novellhall Chapter 27 Dance Rehearsal, Preliminary Review
Chapter 27 Dance Rehearsal, Preliminary Review
Zhang Ziyi put down the cup and glanced upstairs.
"Why don't you call Tang Yun down? Let her listen to this first, and then the three of us can discuss it together."
Li Si'an shouted upstairs. Tang Yun responded and came downstairs a while later, her hair loose and wearing a gray-white sweatshirt.
Her eyes lit up when she saw Zhang Ziyi. "When did you arrive?"
"Just arrived." Zhang Ziyi looked her up and down. "Have you lost weight?"
"Yes, I've been practicing a lot lately." Tang Yun walked over and stood next to Li Si'an.
Li Si'an pulled Tang Yun onto his lap and sat her down. He then used his left hand to insert the cassette tape into the tape recorder on the counter and pressed play.
The pipa prelude began, followed by the sound of an electronic synthesizer, and then his voice.
Tang Yun and Zhang Ziyi remained silent, listening intently. When the entire song finished playing, the tape recorder clicked open.
Zhang Ziyi leaned against the counter, remained silent for a few seconds, and then spoke. "This song is really well-written, the lyrics are excellent. What are your plans for the choreography?"
Li Si'an sat up straight in the chair and said, "Since you two are both here, let me tell you the story behind this song and how it came about."
"I forget which magazine I read an ancient article about, which said that a person who could see ghosts met an old man performing a puppet show in a dilapidated temple on a snowy night."
The old man had white hair and tattered clothes, and carried with him a wooden puppet, which was exquisitely crafted and looked just like a real person.
He finished telling the story in a few sentences, saying that he wrote the song because of this story.
After listening, Zhang Ziyi remained silent for a while. She didn't ask what happened next, but only said, "Do you have any extra tapes? I'll take them back and listen to them again. We'll start rehearsing tomorrow."
Li Si'an pulled a blank tape from under the counter, put it into the tape recorder, copied it, and handed it to her.
Zhang Ziyi took it, put it in her pocket, and left.
Li Si'an turned off the recorder, put the cassette away, and looked up at Tang Yun.
"Let's go to the school rehearsal hall tomorrow afternoon and ask Teacher Sun for guidance."
"Okay," Tang Yun replied, then turned and went upstairs.
The next afternoon, the three arrived at the school and went straight to the third floor of the teaching building.
The rehearsal hall door was open. Li Si'an peeked in through the doorway and saw Teacher Sun Jianfen sitting in a chair, flipping through lesson plans.
"Teacher Sun."
Teacher Sun looked up and took off her glasses. "What brings the three of you all together? What's up?"
Li Si'an slipped inside. "Teacher Sun, it's like this, I've choreographed a dance and would like to sign it up for the graduation performance. I was thinking of asking you to take a look."
Teacher Sun leaned back in her chair, looking at him. "What kind of dance?"
"You'll see when you see it. Tang Yun and Zhang Ziyi danced; I choreographed it."
Teacher Sun glanced at him and stood up. "Okay, let's see."
Tang Yun and Zhang Ziyi greeted Teacher Sun and went to the changing room next door to change their clothes.
Tang Yun wore a red, wide-sleeved top and a floor-length skirt, a similar dance outfit that Li Si'an had bought from Master Shen.
Zhang Ziyi was wearing a black, modified long gown, her hair tied up, and she stood there looking like a handsome young man.
Teacher Sun looked them up and down, neither saying yes nor no, simply saying, "Let's begin."
Li Si'an pressed the recorder button.
The sound of the pipa began. Tang Yun started walking from the middle of the rehearsal hall, her movements as erratic as a puppet's pauses and as precise as a robotic dance, her arms trembling as if being pulled by strings.
Zhang Ziyi stood behind her, raising her hand to gesture, her eyes fixed on Tang Yun. The two seemed to be connected by the same thread, their breaths flowing seamlessly together.
Teacher Sun sat in the chair, saying nothing, just watching.
The only sounds in the rehearsal hall were music and the muffled thud of practice shoes on the floor. Li Si'an leaned against the wall, watching Tang Yun and Zhang Ziyi practice their positions in front of the mirror.
Zhang Ziyi does look good in men's clothing. Her back is straight, her gestures are clean, and her eyes have the "control of everything" a puppeteer has.
Tang Yun, dressed in a red dress, stood in front of her, her figure graceful. Guided by her gestures, she turned, paused, and stretched. The two of them standing together, one sharp and the other graceful, one in black and the other in red, were indeed pleasing to the eye.
Li Si'an smiled as she watched, leaning against the wall with her hands in her pockets, lost in thought.
If this scene were recorded on a camera and uploaded to Bilibili in the future, titled "Zhang Ziyi's duet dance 'Puppet Show' practice room version," the number of views would be incredibly high.
The music stopped. Teacher Sun stood up, walked to the middle of the rehearsal hall, and stood in front of Tang Yun.
"Your breathing wasn't coordinated during that transition. When you're in a popping routine, you hold your breath during the precise moments, but when you switch to a slower tempo, you need to exhale before moving. Try it."
Tang Yun did it once. This time it went smoothly.
Teacher Sun then turned to Zhang Ziyi. "Your gestures are fine, but when you raise your hand, your eyes aren't looking at the puppet. If the puppeteer doesn't look at the puppet, how will the puppet know when you're going to move?"
Zhang Ziyi did it again, her eyes fixed on Tang Yun. This time, their rhythms matched.
Teacher Sun took two steps back, looked at them, and then looked at Li Si'an by the wall.
"Alright. This program is quite interesting. Before the second review, you guys come to the rehearsal hall every afternoon, and I'll come over and help you work on it whenever I have time."
Li Si'an walked over from the wall. "Thank you, Teacher Sun."
Teacher Sun waved her hand, picked up her lesson plan, and left.
Rehearsals lasted for two weeks. Every afternoon at four o'clock, Tang Yun and Zhang Ziyi arrived at the rehearsal hall on time.
Teacher Sun would come every few days, pointing out a few things each time. Tang Yun and Zhang Ziyi would revise accordingly, and the revisions became smoother and smoother.
Li Si'an was sometimes there and sometimes not. When she was there, she would lean against the wall, admiring the scenery and offering her comments.
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The first review was held on April 15th.
The corridor outside the rehearsal hall was packed with people. Li Si'an led Tang Yun and Zhang Ziyi to a corner to stand. Tang Yun clutched her skirt and didn't say anything, while Zhang Ziyi leaned against the wall with her eyes closed.
"Number eight," a staff member called out, poking his head out.
The three of them squeezed through the crowd and pushed open the door to the rehearsal hall.
Five people sat on the judging panel. Liu Guiying, deputy director of the Academic Affairs Office, sat in the middle left seat, next to Lao Zhang, the director of the Academic Affairs Office.
To the right were two professors teaching specialized courses, and on the far side sat Wang Changhe, the vice principal in charge of teaching. Sun Jianfen sat in a chair against the wall, holding a notebook in her hand.
Tang Yun and Zhang Ziyi walked to the middle of the rehearsal hall and stood there. Li Si'an placed the tape recorder on the floor, pressed play, and stepped back to the corner.
The sound of a pipa began. Tang Yun started walking from the starting position, her movements like a puppet's pauses and the precise timing of a mechanical dance, her arms trembling as if pulled by strings. Zhang Ziyi walked in, raised her hand, and made a gesture.
When the operatic singing began, Li Si'an's voice came from the speakers, carrying that high-pitched, shrill quality—
"With delicate fingers, she touches the mortal world like flowing water; on the three-foot red stage, all things are captured in song and music. The farewell song, though long, is no longer sorrowful; the most vibrant red has turned to ashes."
Zhang Ziyi raised her hand as if to reel in the line.
Tang Yun paused for a moment, then straightened her back and struck a classic pose as a female opera performer—her arm swept across her chest, her orchid finger raised, her head tilted slightly, and her gaze drifted away in the direction of her fingertip.
Her red dress spun open, making her look as if she were being pulled by a string, or as if she were dancing.
After a while, the music stopped.
Wang Changhe leaned back in his chair and spoke first. "Teachers, please give your comments."
A professor sitting next to Lao Zhang put down his pen and adjusted his glasses.
"The choreography of this program is very innovative. It incorporates the power generation method of robotic dance into the framework of ethnic dance, which is technically challenging."
The two students did a good job, especially the puppet scene with its sharp pauses and clean body movements.
Another professor nodded in agreement. "The interaction between the puppeteer and the puppet was handled quite well; the two were in sync."
I remember Tang Yun only transferred to the folk dance class last April, right? To be able to dance like this after just one year shows she's put in a lot of effort.
Old Zhang didn't say anything, but nodded.
Liu Guiying pushed her glasses up, wrote a few words in her notebook, then stood up and said:
"I acknowledge the innovation of this dance. Combining classical dance and robotic dance, and using the puppet as a vehicle, doesn't feel out of place at all."
She paused.
"But that's just taking shortcuts. Without the puppet element, these two dance styles simply don't fit together. I'm not against innovation, but innovation must be meaningful."
Tell me, what's the point of this show? Is it just for a novel, mixed-up mess?
She put down her pen.
"I think this show is a bit sensationalist, and I personally don't have a high opinion of it."
After saying that, she tucked the notebook under her arm and sat back down.
Zhang Ziyi watched her retreating figure, pursed her lips, and remained silent. Only when she was off the stage did she mutter softly, "Old stubborn."
Tang Yun pulled her aside, and Zhang Ziyi composed herself.
Wang Changhe glanced at the other judges. "Vote."
Old Zhang raised his hand. The two professors exchanged a glance; one raised his hand, the other remained still. Wang Changhe then raised his own hand.
Three to two.
After all the performances were over, the professional teachers packed up and left. Only Li Si'an, Tang Yun, Zhang Ziyi, and Sun Jianfen remained in the rehearsal hall.
Sun Jianfen walked over and glanced at Li Si'an.
"Never mind what others say, it's passed anyway. However, you need to work on your cooperation again before the second trial."
Li Si'an nodded.
Tang Yun squatted down, took the cassette tape out of the tape recorder, and handed it to Li Si'an.
"We'll continue practicing tomorrow at four o'clock," Li Si'an said.
Tang Yun stood up and patted the dust off her pants.
"Um."
The second trial will be held in three days.
There were fewer people in the rehearsal hall this time, only the judges and a few staff members.
Tang Yun and Zhang Ziyi changed into formal attire—Tang Yun wore a bright red, high-waisted ruqun (a traditional Chinese dress), while Zhang Ziyi wore a black, modified long gown. The two stood in the middle of the rehearsal hall, attracting even a second glance from Liu Guiying.
The music started. Tang Yun began walking from the starting position, much more smoothly than during the initial audition. The transitions between the rhythmic movements of the robotic dance and the slow tempo of the classical dance were almost seamless.
Zhang Ziyi's performance as the puppeteer was also solid, with clean gestures and her eyes fixed on Tang Yun. The two seemed to be connected by the same thread.
The music stopped.
The rehearsal hall was silent for a few seconds. Then Wang Changhe clapped his hands.
"pass."
Liu Guiying frowned but didn't say anything.
Tang Yun stood in the middle of the rehearsal hall, her hands slowly loosening their grip on her skirt. Zhang Ziyi leaned against the wall and let out a long sigh.
Li Si'an walked over from backstage, smiling and raising her hands at the two of them.
"Finally passed! Let's celebrate, give me five!"
When the three of them came out of the rehearsal hall, there were hardly any people left in the corridor. People were playing soccer on the playground, and the setting sun cast long shadows.
Zhang Ziyi walked ahead, stopped at the entrance of the teaching building, and turned around.
When is the performance?
"April 28th," Li Si'an said.
Zhang Ziyi nodded, zipped her coat up to her chin, and went out the door.