The Shanghai audience had never heard a sound like the
mysterious Khoomei before. The sound involved two musical tones
uttered by a singer at the same time, and they echoed inside
Shanghai Grand Theatre last Friday. "The singer utters one lower
music tone from his larynx, and another higher whistling tone from
his oral cavity," renowned singer Dedema said.
"The singing reminds me of the Gobi, desert, camels, and the
vast grassland of Inner Mongolia. It brings those faraway sceneries
right in front of you," she said.
The special performance marked the opening of a Mongolian
Culture Week, which was part of the ongoing Shanghai International
Arts Festival.
Khoomei almost became extinct in China but was revived by
artists from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region who went to the
Republic of Mongolia to learn the traditional singing technique,
and brought it back to China.
Dedema is in her 60s. Eight years ago, she had a stroke during a
concert in Japan, and has never fully recovered from the resulting
hemiplegia. She mounted the stage of Shanghai Grand Theatre,
pulling a lame leg, singing her repertoire, songs adapted from
Mongolian folk music, and won thundering applause from the
audience.
The show involved more than 150 artists from the Song and Dance
Troupe of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Mongolian
wrestling, horse herding, and tales of nomad life were conveyed
through folk ballads of "long tune," or changdiao, accompanied by
matouqin, a unique Mongolian string instrument with a horse-shaped
head.
In addition, music and dance of other minority groups, including
Daur and Ewenki and Russian, were performed.
"The huge production amazed me. It's beautiful," Lina Botero
from Columbia said after the show. "I've never heard the way they
sing before. It's very different and interesting."
Botero, from the Columbian performance agency, said she wanted
to introduce the new musical styles to her home country.
Several more shows added traditional flavor during Mongolian
culture week.
"A Night on the Grassland" was held in Shanghai Oriental Art
Centre on Sunday. Mongolian tents were erected in the lobby, and
performers brought milk tea to the audience. The chorus of singers
performs without instrumental accompaniment and has won several
international awards, while the "Anda Ensemble" showcased
traditional Mongolian music and instruments.
An exhibition of Mongolian artefacts is also being held at the
Shanghai Police Museum. It includes cultural relics, rock painting
rubbings, and a photo exhibition depicting the Mongolian sceneries
and daily life. "We brought more than 70 pieces of national
treasured antiques," said Min Rui, deputy director of the Cultural
Department of Inner Mongolia. The cultural relics dating as far
back as the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220) are exhibited in Shanghai
for the first time.
Another important part of the exhibition is the rock paintings
from Inner Mongolia, which record the history of the nomadic
people.
"Most of them are rubbings, and we've brought some original
pieces as well," Min said. These paintings tell of a history dating
as far back as the Paleolithic Age. "The art fair provides a good
platform for international communications to get to know about
Inner Mongolia and its people," Min said.
(China Daily October 26, 2006)