Emma Phillips has overcome major hurdles to realize her dream. Sheshows off her new skills juggling parasols at the Wuqiao AcrobaticSchool. Zheng Jinran / China Daily |
She has traveled halfway across the world to learnfrom the best teachers and she's working hard atbalancing training to be an excellent acrobat, andher homesickness. Zheng Jinran finds out more inWuqiao, Hebei province. There is a lot of energy in the large training hall,with the swift figures of teenage students flittingeverywhere. Their yells as they train fill the room.Amid the noise, a young brunette is lying on herback on a bench, totally focused on juggling aparasol with her feet. This is the circus school in Wuqiao, a rural city in Hebei province. Emma Phillips, 23, is from a city on the north island of New Zealand, and she was the onlyforeigner in the school until the recent arrival of a Finnish couple. She was also the only adultin a school where most of the students start training at the age of 6. The oldest was only 17. "People from the school and residents in town are curious about me, wondering why a foreignerwill come all the way to a rural county and learn acrobatics. But I know what I want and I'll keepat it," she says. "I will put the Oriental skills to Western music, and perform with a story for my audience." She came to China in 2012, and has already been training hard for five months at the WuqiaoAcrobatic Art School in the small town famous for its circus arts in Hebei. Her flight to China took a long time, but she is used to long journeys - like the hard road shetraveled to realize her childhood dream of becoming an acrobat. Phillips was 13 when she saw a performance by a circus troupe visiting her hometown. "When I saw the amazing contortions by the performers, I thought it was fascinating," sherecalls, her eyes shining from the memory even though it's been a decade since then. She made the change from dancing - jazz, cabaret and ballet - and was determined to becomean acrobat. In Whangarei, where Phillips comes from, children took up acrobatics more as an extra-curricular activity, rather than a full-time pursuit. Phillips was not daunted, and turned to videoson the Internet to help her train. After she graduated from high school at 17, she enrolled in a local circus school for two years.Even so, it did not offer what she wanted. The school gave the students lessons on dance, theater and performance, but Phillips hadexpected more. She decided to further her skills after graduation. She heard about the circus schools in China and decided to see for herself in 2010, travelingaround for months. She returned to Beijing in May 2012, and then started preparing to train,finally, in the country where acrobatics had its origins. She first attended a circus school in Beijing, where she made many friends from abroad, allsharing the same vision. But she wanted more, and so she enrolled in the school in Wuqiao. "The training is really hard. I am exhausted but happy," she says in her dormitory during a shortbreak. The instructor coaches her five hours a day, six days a week. Sometimes she will continue hertraining for another three hours at night. This tight schedule will last until the end of December. Phillips has already worn out six Chinese parasols, and now she is moving on to somethingeven harder - juggling a 1-square-meter table, an act that is seldom performed outside China. Often bruised or in pain from the long, intensive training, Phillips says what hurts her more ismissing her friends and her family, whom she has not seen for a year. "I call them or chat online after training," she says, looking at photographs of her family, andthe town where she came from. There are other hurdles apart from her homesickness. Phillipscannot speak more than a few words of Chinese, and her coach, Liu Lin, does not speakEnglish. "It was hard to communicate during the initial months," Liu says. "Then I downloaded atranslation application on my cell phone, so now we can talk, helped by body language." Phillips has also made serious attempts to learn Mandarin and she can now master somesentences. "I still want to have a Chinese teacher, so I can understand more about the traditions andculture of acrobatics," she says. Age was also another barrier, Liu Lin says. "Compared to the younger students, Emma can absorb and understand the guidelines better,but physically, she does not have the advantage," Liu says. Yet despite all the challenges, Phillips is very committed to her dream of one day performingwith a troupe in China, touring the world and combining circus, theater and dance. "Foreign students like Emma appreciate our lessons very much. It has been an importantchannel of education exchange between China and other countries, and an excellent channelthrough which to spread our traditions," says Li Qingming, who is in charge of foreign studentmanagement at the school in Wuqiao. He says more than 20 student from African countries will arrive in May to study for a year. Phillips is happy to hear the news. "I will have more foreign friends soon, and it will be nice to beable to talk to them, and train with them." |
訓(xùn)練館內(nèi),十幾歲的孩子們身手敏捷,輕巧地翻飛,活力四溢,他們訓(xùn)練時(shí)發(fā)出的喊叫聲回蕩在整個(gè)房間內(nèi)。喧鬧聲中,一位年輕的金發(fā)女郎正躺在長(zhǎng)椅上,全神貫注地用雙腳旋轉(zhuǎn)著一頂陽(yáng)傘。 這里便是河北省吳橋雜技學(xué)校。 23歲的艾瑪·菲利普斯來(lái)自新西蘭北島,在最近一對(duì)芬蘭夫婦到來(lái)前,她一直是學(xué)校里唯一的外國(guó)人。她也是學(xué)校里唯一的成年人,吳橋雜技學(xué)校大部分的學(xué)生從6歲開(kāi)始訓(xùn)練,最大的年僅17歲。 “學(xué)校里的人們和鎮(zhèn)上的居民都對(duì)我感到很好奇,他們不知道為什么一個(gè)外國(guó)人要大老遠(yuǎn)地跑到鄉(xiāng)下的縣城來(lái)學(xué)雜技,但我知道自己想要什么,而且我會(huì)堅(jiān)持下去?!彼f(shuō)道。 “我想將東方的技巧和西方的音樂(lè)融合起來(lái),為觀眾表演一個(gè)故事?!?/p> 艾瑪·菲利普斯2012年來(lái)到中國(guó),她已經(jīng)在吳橋雜技藝術(shù)學(xué)校訓(xùn)練了5個(gè)月。她坐了很長(zhǎng)時(shí)機(jī)的飛機(jī)來(lái)到中國(guó),但她已經(jīng)適應(yīng)了長(zhǎng)距離的旅行——正如她為實(shí)現(xiàn)童年的雜技?jí)粝胨哌^(guò)的艱苦道路一樣。 菲利普斯13歲時(shí),觀看了來(lái)家鄉(xiāng)巡演的馬戲團(tuán)的演出。 “當(dāng)我看到演員們表演的令人驚訝的柔身術(shù)時(shí),我覺(jué)得這棒極了!”她回憶道,雙眼流露出別樣的光彩,盡管這已經(jīng)是十年前的事情了。 她之前練習(xí)爵士舞、卡巴萊和芭蕾舞,隨后由舞蹈轉(zhuǎn)向雜技,并且立志成為一名雜技演員。 在她的家鄉(xiāng)旺阿雷,孩子們大多將雜技作為課外活動(dòng),而不是終身的志愿。菲利普斯沒(méi)有氣餒,而是借助網(wǎng)上的視頻幫助自己練習(xí)。 菲利普斯17歲從中學(xué)畢業(yè)后,進(jìn)了當(dāng)?shù)匾凰s技學(xué)校學(xué)習(xí)了兩年,但學(xué)校并未給她帶來(lái)想要的東西。 學(xué)校的課程包括舞蹈、戲劇和表演,但菲利普斯想學(xué)到更多的東西,因此她決定畢業(yè)后繼續(xù)學(xué)習(xí)更多的雜技技巧。 她聽(tīng)說(shuō)了中國(guó)的雜技學(xué)校,2010年決定親自來(lái)看一看,周游了數(shù)月。2012年5月,她回到了北京,最終在雜技的發(fā)源地——中國(guó),開(kāi)始準(zhǔn)備訓(xùn)練。 起初,她進(jìn)入了一所北京的雜技學(xué)校訓(xùn)練,并且結(jié)交了許多志趣相投的異國(guó)好友。但她想要的更多,所以便來(lái)到了吳橋雜技學(xué)校。 “訓(xùn)練很辛苦,我筋疲力盡,但是很開(kāi)心?!痹诙虝旱挠?xùn)練間隙,她在宿舍對(duì)記者說(shuō)道。 教練每天指導(dǎo)她訓(xùn)練5個(gè)小時(shí),一周6天,有時(shí)晚上還要加練3個(gè)小時(shí)。這樣緊張的課程安排將持續(xù)到12月底。 菲利普斯已經(jīng)練壞了6把中國(guó)陽(yáng)傘,現(xiàn)在她正在練習(xí)更高難度的動(dòng)作——用雙腳旋轉(zhuǎn)一張一米見(jiàn)方的桌子——這一動(dòng)作在中國(guó)之外很少有人能表演。 訓(xùn)練的時(shí)間長(zhǎng),強(qiáng)度大,菲利普斯經(jīng)常受傷,但對(duì)家人和朋友的思念更使她倍感折磨,她已經(jīng)有一年時(shí)間沒(méi)有回家了。 “訓(xùn)練結(jié)束后,我會(huì)給他們打電話(huà)或是在網(wǎng)上聊天?!彼粗胰撕图亦l(xiāng)的照片說(shuō)道。除了對(duì)家鄉(xiāng)的思念,菲利普斯還有許多困難需要克服。她只會(huì)說(shuō)幾個(gè)漢語(yǔ)詞,而她的教練劉琳也不會(huì)說(shuō)英語(yǔ)。 “最初的幾個(gè)月里,我們之間的交流很困難,”劉琳說(shuō)道,“然后我在手機(jī)上下載了一個(gè)翻譯軟件,所以現(xiàn)在我們能在肢體語(yǔ)言的幫助下順利交談了?!?/p> 菲利普斯下了很大功夫?qū)W習(xí)漢語(yǔ),現(xiàn)在她已經(jīng)能說(shuō)一些句子了。 “我還想找一位漢語(yǔ)老師,這樣我就能更加深入地了解雜技的傳統(tǒng)和文化了。”她說(shuō)道。 年齡也是一重障礙。 “與年紀(jì)更小的學(xué)生相比,艾瑪能更好地吸收和理解訓(xùn)練的指導(dǎo)方針,但她卻不具備身體方面的優(yōu)勢(shì)。” 然而,盡管面對(duì)重重挑戰(zhàn),菲利普斯依然堅(jiān)信,有一天能夠與中國(guó)的雜技團(tuán)合作,進(jìn)行全球巡演,將雜技、戲劇表演和舞蹈結(jié)合起來(lái)。 “像艾瑪這樣的留學(xué)生很欣賞我們的訓(xùn)練課程,這已成為了中外教育交流的重要渠道,同時(shí)也是宣揚(yáng)我國(guó)傳統(tǒng)的絕佳渠道?!眳菢螂s技藝術(shù)學(xué)校負(fù)責(zé)留學(xué)生管理的李清民說(shuō)道。 他說(shuō)20多名來(lái)自非洲的學(xué)生將于五月份抵達(dá)該校,并進(jìn)行為期一年的訓(xùn)練。 菲利普斯聽(tīng)到這樣的消息很高興。“很快我將交到更多的外國(guó)朋友,能跟他們交談并一起訓(xùn)練實(shí)在是太棒了。” 相關(guān)閱讀 中國(guó)中東問(wèn)題特使吳思科:中國(guó)將為中東和平持續(xù)努力 中國(guó)堅(jiān)決反對(duì)歐盟目前對(duì)光伏和電信雙反調(diào)查做法 李克強(qiáng)瑞媒發(fā)表署名文章:為什么選擇瑞士 (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)記者鄭金冉編譯) |