care and love of their parents in their lives,” commented Xing.
He plans to show the documentary to his teachers and classmates in America after he completes the film. “I hope to let the world see Chinas rural beauty and learn about rural stories. Education in rural areas should get more support,” explained Xing Yiqing.
Xing Yiqing has already made up his mind to come back with the documentary in 2019 to visit Wengshan Academy.