Investigation And Research On "Yellow Earth Art Troupe" In Northern

The Huangtudi art group, found in1996, in Suide County, Shaanbei (northernShaanxi), China, is a grass-rooted art group that mainly performs local folk musicand dance. This art group attracted a wide range of local folk artistsand professional music performers since its foundation. It has developed a numberof excellent programs reflecting the traditional folk music culture in Shaanbei. Suchshow programs not only performed wonderfully in domestic arena and won brilliantawards, it also went abroad and achieved great influence, winning bright honors forShaanbei as well as Chinese folk music. As a nongovernmental folk art group whoseshows are mainly played by non-professional artists, the present situation ofHuangtudi art group seems embarrassed, although it enjoys a glorious past. Thereason behind the rise and decline of such an art group is worthy investigating indepth. Based on ethnomusicology research methods, the author tentatively analyzesthe establishment background, organization structure, personnel structure, trainingmode, the kinds and contents of the rehearsals, and living space and currentsituation of Huangtudi art group. It is found that, on one hand, the stereotypicalmechanism and unduly diversifying the show programs are the main reasons thatlimits its development. The unduly diversification is detrimental to its original showstyle to some extent. For example, the new show 《My Thirty-Mile Village》wascomposed to meet the so-called "modern aesthetic needs". However, theaesthetic value and cultural significance of this new show are greatly degraded ascompared to the original classic shows by the art group. On the other hand, due tothe decline in leading force from the government and the chaoticadministrative management, the art group is faced with an crisis of dissolution. It isthe government administrative order that can integrate excellent resources for the artgroup to make remarkable achievements rapidly.