On the evening of September 4th, after the 50-minute performance on the West Lake Water Stage, the screens of WeChat Moments never stopped. Countless people were saying, "Hangzhou is the most memorable." So, do you know how the world-famous G20 gala was born?
The sophistication of the performance has surpassed that of the Beijing Olympics
The poetic and vivid stage is most remembered in Hangzhou
In Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", the actors splashed the lake water with all their strength, and a giant rain shower slowly rose up on the lake, spraying out rain and mist, pushing the entire performance to a climax - last night, After the 50-minute performance on the West Lake Water Stage, the screens on WeChat Moments never stopped. Countless people were saying, "Hangzhou is what I remember most."
In the wonderful symphony and the singing that penetrated the lake, we saw at least 100 changing effects of lights. Swan Lake, water dance, and brilliant fireworks intertwined into a poetic and ink landscape of Hangzhou. .
No wonder director Zhang Yimou said: The poetic and picturesque scenery can only be matched on the West Lake.
How to open the show
The director team overturned it countless times
The 124-member China National Symphony Orchestra and the Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra joined hands with the China National Traditional Orchestra Pipa Chief performer Zhao Cong started last night's performance with a song "Spring River Flower Moonlight Night".
"In "Moonlight Night on the Spring River", the girls danced "Tea Picking Dance", accompanied by the violin song "Butterfly Lovers", and searched for their close friends all the way to "Mountains and Flowing Waters". In "Swan Lake", the little swans Dancing happily under the cover of "Moonlight", at this moment, "My Motherland and I" are extremely proud. When "Unforgettable Jasmine" and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony "Ode to Joy" are played, I think I will be in this life. Remember Hangzhou!" On Weibo, a clever netizen stringed together the names of the nine performances to describe the entire performance.
However, behind the release of this opening, there were countless discussions and overturns.
Cui Wei, one of the core members of the creative team and director of the Hangzhou Opera and Dance Theater, said: "According to inertial thinking, it should be a lively opening. But this is Hangzhou, and West Lake is not a noisy place. So we We discussed many times around the concepts of 'local characteristics' and 'Chinese style', and finally chose the artistic opening of "Spring River with Flowers and Moonlight Night"." After the opening method was determined, the style of the entire performance was basically clarified.
In fact, no one can remember how many plans the creative team overturned during the preparation period of more than a year. Some of these overturns come from the team's own adjustment in creative concepts, and some come from suggestions from all aspects.
“The audience will have a rough idea of ??the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, but many people are unfamiliar with the G20. This performance actually exceeds the Beijing Olympics in terms of height and accuracy.” The relationship between Cui Wei and Zhang Yimou started at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Therefore, as a "Hangzhou native" this time, she joined the directing team early.
On July 1, she was the first to lead the dance team into the arena and began to adapt to the water stage. After the large troops entered the scene on August 4, the director team was busy from dusk to early morning every day, and then held meetings afterward to refine the details and change the actions based on the cooperation between the water stage and the holographic image.
Use light and shadow magic
How to create the feeling of ink painting
During the sound of Lu Siqing's violin concerto "Butterfly Lovers", Liu Fuyang, head of the dance troupe of Zhejiang Song and Dance Theater and Luo Wenbo of Beijing Dance Academy danced, and a big fan slowly opened on the lake, interpreting the familiar Jiangnan charm; when the little swans danced, holographic imaging technology transformed countless little swans, and the magic of light and shadow once again amazed the whole world. field.
Before, Zhang Yimou introduced that in a completely natural environment, especially on the water, holographic images have basically not been used. Last night, against the surrounding ambient light, the entire water stage seemed to be suspended on the lake, like a dream.
Sha Xiaolan, the chief producer of the show, said that when designing the ambient lighting at the beginning, the main thing was to make the tree layered. In addition to dyeing a large area, it was also necessary to outline the backbone. It's like painting. But after finishing these lamps, he was still not satisfied, as if something was missing. "I found that there are many willow trees by the West Lake. If they are outlined with surface and point lights and line lights, they will be very charming. Our 50 lighting workers worked for two months to use 200,000 meters of star light. , and ticked all the trees on the side. This can make the changes of the seasons, and match the needs of the show, giving it an artistic conception of ink painting. ”
The water performance is beautiful
How to avoid slipping
When the little swan danced on the lake, it triggered another round of climax in the circle of friends.
It was beautiful for the audience, but it was really challenging for every actor to stand firm while showing their most beautiful posture and completing teamwork.
The chorus members stood still at first, but some fell down. Later, the general manager Yan Baolin thought of a way. Everyone stood with their legs slightly apart, like a small compass, to maintain a balanced center of gravity.
For the first time in history, "Swan Lake" was performed on a real lake. The ballet originally had a narrow focus, so special non-slip dance shoes were needed to adapt. Every day during training, some people slip and sprain their feet in the water.
Liang Shanbo-Mao Weitao has performed many times, but this is the first time on the lake, especially the fan dance. After last night's performance, she joked with reporters: "You ask me how I feel about being in love with each other on the water? I always have to worry about my fan blowing away in the wind."
Clear children's voice< /p>
How it was selected
In previous reports, we have introduced that when singing on the lake, the sound will be seriously affected by humidity and temperature. This impact is not only for Instruments, the same goes for vocals. When the accompaniment of "My Motherland and Me" sounded, a clear child's voice came from the lake, which was extremely penetrating - the little girl Xu Ziqi who sang with Liao Changyong was from the second grade of Daguan Primary School in Hangzhou.
In mid-August, Ziqi learned this song in two days, and was eventually selected by Zhang Yimou because of her outstanding tone and lack of stage fright.
In addition to solo performers, there are two choruses for adults and children. The 120-member children's choir is composed of four teams and performs mainly three songs: "Mountains and Flowing Waters", "My Motherland and Me" and "Ode to Joy".
Teacher Chen Ying, the leader of the Little Swallows Chorus of Xuejun Primary School, said that they started rehearsing at the end of June. It was extremely hot in Hangzhou this summer and there were many mosquitoes on the water, but none of the children complained. On the contrary, After two months of getting along, she found that many children not only improved in singing skills and performance status, but also learned to cooperate with other groups and understood the importance of interaction and communication in chorus~