Beijing, 4 Feb (Xinhua) -- He Zixuan, a senior at Hebei Normal University, remembers taking a bus from school to Beijing to participate in the rehearsal for the opening ceremony for the first time because of traffic jams.
On the evening of February 4, a performance before the opening ceremony of the XXIV Winter Olympic Games. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Lan Hongguang
He Zixuan remembers that the first time she watched the collective rehearsal, she saw the children and grandmothers fully engaged, and her eyes lit up with tears.
He Zixuan still remembers that december 21, 2021, coincided with the winter solstice. Because the rehearsal students could not go home, they happily made dumplings together at the station.
"What we've gained from these months of rehearsals has been more important to us than book knowledge." On the evening of February 4, after He Zixuan and her classmates successfully completed the task of warming up the square dance performance at the opening ceremony, she said with emotion.
The "Bird's Nest" is really big
In October 2021, He Zixuan and his classmates learned that the director team of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics was going to select the actors for the warm-up performance, and everyone was very excited. At that time, the school was closed due to the new crown epidemic, and the directors were selected through video, and the children practiced in the corridors because of the grid management. In the end, 83 people were selected from more than 100 people in 4 grades and 8 classes.
On February 4, He Zixuan was interviewed.
After rehearsing at school for a while, He Zixuan and his classmates began to go to Beijing to participate in joint training. Rehearse every week, and on weekends, they travel back and forth between Beijing and Hebei, which generally takes five or six hours one-way, and gets up at 4 or 5 in the morning. Each time you have to do a nucleic acid test before leaving school, you have to do it again when you go to Beijing.
The first time I walked into the Bird's Nest, He Zixuan's feeling was: "Wow, the Bird's Nest is so big!" When the loud music sounded and two thousand people stepped into the dance steps, the scene shocked He Zixuan. Although the rehearsal was very hard, the students cherished this opportunity, and the three substitutes have been training with everyone, and they help the students take care of their belongings during the joint exercise.
"At first we had a lot of people who didn't know each other, but now we have a lot of good friends. Participating in this performance made me feel the development and strength of the motherland. He Zixuan said, "I am very glad that I persevered from the beginning to the end, if I can't participate in the end, how sorry it will be." ”
Young Zhigao's "Soldier Doll"
Among the actors who participated in the warm-up performance of the opening ceremony on the evening of the 4th, 20 children from the Red Star Kindergarten (HuangsiYuan) of the Central Military Commission's Organ Affairs Administration Bureau, the youngest child just turned five years old. Although they are the youngest of the cast, they are not at all stage-timid in their performances.
On February 4th, the children of Red Star Kindergarten (Huangsi Garden) took a group photo.
Liu Haiyan, director of Red Star Kindergarten, told reporters that as a "cradle on horseback" kindergarten, Red Star Kindergarten has the characteristics of carrying forward the revolutionary tradition and continuing the red blood; these children are the descendants of soldiers, "these children have heard from a young age the excellent qualities of bravery, dedication and sacrifice of soldiers, and have received a lot of exercise in kindergartens and life.
On the evening of February 4, the children of Red Star Kindergarten (HuangsiYuan) performed before the opening ceremony of the XXIV Winter Olympic Games. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ga
According to Liu Haiyan, the children of Red Star Kindergarten (HuangsiYuan) also participated in the performance of the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
"From 2008 to 2022, it is also a legacy of the Olympic spirit. If the youth is strong, China is strong. ”
Teachers and students came on the field together
Among the college student actors who participated in the warm-up session, students from Beijing City College were the main force. Unlike some other participating groups and colleges, Beijing City College is a teacher and student in the battle, in addition to more than 130 students, there are 12 teachers in the front to direct, teachers and students on the same stage to perform.
Shi Qing was one of the members of the pre-ceremony performance director team and the only one of the more than 200 choreographers of the winter Olympics (international standard dance) choreographer. According to Shi Qing, in this performance, the national standard dance is divided into four songs that contain six dance elements, accounting for 6 minutes. In order to fully reflect the marching mass nature, the national standard dance and more than 20 other group dance segments of the performance were first all auditioned in the park in Beijing, and they had to be fully recognized by the onlookers before they could enter the selection stage.
"More than 30 minutes of dance, we have tried it in all the major parks in Beijing. According to the requirements of general director Zhang Yimou and chapter director Meng Yan, we counted the number of people while trying, the number of people watching was large, the masses were highly called for, and the masses did not applaud less and the crowd did not. Shi Qing said.
In the marching performance of the opening ceremony, depending on the morning and evening of the appearance, the length of time the actors continue to perform on the field varies. The earlier you appear, the longer you dance, and the more dance you have to learn. The teachers and students of Beijing City College undertook the task of the main dance section of the national standard dance of the first 1,000-person large-scale phalanx, so the performance will run through the whole venue.
On the evening of February 4, teachers and students of Beijing City College performed before the opening ceremony of the XXIV Winter Olympic Games. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Ga
In order to ensure that the students can withstand the high-intensity dance movements, Mr. Shi and other choreographers have to complete the test jump themselves. As a result, at the beginning, because the intensity was too great, Shi Qing, who loved sports and played basketball and won the Chinese national standard dance championship, vomited in many test jumps and could not persist. This brought great challenges and tests to the first team to "eat crabs". After more than two months of repeated trials and adjustments, the performance team finally determined the most reasonable cooperation between the entire choreography, scheduling and dance segments before the ceremony.
"The choreography has to be something we can stand so that the kids can do it." Our expected heart rate is about 140 to 165 beats per minute, and every 15 minutes of jumping must be intermittent, stretching and stretching before continuing. Shi Qing said.
In the months of rehearsal, Shi Qing's biggest experience was that the students learned to endure hardships and share hardships. When the program received Zhang Yimou's approval and successfully passed the trial, Shi Qing and his classmates were very excited. Before that, they had been training for 9 weeks straight and had weekends a day off.
Shi Qing said: "Bacon into the soul to moisten the heart, education is to let students to experience, otherwise it will never be taught." Participating in the performance session before the opening ceremony is not only a glory for the country for the children, but also a rare lesson, and the most valuable social practice of contemporary college students. ”
When they learned that the program was passed, the teachers collectively sang the national anthem, and the students sang along with it, and then more than 30 performance units joined in, and the late-night bird's nest suddenly sounded a warm cheer.
Editors: Shuwen, Wu Bowen, Wu Junkuan, Yang Keran (Intern)