| The curtain came up on the 2007 Special Olympics World Summer Games on October 2 in Shanghai, China's largest city. The long-awaited opening ceremony, with the theme of "Harmony: the common dream of humanity", captured the country's ancient culture and emphasized the spirit of harmony around the world.
The 80,000-seat Shanghai Stadium was filled to capacity. Audiences at home and abroad were entranced by the deep, organic pounding of traditional Chinese drums, exquisite costumes, the blaze of fireworks, and most importantly, the lead performers, who captured several hearts despite their disabilities.
In an exclusive interview with Beijing Review reporter Chen Ran, Wang Kanghong, producer of the opening ceremony, shares some bittersweet memories of the spectacular event, and the preparations behind it.
Beijing Review: From a producer's standpoint, what kind of message should the opening ceremony spread?
Wang Kanghong: Many people, including myself, used to confuse the Special Olympics with the Paralympics. In fact, the athletes of these two games are totally different. The Special Olympics are designed for individuals with intellectual disabilities; the Paralympics designed for those with physical disabilities.
Generally speaking, people with intellectual disabilities can be categorized into three groups: those with IQs under 70, Down syndrome, and brain paralysis.
We, the opening ceremony production team, would like to see that the four pillars of the Special Olympics, namely courage, sharing, skill and joy, have reached the audience worldwide at the ceremony.
By and large, the ceremony is twofold. On the one hand, the audience will learn that there is no difference between individuals with intellectual disabilities and them. On the other hand, the ceremony can be seen as an encouragement for individuals with intellectual disabilities, an occasion for them to learn equality and strengthen self-confidence. Just as the slogan for the Special Olympics advocates: "Let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt."
How does one bring Chinese characteristics to the country's first-ever major sports event for people with intellectual disabilities?
It's almost a general rule and common practice that "Chinese elements", including the fans, kung fu, red lanterns, Taijiquan, a diagram of the universe, the Great Wall, etc., will be presented in every international event related to China. The key is how to use them and present them in a unique way.
The creative and production team of Chinese professionals have a lot of experience in doing opening ceremonies. Given my previous cooperation with foreign production teams and the communication with Don Mischer, Executive Producer and Director of the ceremony, my initial aim was to present foreigners with a Chinese-style ceremony, while the Chinese would get an international feel from it. So we tried our best during the preparation sessions to realize this aim; we did plenty of workshops and tests to see whether our creative ideas would work.
Presenting Chinese characteristics with props is a big challenge to the scenic and prop design team. For example, during the athletes' parade, we use fans as a board to display the name of the country or the region, in both Chinese and English; but the size and color of the fans and characters had to be discussed over and over again. We borrowed some ideas from traditional Chinese operas in the Courage Section; but the dragon, the main prop, was too big to enter the stadium, so we had to change the entrance.
Moreover, the spectators this time were no longer outsiders; we wanted to see them join in the ceremony, so we prepared prop packages for everyone, including a colorful silk stripe, a twinkling hand-held light, and a flute. You can find the flute in both Chinese and Western cultures, but the flutes at the stadium could only chorus five notes of ancient Chinese music.
The Chinese celebrities who were invited -- including movie star Jackie Chan, NBA star Yao Ming, 110m hurdler Liu Xiang, pianist Lang Lang, cellist Yo-Yo Ma -- all enjoy worldwide prestige and popularity. What they did was totally non-profit. Yao Ming was charged by the Houston Rockets for his absence from the media day and the first two days of training camp; but he said it was worth doing something for the Special Olympics.
What impressed you most during the 15-month preparation session?
The lead performers with intellectual disabilities, brave enough to challenge themselves, impressed me most.
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