The 81^st anniversary of the Talk at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art by comrade MAO Zedong fell on May 23^rd, 2023. That evening, a co-production of the NCPA & Beijing Dance Academy The Spring in Yangjialing returned to the cradle of literature and art of the New China through its Yan'an premiere at the Yan’an Grand Theatre.

When the curtain was raised, “Yan’an Landscape” with the towering pagoda standing at the center stage, came into view. A dozen sets of classical woodcut pictures, created by such veterans as GU Yuan, Yanhan (LIU Baosen) and JI Guisen, were hung high and spread out on the stage. On the stage, woodcut pictures were connected together according to the development of plots, while dynamic dancing postures made woodcut pictures flow. By blending dance into painting and conveying painting in dance art, the drama led the audiences to reminisce those extraordinary times with literature and art as a type of weapon.

That night, the audiences expressed their excitements after appreciating the drama. They were not only deeply moved by the awesome inner emotions and powerful dance performances by the dancers, but profoundly understood the struggles during the period of the Chinese revolution. The audiences were attracted to various roles played with vitality on the stage and showed respect to every literary and art worker brimming with unflinching courage in the special historical period.

On the afternoon of May 22^nd, 2023, ZHAO Tiechun, Vice President of the NCPA, Batu, Secretary of the CPC Committee of Beijing Dance Academy, HUI Tong, Standing Committee Member of the CPC Committee and Vice President of Beijing Dance Academy, YANG Honglan, Standing Committee Member and Director of the Publicity Department of the CPC Yan’an Municipal Committee, MA Dongpo, Secretary of Leading Party Group and Director of Yan’an Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau, and AN Shiping, Level-II Investigator of Yan’an Municipal Culture and Tourism Bureau attended the press conference themed with “Dance Drama The Spring in Yangjialing Returning to Yan’an and Artistic Performance of Taking Root Among the People” in Spark Square at the foot of Baota Mountain, Yan’an. Artists from Beijing Dance Academy and Luxun School of the Arts, Yan’an University, REN Xia, one of the top ten Northern Shaanxi folk song singers for Shaanxi Music Award, CAO Boyan and ZHEN Sanmei, artists of Northern Shaanxi Storytelling, WANG Jianning, provincial-level inheritor of Northern Shaanxi Folk Songs and others showed their superb performance skills. The NCPA and Beijing Dance Academy also presented the specially produced DVD of The Spring in Yangjialing to Yan’an, commemorating the 81^st anniversary of Talk at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art and paying tribute to the Yan’an Spirit.

This trip to Yan’an not only proves the echo between the “Spring in Yangjialing” and “Spring in the New Era”, but serves as a vivid practice of tracing to the source of the revolutionary spirit of literature and art and upholding creation philosophy of taking root among the people, with an aim to carry forward the indelible Yan’an Spirit with practical actions and responsibilities of literary and art workers in the new era. Starting from Yan’an, time-honoured woodcut pictures are moving towards a new era with the blood, faith and hope steeped in the arduous revolution. On the evening of May 24^th, the second performance of the drama will continue to greet local audiences at the Yan’an Grand Theatre.