Bath center lifestyle of the '70s inspires choreographer's latest work
"Grandpa and Huntang"
A huntang (浑堂), a traditional Shanghai bath center rarely seen today, was possibly the first place where a child born in Shanghai in the 1970s could be introduced to an adult society, according to Gu Fengqing, a senior choreographer and deputy curator of Songjiang Culture Center.
Gu, born in the early 1970s, moved with his parents at age 4 to downtown Songjiang. At the time it had Shanghai-style shikumen architecture, tile-roofed, gray-brick houses, book stands that loaned comics and alleyways scattered with deck chairs on which elders would rest and use palm-leaf fans to keep cool.
"I would follow my grandpa to a huntang in Songjiang. Living in houses with no heating or air conditioning in winter, residents of Shanghai at the time were fond of taking a bath in a warm huntang. They bought a ticket in the morning or at noon and were allowed to stay until nightfall," said Gu.
"A huntang was like a small adult society with people from all walks of life. When they finished bathing and climbed out of a huge tub, they turned on a radio to listen to storytelling, or gathered in twos and threes to play Chinese chess or chitchat about a particular TV program that was being broadcast on a black-and-white TV."
The young Gu was impressed by the waiters in the huntang. They were able to expertly fling hot towels to customers and quickly and accurately fetch with a hanging fork a customer's clothes from lines across the ceiling.
"The bath center served tea and dim sum. I ran back and forth amid the misty room, like in ecstasy," Gu recalled.
As dusk fell, the bath water in the tub grew murky, having hosted customers through an entire day. And the people, having "been in a hatching position like a hen" in the water for as long they wished, felt relaxed and energetic once again.
"Grandpa and Huntang"
Adapting culture onto the stage
"As a choreographer, I delve into themes that appeal to me emotionally and usually my creations come out naturally," said Gu. "I am deeply attached to Shanghai tradition and culture. That's the root of my work."
Over several decades, the choreographer has directed dance performances relating to traditional Chinese comic books, Nanxiang steamed buns and a shadow puppet intangible cultural inheritor, among others.
"Nanxiang Steamed Buns"
"Cake and Fried Dough Sticks"
"Grandpa and Huntang," a dance choreographed by Gu, narrates a story of filial piety that happens in a huntang.
"A grandpa takes a grandson to a bath in a huntang when the child is young; when he grows up, the grandson shows his filial piety by massaging and washing the feet of his grandpa," said Gu.
The dance won the 17th Chinese Culture and Art Government Award in 2016, a prize from the mass culture and art category, and has recently won support from China National Art Fund to encourage its improvement.
"To instil Shanghai flavor into the performance, the opening song comes from a popular Shanghai comic radio play of the 1980s, and we use pingtan music (traditional Suzhou storytelling and ballad singing) as a prelude or interlude," Gu said.
"The props and costumes are all reminiscent of the age. The chaise lounges, where dancers lie in a topsy-turvy manner to portray all aspects of a bathhouse society, are covered with blue-and-white striped cloths.
"We bought an old Jiefang Daily newspaper and a radio from online stores, which dancers pose to read or listen to and tap. A radio at that time became dysfunctional occasionally and you had to give it a wake-up pat.
"Dancers jump and play sport to portray the growth of the grandson and all of a sudden, with a montage feature, the old grandpa appears, and the audience becomes aware of the filial piety theme behind the huntang setting."
Its creation is bold and appealing to ordinary people. Gu's dancers came from all walks of society: culture center staff, community workers, retirees from government-financed troupes, factory workers and village Party secretary. All used the opportunity to sustain their passion for dancing.
"With the government support fund, we will improve our program on one hand, and on the other we'll arrange more performances in villages, towns and subdistricts to benefit more grassroots audiences," said Gu.
"The Shanghai Lass of the Moon Crescent Spring Lake"
Art keeping up with the times
In addition to culture-themed dances, the district is also hosting more dance performances in contemporary style.
"The Shanghai Lass of the Moon Crescent Spring Lake," another work by Gu, narrates the story of Fan Jinshi, a Shanghai native who worked as an archaeologist for 50 years preserving ancient murals at Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province.
More works include "The Stage Installers," about the devotion of cultural workers, and "A Life Boundary Tablet" about a Songjiang-Yunnan poverty-relief program and a Wa ethnic minority elder who safeguarded the Chinese border for his entire life.
"The Stage Installers"
"A Life Boundary Tablet"
Both have been selected to be staged in the 2022 China Art Festival in Hebei and Beijing in September.
With decades of experience in dance art creation and promotion, Gu still remembers the days when he was a military art troupe solider in his late teens.
"When the girls were rehearsing, the boys usually went out to have fun. But I chose to stay and watch how my teacher did the choreographing. A choreographer creates things and that fascinated me.
"And I would use video to record dance programs from TV and watch them repeatedly."
That was before he pursued a dancing degree at Shanghai Theater Academy. After that, he worked at the district's culture center for many decades.
Gu Fengqing during a rehearsal
