The birth of an actor

Chapter 22 Body Rhythm and Image
"Wow, your identity is a bit complicated, young master. A shamanic disciple, a top student from Renmin University, and you want to be an actor?"

In the time it takes to eat a meal, the old man has gained a good understanding of his two grandchildren.

Fan Bingbing was actually alright; in the old man's eyes, she was just an ordinary girl. But An Xin was a bit more interesting.

Putting aside character and such, just from hearing about the "shamanistic" skills from Fan Bingbing, he knew that this kid in front of him had real talent.

only……

"Alas, what a pity. The Qing Dynasty is over, so you can no longer enter Shanhaiguan. Before, it was fine; if you wanted to enter, you could just get a document from the temple. Now that the Qing Dynasty is gone, you won't recognize the new documents."

"Ah."

Anxin smiled and nodded:
"But there's nothing to regret, it's just feudal superstition. The less, the better~"

The old man, who had already downed two ounces of liquor, responded with considerable appreciation:
"That's true. Being an upright person and doing as few guilty things as possible is better than anything else. But it's still a pity. When I was young, I actually saw someone's dilapidated courtyard encounter some kind of evil spirit, and they invited masters from Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism to perform rituals. There was a great shaman back then, and good heavens, he had such a huge gyrfalcon on his arm... Oh, I was so impressed..."

The old man began to talk about things from the "old society".

As Fan Bing listened, she asked curiously:
What does "破台" mean?

The old man began explaining the rules of the opera troupe's stage, such as how a stage without a broken one was called a "White Tiger Stage," and that something bad would happen if an opera was performed there. As Fan Bing listened, she asked curiously:
"Uncle Ye, between Cheng Dieyi in 'Farewell My Concubine' and Yu Ji in 'Mei Lanfang's', who do you think is more beautiful?"

Anyone in the opera industry would probably be furious at this.

Comparing laymen to experts?

Isn't that insulting?

pity.

The old man only showed a puzzled expression:
"I've never heard of anyone named 'Farewell My Concubine.' Which school of thought are they from?"

"It should be the Mei School. I heard that Zhang Guorong imitated Mr. Mei Lanfang, which is why he played Cheng Dieyi so well."

"?"

The old man became even more dizzy.

He could write each word individually, but when put together... he didn't recognize a single one.

"Grandpa, she's talking about a movie, the one directed by Chen Kaige, 'Farewell My Concubine'."

"Hmm, I haven't seen that. Is the actor in that performance from a traditional Chinese performing arts background?"

"No, he's an actor from Hong Kong."

"That's hopeless."

The old man waved his hand:

“It’s not that I look down on laymen, but you kids have never seen what Mei Lanfang actually looks like on stage. After you’ve seen him… well, let’s just say that when you see someone else perform the same role after he’s played it, you’ll think… how fake it looks.”

The old man's words were full of admiration for Mei Lanfang.

Then he shook his head and sighed:
"And let alone now... I'm afraid that for the next few hundred years, there won't be another Mei Lanfang."

"Why? Is it really that amazing?"

Seeing the girl's curious eyes, the old man knew she didn't understand, so he chuckled and said:
"In today's terms, firstly, his talent was truly exceptional. Let alone the Mei School, his emergence made everyone truly understand what a female role should look like. It's incredibly difficult for later generations to surpass him. Even Xiao Jiu can only achieve about 60% resemblance. Secondly... the performing arts industry has declined, alas."

At this point, he shook his head and sighed, saying no more.

Instead, he poured himself another half glass of wine.

Just as he was pouring the wine, he seemed to suddenly remember something and smiled at Fan Bing:

"Bingbing, do you want to be a good lead actress?"

Fan Bing was taken aback, then nodded subconsciously:
"Of course I want to."

"Ha, you can't do it now."

"Uncle Ye!"

Fan Bingbing immediately became a little anxious.

Even her face turned a little red.

But the old man laughed heartily:
"Haha, you're not convinced, are you?"

Faced with the girl's embarrassment and annoyance, the old man calmly raised his glass:
“You kids these days, especially on TV, many of the young kids can’t even walk properly. Of the four qualities a good actor should have—body, rhythm, meaning, and form—only the body is there; the rest is completely missing. How can someone like that be a good actor?… Bingbing, don’t disbelieve me. Come on, stand up.”

Upon hearing this, the girl, who seemed a little sullen, stood up abruptly.

Seeing her defiant look, the old man chuckled again and said:

"You give me a performance... um, you're a young lady from a wealthy family, just returned from outside, coming in to greet us. Xiao An, you watch closely too, I'll explain why to you both in a bit. After all... we can't just eat your meal for free, can we?"

After he finished speaking playfully, he pointed to the door:
"Go."

"Go and go!"

Fan Bing, unconvinced, walked straight outside into the courtyard and said under the blazing sun:

"A period drama that just came back from outside, you'd better watch it!"

"Ha, just you wait, just you wait."

The old man turned around and looked outside with Anxin, all smiles.

Fan Bing took a deep breath to calm herself before slowly and gracefully walking into the house. Upon entering, she placed her hands on her sides and slightly crouched.
"Dad, Mom, I'm back."

The old man laughed even harder, then turned to An Xin and said:

"what do you think?"

"...That's good."

Anxin was somewhat puzzled.

It's just coming back from outside. What can you tell from just a few steps?
Upon hearing this, the old man looked helpless and beckoned to Fan Bing:

"Come, sit here with me."

With that, he stood up, gave his seat to the girl, and walked out on his own.

He figured it out in the time it takes to eat a meal with those two kids.

They are all pretty good kids.

The boy was honest and straightforward, not cunning at all.

The little girl is competitive, ambitious, and intelligent. But she's also a bit stubborn.

But none of them were bad kids.

Just for these two younger people, and this pot of... truly rare food that he hadn't eaten in fifty or sixty years, he had to give them a few pointers.

So, standing in the courtyard, he said:

"Okay."

After speaking, he slightly raised his hand, as if he were fiddling with the hem of his clothes, and then walked into the house.

But as soon as he moved, the two of them immediately noticed that his gait was different from that of ordinary people.

For a normal person, just walk naturally and go into the house.

But this Mr. Ye is different; the way he walks... is quite interesting.

With toes slightly raised and heels lightly touching the ground, the steps are small and the frequency is very fixed, neither fast nor slow.

And it was precisely this kind of gait, from the moment he took his first step... that completely transformed his previously somewhat hunched posture into a...

dignified!

A dignified young lady from a wealthy family in ancient times.

Along with his previous words, this image instantly entered the minds of An Xin and Fan Bing. And from the moment they became aware of this impression to the moment they wondered why it gave them this feeling, a simple journey was completed.

The old woman did not bow, nor did she exhibit any particularly feminine characteristics.

Even after he entered the house and stopped, he seemed to transform from that dignified young lady into the unassuming, but bright-eyed, old man next door with a strong-looking hairstyle.

Oh right, the old man has quite a big appetite; there's a pile of chicken bones around the edge of his bowl.

Can……

Recalling what had just happened, and seeing the smiling old man in front of me, a strange sense of contradiction suddenly arose.

"So, did you understand?"

"..."

"..."

The two children responded to the old man's question with two pairs of somewhat bewildered eyes.

I understand it, but I don't really understand it.

Do not understand.

but……

"Is it a change in gait? I noticed that."

As reassured, the girl nodded subconsciously. Clearly, she also realized that the pressure was coming from the tires, but she still couldn't figure out how the old Bentley was cornering.

Seeing this, the old man shook his head:

"Sigh, so you two—body, rhythm, intention, form—only focus on the body. The steps I just took are called cloud steps. Have you heard of them?"

Both children shook their heads in unison.

However, An Xin raised her hand:
"I know the 'four-square step'! It's the kind of step that opera singers take."

"Well, not bad, I know a little bit. Official gait... well, it's what you call the square gait. It's... the way men walk. Do you understand? As for women, walking the official gait is considered inappropriate; you only see it in a few plays, like the part in 'Mu Guiying Takes Command' where she goes to war. In ordinary plays, there are cloud steps, shuffling steps, quick steps, circular steps, and heavy steps... I'm telling you this to tell you that I, an old man, haven't seen many modern plays."

But in the few plays I occasionally see, the young men and women, more or less, only have pretty faces. Their bodies are a complete mess. You all probably want to act in period dramas in the future, right? If you don't know how, you won't look good on TV. And on stage, if you're playing Yu Ji, but you stretch your body out, you won't even look like an amateur. You can't become Mei Lanfang then.”

As the old man spoke, he came to the girl's side.

Fan Bingbing quickly made way for the big shot, and after the old man sat down, he said with a smile:

"The layman sees the spectacle, the expert sees the details. Just by looking at the way you two walk, I can tell you're not even in the know yet. Although opera is different from television, look at all the popular TV shows these days. The Four Great Classical Novels—aren't they all based on opera? The things our ancestors left behind aren't necessarily all good. But what's been passed down is definitely not bad. You have to know how. If you don't, you'll never be a head hook in your life."

As he spoke, he happily picked up a peanut, chewed it a few times with a crunching sound, and took a sip of wine.

I feel relieved.

There's a saying that goes, "I'd rather give up a piece of gold than a single spring."

If you've eaten a meal and received a piece of advice, then you're even.

That's enough to explain things.

Unfortunately, he somewhat misjudged the girl sitting across from him's opportunistic nature:

"Grandpa...you're...you're amazing!"

"Haha~"

"Can I learn from you?"

"Uh……"

……

"Hey, do you think I'm walking the right way?"

Anxin, who was washing dishes, turned her head after hearing this and saw the girl's... extremely awkward gait.

"It doesn't look right. Alright, stop learning for now. Bring me the three bowls for drinking soup."

"Oh, good."

The girl turned around and went back into the house. After taking out the remaining dishes and chopsticks, she squatted down in front of the tap and washed the dishes with Anxin.

As she swiped, she said:
"Uncle Ye is really amazing. I was really lucky to come today. And he's such a nice guy..."

"He's really impressive, I've learned a lot. And I just thought about it, and what he said actually makes a lot of sense. Walking really is an art. The square step he demonstrated for us later really gave off that feeling of royalty and high-ranking officials."

"Yeah……"

Fan Bing nodded quickly, thought for a moment, and then lowered her voice:

"Then when do you think would be a good time for me to contact him?"

"Anything is fine... Didn't the old man say that if you want to learn, go find him as soon as possible? But..."

Recalling what happened this morning, Anxin said:

“He gets up very early. This morning I heard him start practicing his voice around 4 or 5 o’clock.”

"so early?"

Fan Bing was stunned.

She feels exhausted every day when she gets up at six o'clock.

Nod in relief:

"Yes, old people need less sleep."

"No, no, no, it's not all about sleeping. In 'Farewell My Concubine,' Cheng Dieyi was also like that when he was a child, he would get up before dawn to practice his skills. And think about it, Master Ye is from the old society, so getting up early to practice his skills has become a habit for him."

As she spoke, she took the bowl full of dish soap from Anxin and turned on the tap to rinse it.

After thinking for a moment, she nodded vigorously:

"Then I'll get up early tomorrow too. And I'll go to bed early tonight!"

"Isn't your home not far away?"

“It’s right behind the Beijing Film Academy. I’ll go back to get my bike fixed in a bit… Could you give me a ride? Once it’s fixed, I can ride it here every morning.”

"it is good."

Anxin readily agreed.

Then the girl asked:

"You're coming with me?"

"Uh……"

Anxin thought about it for a moment and nodded:
"Row."

"hey-hey."

The girl immediately beamed with joy:

"Then it'll be like this: in the morning we'll go find Grandpa Ye to learn together, and then I'll go find work... You can come with me, right? Then when we come back at noon, I'll teach you how to move around, find the camera, and stuff like that. Anyway, you still have two months before school starts, right?"

As she spoke, she began to mutter to herself:

"I need to learn quickly! Uncle Ye said I'm actually quite old. Opera singers all start training from a young age... but I don't think it's too late. He was talking about... body movements, rhythm, and things like that. I'll learn everything, even if I'm not an expert, I'll definitely be better than someone who hasn't learned anything, right? And... don't worry, Director He's 'Princess Pearl' is also an ancient drama. Director He has his eye on us both, we need to work hard together! Aunt Qiong Yao is very popular in Taiwan, maybe we'll become famous overnight, hehehehehe..."

As she spoke, she started giggling.

Both his expression and his eyes were filled with longing and anticipation for the future.

So beautiful.

(End of this chapter)