Home » Feature » Art and Culture
Bringing back nearly forgotten rhymes
By Zhang Qian |
April 14, 2012, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
TRADITIONAL children's rhymes in Shanghai dialect that once were heard around the city will return in a new form.
Shanghai Folk Rhymes Children's Choir will perform at Shanghai Oriental Art Center on April 30 and May 1. Most of the old rhymes will be heard again in Shanghai dialect, accompanied with a symphony orchestra and stage scenes of children playing traditional longtang (alleyway) games.
About 100 children will sing about 18 rhymes carefully selected and adapted for the concert by famous composer He Zhanhao, who is best known for his work "Butterfly Lovers." Shanghai Normal University's symphony orchestra will help with the music while children from Shanghai Hand in Hand Art Group will display the "long-tang" scenes on stage through plays.
The program includes popular rhymes like "Waving to Grandma's Bridge" and "Selling Sweet Congee" and "Small Rubber Ball." Some local popular tunes like "Purple Bamboo Tune" and "Meng Jiangnu" will also be heard in Shanghai dialect. Plus three poems from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) will be adapted into rhymes for the concert.
"The melodies all sound great and they are all creations of ordinary people," says composer He. "They are such a precious legacy, which we should definitely cherish."
The idea of presenting a concert of local rhymes in Shanghai dialect hit director Xu Jun, when a teacher asked him for advice on a Shanghai-dialect song performance in her kindergarten.
"I searched online yet found it difficult to collect many children's rhymes in Shanghai dialect today, though there were a lot in my childhood," Xu says. "So I started collecting the old rhymes, which are not well known by local children today.
"Also, I didn't want it to be a simple choir performance, but a comprehensive one that recreates traditional Shanghai culture among children," Xu adds.
According to the director, the rhymes were always sung as kids played traditional longtang games like rubber-band skipping, hopscotch and shuttlecock kicking.
Shanghai dialect once thrived in the city but is not as widely spoken nowadays because of the popularization of Mandarin Chinese, according to Qian Nairong, a local dialect expert.
Many local children cannot speak Shanghai dialect even though they were born and grow up in the city, says Qian. Mandarin and even English are usually more familiar to them.
With high-rise apartments replacing the traditional lanes, this longtang culture is slowly disappearing.
"Mandarin and Shanghai dialect don't necessarily have to be opponents, but friends that can share and give support," Qian says. "It would be a great cultural loss if we cannot speak our own dialect anymore."
Date: April 30-May 1, 7:15pm
Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center, 425 Dingxiang Rd, Pudong
Tickets: 80-500 yuan (US$12.74-79.62)
Tel: 962-388, 5169-1234
Classic children's rhymes
Row to Grandma's Bridge
"Row, Row, Row.
Row to Grandma's Bridge.
Grandma calls me good baby,
She treats me with sweets, treats me with cakes.
She warns me not to eat too much,
It tastes better when eating a little,
And it doesn't taste good when eating too much."
Sell Sweet Congee
"Do Do Do,
Sell Sweet Congee.
Three jin (1 jin equals 0.5 kilo) of walnuts with four jin of shells,
I eat your walnut meat.
And turn back the shells,
Mr Zhang,
I will come back again tomorrow."
Little People's Meeting
"It is raining,
All shops are closed.
Little people are now meeting."
Shanghai Folk Rhymes Children's Choir will perform at Shanghai Oriental Art Center on April 30 and May 1. Most of the old rhymes will be heard again in Shanghai dialect, accompanied with a symphony orchestra and stage scenes of children playing traditional longtang (alleyway) games.
About 100 children will sing about 18 rhymes carefully selected and adapted for the concert by famous composer He Zhanhao, who is best known for his work "Butterfly Lovers." Shanghai Normal University's symphony orchestra will help with the music while children from Shanghai Hand in Hand Art Group will display the "long-tang" scenes on stage through plays.
The program includes popular rhymes like "Waving to Grandma's Bridge" and "Selling Sweet Congee" and "Small Rubber Ball." Some local popular tunes like "Purple Bamboo Tune" and "Meng Jiangnu" will also be heard in Shanghai dialect. Plus three poems from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) will be adapted into rhymes for the concert.
"The melodies all sound great and they are all creations of ordinary people," says composer He. "They are such a precious legacy, which we should definitely cherish."
The idea of presenting a concert of local rhymes in Shanghai dialect hit director Xu Jun, when a teacher asked him for advice on a Shanghai-dialect song performance in her kindergarten.
"I searched online yet found it difficult to collect many children's rhymes in Shanghai dialect today, though there were a lot in my childhood," Xu says. "So I started collecting the old rhymes, which are not well known by local children today.
"Also, I didn't want it to be a simple choir performance, but a comprehensive one that recreates traditional Shanghai culture among children," Xu adds.
According to the director, the rhymes were always sung as kids played traditional longtang games like rubber-band skipping, hopscotch and shuttlecock kicking.
Shanghai dialect once thrived in the city but is not as widely spoken nowadays because of the popularization of Mandarin Chinese, according to Qian Nairong, a local dialect expert.
Many local children cannot speak Shanghai dialect even though they were born and grow up in the city, says Qian. Mandarin and even English are usually more familiar to them.
With high-rise apartments replacing the traditional lanes, this longtang culture is slowly disappearing.
"Mandarin and Shanghai dialect don't necessarily have to be opponents, but friends that can share and give support," Qian says. "It would be a great cultural loss if we cannot speak our own dialect anymore."
Date: April 30-May 1, 7:15pm
Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center, 425 Dingxiang Rd, Pudong
Tickets: 80-500 yuan (US$12.74-79.62)
Tel: 962-388, 5169-1234
Classic children's rhymes
Row to Grandma's Bridge
"Row, Row, Row.
Row to Grandma's Bridge.
Grandma calls me good baby,
She treats me with sweets, treats me with cakes.
She warns me not to eat too much,
It tastes better when eating a little,
And it doesn't taste good when eating too much."
Sell Sweet Congee
"Do Do Do,
Sell Sweet Congee.
Three jin (1 jin equals 0.5 kilo) of walnuts with four jin of shells,
I eat your walnut meat.
And turn back the shells,
Mr Zhang,
I will come back again tomorrow."
Little People's Meeting
"It is raining,
All shops are closed.
Little people are now meeting."
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