Street Theatre in Today China ( Part 2): Old days and Performance Art

Note: this is the Part 2 of the post I published on the 3/31/08, Street Theatre in Today China (part 1).

Acrobatics and Street Theatre in 1927 Shanghai


I invite you to observe some spectacles offered on Shanghai streets in 1927. Thanks to the preservation of a German documentary made specifically to show Shanghai’s common daily life in 1927, we can observe scenes of street comic theatre 二贵摔绞 (ergui shuaijiao), acrobatics and martial arts (all of which have been linked to each other throughout the history of Chinese spectacle), and we can also experience one kind of Chinese Opera performed in the open air. We can not forget that Chinese Opera had two lines of performance, one thought for interiors (Tea houses, saloons, theatres and palaces) and another one for exterior spaces (streets, fairs, temporary stages and squares).

These scenes are an example of the life Chinese streets had in last Century’s 1920’s, life completely lost now except on those exceptional moments the government allows.

Shanghai Street Theatre. Ergui shuaijiao. (1927)

Acrobatic Spectacle in Shanghai (1927)




Martial Arts spectacle in Shanghai (1927)



Martial Arts Spectacle in Shanghai (1927)

It is said that a big part of the evolution of Peking Opera (Beijing Opera) during the 19th Century was as open air events; some characteristics of its music, movements and stories had much to do with the requirements of performing on open air stages: attracting the public’s attention in the midst of a multitude during special events. This kind of Chinese opera doesn't exist anymore, at least in important Chinese cities where, today, Chinese Opera is a cultural institution performed always in enclosed spaces, full of depth, elegance, and only accessible to the initiated.

The Street Spectacle in China doesn't have a dramatic structure, it is generally a series of isolated acts of singing, acrobatics or dance. So far (April 2008) I have never seen any street spectacle based on any dramatic structure as (we recognize it) outside China, besides some Chinese Opera special performances in the open air.

Mass events (even those organized by the government or by television producers) are strictly controlled, yet offer an example of one aspect of street theatre evolution. Groups and theatre companies, which had been isolated or independent in the past, have been extinguished and absorbed by cultural institutions and big entertainment enterprises; now, they are part of immense choreographies where multitudes of dancers, actors or martial artists participate. Choreographies where 1000 taijiquan practitioners show their skills on television, where hundreds of children dressed like Shaolin monks perform some amazing routines, or where Chinese ballerinas in a river of movements accompany a famous singer (or just being part of a touristic experience at some important sight).

Street acts with political character are non-existent, and I'm sure the reason for their non-existence is the risk everyone in China could run by trying to produce anything outside the law.

Dashanzi 798


Spectacles have become a "Performance Art"; this artistic manifestation, a cousin of theatre and visual art, has given Beijing a singular way of expressing feelings or some ideas not dangerous to Chinese law views. There is only one place allowed to do "Performance Art", the Cultural Center Complex of Dashanzi 798, the main venue dedicated to Avant-guard culture in China.

A huge space with some useless communist factories (some of them still working), it has been converted into the new Chinese Soho. Dozens of galleries, handcrafts shops, cafés, restaurants and two or three special spaces have become the point of reference in the new artistic wave of the powerful economic China. The special characteristics of those former factory spaces, their squares and alleys, give place to creative events which try to give them new life and try to transform them.

Performance Festival in Dashanzi 798:

In Dashanzi we don't see street theatre, instead we see "performance art events"; there is no dramatic structure but they do keep some aspects of similar street artistic manifestations from the 1960’s, "the happening": improvisation, the idea of a unique act (every performance is different because of many factors, including the public and space), and of course an artistic conceptuality.

Performance Art has become the most serious way of constructing a street spectacle in a Chinese city, even though we are not strictly speaking of a theatrical manifestation. More linked to Visual Arts (painting, sculpture and video) than to Stage Theatre these, they border on it; as a postmodern way of expressing artistic ideas, it shares public and surprise with happenings from the 1960’s, but it doesn't care about dramatic structure, characters or stories. Doing performance art doesn't mean doing theatre. The Gao Brothers are one of the best examples of visual artists doing "performance art" without any knowledge of theatre (or at least it seems to me so); their importance lies in their powerful way of reaching their public with out-of-normal acts or through contexts different from which those acts are usually seen. Aside from some famous Chinese names, most of these performances are created jointly with foreign artists.

Ameret performance in Dashanzi:

Even though we can say that Performance Art is the new choice which substitutes street theatre (if that is possible), it also faces a big challenge. Performance art in China reached its peak between the 1990’s and 2000, and little by little it has become less strong and powerful (1). Since 2005 the number of new style "rebel events" has decreased, and only some not very publicized festivals have had place. No more explosions of fire along the Great Wall or people hanging for hours from their own sculpture as we can saw some years ago. Dashanzi has then become a refuge of all of them.

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Streets are fascinating for the scene creator, they are a space where theatre goes to the scenography, where life is surprised by the fictitious act of the theatre. The Chinese government fears it because of its surprising and liberating way of reaching spectators, and it has been looking to at least control it (if not repress it), almost to its extinction. But hope for its permanence lies in all those experiences of Chinese street spectacle from the past, in the essence of it, in imagination as creator; street spectacle opens our imagination where we don't expect it and that shows us another way of getting our priceless freedom.

(1) Only as a point of reference for the reader, this is what Wikipedia says about Performance Art in China: "Performance art in China has been growing since the 1970s as a response to the very traditional nature of Chinese state-run art schools. It is becoming more and more popular in spite of the fact that it is currently outlawed. In 1999 the importance of contemporary ChineseChinese artists in the Venice Biennale. In recent years many of these artists have made performances specifically for photography or film. Interest in Chinese art has never been higher. art was recognized by the inclusion of 19 contemporary.

Some of the more extreme examples of Chinese performance art have become notorious in the West. In 2000, Zhu Yu, a painter and performance artist from Cheng Du, created a scandal by taking a number of photographs of himself, supposedly, eating a foetus as a protest against state abortions as a means of population control. Peng Yu and Sun Yuan have also worked with human body parts as well as with live animals and are equally notorious. Some younger performance artists who have exhibited widely in the west in 2005-6 are Shu Yang organiser of the Dadao performance art festival in Beijing, Yang Zhichao, famous for having his identity card number branded on his back and Wang Chuyu who went on hunger strike as part of an exhibition called Fuck Off that took place in Shanghai in 2000 in opposition to the Shanghai Biennale.

They acknowledge a debt to older performance artist/ curator Ai Weiwei. Other well known artist are Ma Luming and Zhu Ming.

The 1996 film Frozen (Chinese title: Jidu Hanleng; 极度寒冷) by Chinese director Wang Xiaoshuai, made under the pseudonym Wu Ming, has as its protagonists a group of Chinese performance artists, who are shown engaging in several street performances in the film."

Sumo, One Entire Day of a Ritual and Spectacle in our 21st century.

I had just finished my third day visiting Japan and I already had had one of the most exciting experiences ever, a Sumo Wrestling Tournament at Ryogoku Kokugikan (Ryogoku Sumo Stadium).

Sumo Wrestling is one of the most important sport-spectacles in the world: TV, press and Internet cover every contest and pay and charge for it all over the planet. But Sumo wrestling is also an ancient Japanese ritual which is still alive, deeply alive, thanks to the Japanese idea of tradition and of course thanks to the characteristics of this enormous martial art.

Sumo wrestlers are demigods, they fight to put the universe in order, they dance, they work religiously to be perfect, the biggest, the highest, the strongest, and they are commercial stars. When you see any sumo wrestler you feel small and weak, they must exist because they remember to all us that we are a superior race, because our malleable body (they can become 2 meters-tall and weigh around 120 kilos or more), because we can fight with natural intelligence, it means inside a ritual.

Ritual is part of our unconscious natural science, linked with our corporal roots and impulses, but ritual is also an elaborate game of laws, images, stories only made possible with human intelligence and imagination.

On January 21st 2008, I went to enjoy and to admire an ancient ritual fight, a spectacle and it was a success.

It was the ninth day of competition in this first 2008 tournament, a whole day with opening ceremonies, ritual dances, presentations and of course fighting, spectacular fighting.

I don’t want to write much about it, I experienced this theatrical sport as a spectator, not as a researcher; I’ve tried to analyze the whole program and using it in my future work. I was so impressed by them, by the fighters, those fantastic human bodies using their intelligence to gain a battle, a extremely elaborated ritual battle.

The next paragraphs are copied from the useful brochure (spectator’s manual) the organizers gave us accompanying out tickets, my videos and some comments about what I saw can give a comprehensive idea of my experience that day:

Daily time table for this tournament

8:30 hrs

Doors open

The day begins with the beatings of drums, welcoming fans to the wonderful world of Grand Sumo. You can check the colorful banners with individual wrestler’s names.

8:40 hrs

Preliminary bouts

These are bouts between new sumo trainees yet to be officially ranked.

8:50 hrs

Jonokuchi-Makushita division bouts

The real bouts begin from jonokuchi (the lowest rank), moving up in senority to makushita (junior grade).

14:00 hrs

from around 14:00 hrs, the senior division (makuuchi) wrestlers begin to arrive at the Kokugikan’s South Gate.

We arrived at this moment, so we could see those enormous wrestlers arriving to the stadium and how dozens of fanatics cheers to his favorites.

Outside Ryogoku Stadium

14:30 hrs

Juryo Wrestlers ceremonial entrance

Decked out in ceremonial aprons (kesho-mawashi), the intermediate division (juryo) wrestlers enter the ring. Fighters at this rank and above are considered full-fledged salaried sumo professionals.

Juryo Wrestlers Entrance

14:50 hrs

Juryo division bouts

Wrestlers at this level range from young hopefuls aiming for the higher division promotion to weathered veterans of the circuit. These bouts are followed by a short interval known as the nakairi.

And we uses this interval to enjoy some “chanko” at the stadium’s restaurant: a kind of hot pot, a big stew dish with different vegetables and all kind of meat (fish, beef, chicken, seafood), the usual meal for sumo wrestlers. So, I almost finished with the feeling to be shaped like them.

Chanko, the Sumo wrestlers favorite dish

15:30 hrs

Association chairman’s address

On the opening and final days of the tournament the Chairman of the Japanese Sumo Association steps into the ring with the top-ranked wrestlers, welcoming and thanking the crowd.
As our visit was on the ninth day of the tournament we didn’t see this event.

15:50 hrs

Makuuchi wrestlers ceremonial entrance

The wrestlers from the senior division step into the ring in their vividly decorated ceremonial aprons (kesho-mawashi), turn to face the crowd and form a circle.

This is a big good time for fans to cheer on their favorites wrestlers.

Makuuchi Wrestlers Entrance

15:55 hrs

Yokozuna Grand Champion ring entrance

The grand champion (yokozuna) each make a ceremonial entrance in the ring, accompanied by two attendants. The Champions clap their hands and stamp their feet, drawing spirited calls from the crowd.

A very interesting moment. You see how different cultures we are.

Yokozuna great champion entrance

16:15 hrs

Makuuchi bouts

Battles between the highest division wrestlers begin at the last.

The bout featuring the wrestlers at the top ranks generally begin form about 17:30. And that is the video I could recorded in two different angles, so you can appreciate most. They are the big winner (till that moment), Hakuho, fighting with a lower one, Wakanosato. Of course Hakuho was the winner.

The Main Fight: Wakanosato vs Hakuho

17:15 hrs
Final-day top-ranked-wrestler ritual

On the final day of the tournament , the top three wrestlers from both the east and West sides step into the ring, and perform a brief ceremony heralding the climax of the 15-day event.

As we were on the ninth day we didn’t see that ceremony. Pity.

17:55 hrs

Bow dance ceremony

After the final bout each day, a lower-ranked wrestler enters the ring to perform the bow dance (yumitori-shiki).

Another really strange but interesting moment, you can see his ritualistic movements and enjoy how the people shout when the wrestler’s foot falls onto the sand.

Yumitori-shiki Dance

Drums

The sounds of distinctive drumming also rings out this time encouraging fans to come again (till the last day of the tournament).

Drums at the end of a Sumo Wrestling Day

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Muay Thai, Muay Bora, Thai Boxing. Bangkok is the cradle of a culture of performance.

Muay Thai at Lumpini Stadium, Bangkok (2006)

Thailand is the mythic Siam, Bangkok its capital since the 17th century, and its people, the ‘Thais’ a world in itself: they’re a proud people because they are clean of any foreigner invasions and because they have preserved their unique cultural manifestations. Performing arts are an essential part of this preseved legacy: Dance (Lakhon), Theatre (Kohn), Shadow theatre (Nang yai), Puppet theatre, and their impressive martial art, Muay Thai. Obviously, in the source of martial arts there is no performing art but just martial action. However, time has made this very special fight form into a successful spectacle among the other performing arts created by Thai people. I went to Lumphini Stadium in Bangkok to feel, as a spectator, this impressive perfoming art, and it didn’t disappoint me.

Lumphini Stadium is one of the meccas of Muay Thai, crowds of Thais and foreigners go there to yell, to bet and to live a night full of excitement, whose only source is the ring/stage. Like in the ancient theatres and spectacles from Asia and Europe, life in this places is unpredictable: there are explosions of energy everywhere, there is movement, music, food, money, exitement, and the drama stemming from the fight, from the action itself. Fighters here are stars, they know they are seen by thousands, they are attractive, seductive, they have studied every movement made inside the ring; they hold the public in their hand, to win means to get fame and money, but the pinnacle of their whole professional life lays on the ring/stage, moments before, during, and moments immediately after the fight, the apex maximum is the lapse where drama occurs.

The Western world knows Muay Thai as a Thai Boxing, a kind of fighting style that has become an international and regulated event, sport and TV spectacle. However, many of its ancient traditional rules remain at its base: their ancient training techniques, the ritual aspect thatmany fighters opt not to perform,yet which requires they show respect for their masters through one ritual dance, called Wai Kru. During the whole event traditonal music is played with ancient Thai instruments, and the fighters keep in mind a strict ethic-religious (buddhist) code in their behavior on the ring. But, those strong links with the traditional past notwithstanding, commercialization, ratings and money itself have provoked a lax attitude and fighters have lost many of those links. To avoid that, groups of purists have retaken the ancient model of this martial art, Muay Boran, which literally means ‘ancient fight’. Muay Boran doesn’t use the international boxing rules, but the basic ancient ones; it could become a brutal fight, but buddhist behavior is still present, as well as Wai Kru (dance), costumes (if they can be called that), music, rules… It’s a comprehensive ritual in the middle of the 21st century arena.

There are some Muay Boran competitions year long, but usually unknown to the masses; Muay Boran is specially ‘performed’ in the main venues every night as a demonstration of a national treasure. Imagine yourself in the midst of a crowded stadiums with TV crews, people yelling and betting, eating, searching for a better view, even jumping in excitement, and two traditional fighters dancing and fighting as their ancestors did.

The night of December 8th 2006 i had the opportunity to see and feel one of these impressive fights along with the usual Muay Thai. I took a video and some photographs, which I think are the best way of sharing this unique experience.

Slideshow of photographs from December 8th, 2007 at Lumpini Stadium.

Muay Boran video (not edited): ritual dance (Wai Kru) and one fight full of strength and surprises.

Muay Thai video: one spectacle in itself. The public yells at the rythm of the beats.

These sites contain a lot of information about the history, rules and fighters of this martial art. The last link is a French site with an interview with an anthropologist who joined as a Muay Thai fighter and who talks about the ritual and religious aspects of this martial art.

http://www.muaythai.com/
http://www.bangkok-city.com/muaythai.htm
http://www.wmtc.nu/html/wmc03_mthist.html
http://www.horizonmuaythai.com/history.html
http://www.eurasie.net/webzine/article.php3?id_article=460