On March 4, the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Paralympic Games was staged at the "Bird's Nest" at the National Stadium. Colorful colors spread between heaven and earth, ultimately interpreting the core theme: the bloom of life.
"You see all the colors you can imagine, and behind it is the inner world of the disabled." Shen Chen, director of the opening ceremony, said, "Romantic, warm and splendid are the aesthetic ideas of the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympic Games. ”
Time constraints are the biggest difficulty
On February 21, the closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics had just ended the day before, and in the afternoon, the cast and crew of the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympic Games moved into the Bird's Nest. Previously, everyone rehearsed at a simulation base in Shunyi.
"The rehearsal time in the early days was tight." Shen Chen recalled that considering the practical factors such as epidemic prevention and control, it was about the end of January that the actors began to arrive one after another, and all the staff arrived around February 8. Another problem with the simulation base is that the venue is not standard enough, "it is at least one-half smaller than the site of the bird's nest, it does not have so much space, and there is no oversized ground screen." In order to minimize the post-modifications, the main creative team's preliminary plan must strive to be accurate, "Most of the time, we are simulating rehearsals through simulation technology and pre-judgment, and the director sometimes has to go up and complete the position change by himself." In the cold winter weather, we all hope that the disabled actors will not work too hard, nor do we want to adjust the plan from scratch after entering the bird's nest, so the main creative team was very stressed during that time. ”
On February 23, the first row was staged, and almost every night since then, everyone has been rehearsing. "Basically, we work until 4 a.m. every day, get up at 9 a.m. and continue, and a few of the core creators are spinning." Shen Chen said, "All the disabled cast members are working with us to make every effort, hoping to successfully present this opening ceremony." ”
Tell the story of people with disabilities themselves
In 2008, Shen Chen served as the general director of the second half of the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, and at that time, "we wanted to open a window to the world and show our 5,000 years of brilliant civilization." On the third day of the Chinese New Year in 2020, Shen Chen received an invitation to participate in the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympic Games, "Everyone was riveted at that time, and they were still wondering if they could create a wonderful night like 2008." ”
But as ideas continue to advance, many ideas change. "The people of the world have learned about China and our profound culture, and some words no longer need to be said, so what should we tell the world today?" We want to use the perspective of contemporary people to depict contemporary China and contemporary Beijing. Shen Chen said. Specific to the Winter Paralympics, "can we be more inclined to the disabled themselves, to their own inner world?" After truly entering the life of the disabled, you will find that their energy is no less than or even surpassed that of able-bodied people, but usually we do not pay more attention. We want to let more people in the world pay attention to the disabled through the opening and closing ceremonies of this Winter Paralympic Games, and also show the humanistic feelings of Chinese. ”
Of the approximately 1,000 actors at the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympic Games, the proportion of people with disabilities accounts for about 30%. Earlier, Shen Chen, like many people, was worried that when dealing with disabled people, should he pay attention to what words could not be said? Will they be more sensitive? "Not really. The more peacefully we treat them, the better we can form a good relationship. We are all Chinese, and we all have the feelings that Chinese our hearts. Everyone is working hard for a purpose. Shen Chen also wants to share this personal experience with more people, "When everyone communicates with them, some doubts can be completely relieved." ”
After a period of getting along, Shen Chen is more willing to call a "disabled friend" than the title of "disabled actor". The "friends" brought too many stories that moved him: for example, the 70-year-old Xia Boyu, who was the first person in China to climb Mount Everest by relying on a leg prosthesis. The next day after entering the nest, due to tight time, the rehearsal continued until 4:30 a.m. Shen Chengang told the staff that Xia Boyu was invited to the side to rest for a while, but when he heard the instructions to "prepare", the old man and the children quickly arrived; for example, the 47 small musicians who played the concert song, they were all blind children, from Chongqing, many people went out for the first time, the first time to take a plane. When the music sounded, Shen Chen burst into tears.
"Children can only familiarize themselves with musical instruments by touching. Sound people can memorize and understand the work through the score, but they need to memorize the music first and then learn to play it. The band of more than 40 people is put together, without a conductor, relying on the rhythm of the heart. Shen Chen knows that children are just the epitome of China's more than 80 million disabled people, "every disabled person has to complete a job, and the effort behind it is much more than we know." ”
The creative team wanted to show the way people with disabilities live. For the national flag and the national anthem, everyone has a deep love and their own way of expressing it. People with hearing impairments may not be able to hear or sing the melody of the national anthem, but they can dance with their hands. At the opening ceremony, when the five-star red flag was raised, Tai Lihua led about 40 hand dancers to "sing" the national anthem from the bottom of their hearts; when designing the costumes, at first, "from the perspective of artists, we do not want to expose the mutilated parts of the disabled, we feel that this is to please the tears of the audience, or to 'sell misery'." Therefore, the main creative team chose to dress up the actors in a more aesthetic way, but after a joint rehearsal a few days ago, Zhang Haidi, chairman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, made a long phone call.
"Chairman Heidi said to me, we must show the prosthetic limbs of the elderly Xia Boyu, his prosthetics not only represent the perseverance and self-improvement spirit of the disabled, but also the independent products of our country, why not simply show it?" Shen Chen was persuaded, "If it is all covered up, the characteristics of the disabled will be missing." When broadcasting, we will use the medium and close-up scenes to show a lot of details, and the audience in front of the TV may have a more detailed feeling. "In the emblem display link, the director group gave up the customized costumes, so that the protagonists of several groups of stories put on their own clothes, the requirements are not much, there is a spring texture on the line, 47 blind children Xiaole hands, there are also some people who do not wear blind glasses. Between art and reality, the creative team weighed a delicate and warm balance, "We don't want them to feel uncomfortable, and we don't want to make the audience uncomfortable." ”
"Chinese romance" continues
In the month since the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, "Chinese romance" has always been enjoyed. At the opening ceremony of the Winter Paralympic Games, Chinese elements still run through the whole process.
"Whether it is a stage space, a visual space or a performance space, we always emphasize the concept of 'concentric circles', which comes from ancient Chinese culture, has the beautiful meaning of 'unity, friendship and equality', and also coincides with the concept of disability and communion." Shen Chen interpreted that at the opening ceremony, concentric circles were almost everywhere: in the countdown, the huge circular skylight and the earth formed concentric circles; in the emblem display, the actors stood in concentric circles; in the "Winter Paralympic Round Dance", the colors spilled by the visually impaired children became concentric circles on the spot; after the flame was lit, all the actors rushed into the field with cheers, forming 5 circles of concentric circles...
"We want to convey a Chinese-style romantic humanities, a philosophy with emotions. We find concentric circles that allow people to constantly focus and feel the unity, friendship and communion after breaking down barriers. Shen Chen said.
Chinese romance is elsewhere. March 4th, coinciding with the second day of the second month of the lunar calendar, "The Dragon Rises". During the athletes' entrance ceremony, 10 traditional Chinese classical music works such as "Plum Blossom Three Alleys", "Fishing Boat Singing Evening" and "Caiyun Chasing the Moon" were cleverly adapted by the composers, not only with the wish of "perfect perfection", but also with an international symphonic vocabulary to welcome guests, open, confident and inclusive. If the audience's observation is more acute, they will find that each guide carries a woolen knitted snow rong, which is not an industrialized assembly line product, but a needle and a knit by the disabled themselves, "Although it is small, we still hope to bring more warmth to everyone." ”
Source Beijing Daily Client | Reporter Gao Qian
Edited by Xie Yongli
Process Editor Wu Yue