To celebrate graduation, the 2016 Graduation Gala, hosted by Wuhan University Association of Arts, was held in Meiyuan Playground on June 18th. Although the theme of the party this year is "The Great Escape”, it channeled the feeling of reluctance to hundreds of audiences. Why do they “escape”? They are unwilling to say goodbye.
Launched in 2014, this year in a new way, the carnival comprised the performances of the Top Ten Models, the Top Ten Singers and the Top Ten Dancers of WHU, as well as invited guests. Most of the performers are graduates of 2016, which makes the show more special.
The gala started with a dynamic Popping dance, wowing audiences and a joint Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show style runway performance. Yang Yu, one of the Top Ten Singers, then sang a song called Renwoxing, which expressed the desire for freedom and the fear of loneliness.” In the last semester, I always went to the cinema alone,” said Yang Yu, “I gradually found that I was confronted with a single room, a single canteen and a single cinema. My friends left campus one by one and I asked myself whether I should be accustomed to a single life.”As the song goes, the real freedom becomes dull when you taste it. Yang’s soulful vocals aroused the reluctance of campus life and the precious four-year memory in every graduates’ hearts.
The dynamic opening dance
Fortunately, Yang is always accompanied by music.” I will never give up singing, not even during preparation for grad school.” As a popular campus singer, he got numerous prizes in the last four years and received unanimous acclaim in the last performance of his undergraduate life. Nothing can reflect this mixed feelings better than music. Empire State Of Mind, an English song jointly sung by Yang Yu and Chen Huilin, lit up the whole atmosphere and made everyone present feel refreshed. When most of them indulged in the “concrete jungle where dreams are made”, Mengtian, the next song Yang Yu sang with Yuan Xushu brought them back to their inner peace again. Every college-graduate-to-be should look back at their original dreams in case they get lost in real life. Only when they have an unwavering mind can they face the ups and downs in their lives calmly. It was the unique way of Yang to share his own reflection on graduation.
Rap music warming up the whole playground
Another team that impressed the audience was the Top Ten Models in 2012, who also acted as the founders of the Dream Art Troupe, the organizer of Graduation Gala.” I feel so lucky to meet such a group of peers. We promised each other in 2012 to walk together again before graduation and today we make it,” said the captain Chen Saijing. They had been preparing for a whole night before their last time on the stage to insure a wonderful ending. Accompanied by an elaborate video, they left their young figures to this deeply attached land. Their performance ended with the song I Believe, sung by three of graduates in the team.”I believe/you are still waiting there/the way towards love/is always full of blessing……”Sentimental lyrics spoke out sincere words of all the graduates-to-be.
Models’ last performance on campus
"Maybe it’s our last carnival before graduation. I feel so reluctant, and I want to address many thanks to my home, WHU,” said one member of the audience who had had tears welling from her eyes. The memory the past will always remain, and may the years ahead bode well for all the graduates. It’s not an ending, but a commencement.
(Edited by Liu Yinglun, Mark & Hu Sijia)
