On October 23, the annual Golden Autumn Dance Competition took place with 21 teams gathered at Meiyuan Playground, offering a fabulous programme.
The performance Mortise and Tenon by the School of Economics and Management became the champion for the fifth time in the past six years with a score of 9.748. The dance utilized elements from traditional Chinese architecture, with black symbolizing mortise and red symbolizing tenon. The two parts confronted and connected, departed and united, showing vitality and rapport. They used body language to demonstrate the process of creating the mortise and tenon structure, such as exploring, grinding, assembling and undoing. The gradual development of mortise and tenon structure was reflective of the group’s collective spirit.
Mortise and Tenon by the School of Economics and Management
For Zhang Nayuan, a freshman from the School of Economics and Management, it was a precious opportunity to participate in this gala. “Though the one-month training nearly occupied all my free time, we established a valuable friendship and formed solid team spirit. And the splendid result is surely the best return. I’m proud of our team and also thankful to WHU for providing us with a platform for competing on behalf of our school and show our talent.”
The School of Journalism and Communication also absorbed traditional Chinese culture in its performance. Their dance Recall the Elegance of the Tang Dynasty earned the third-highest score of 9.514. Performers acted as music players in the Tang Dynasty and specifically focused on revealing the vivacious and naughty side of their characters that wouldn’t be revealed simply by reading history books. The audience was deeply immersed in their magnificent performance and burst into applause in the end.
Recall the Elegance of the Tang Dynasty by the School of Journalism and Communication
“Melody of the Time”, the theme of this year’s Dance Competition, was reflected throughout the stunning performances. The School of Law got the second-highest score of 9.626, with an appealing story adapted from Hu Zhong and Xie Xiaojun, a couple honored by the 2011 “Touching China” awards. Their great spirit of supporting education in Tibet was reflected in the dancers’ beautiful and graceful poses. As the title of the performance, The Mountain Afar is Not Distant, went, love and devotion brought people closer, as well as moved the audience.
The Mountain Afar is Not Distant by the School of Law
One of the judges expressed his compliments towards the performers, saying that they did a fabulous job at integrating stories into the dance performances and blending emotion within body movements.
A lot of preparations go on behind the scene. Most of the performers merely had 20 days or so to prepare for the art festival. The nearer the date came, the more time they devoted to training. In the end, the audience’ s hurray and applause seemed to chase all their weariness away. “None of that matters as long as they appreciate our show.” Zhao Ruoyun, one of the performers from the School of Journalism and Communication, said thankfully.
Green Seedlings by the School of Foreign Languages and Literature
All these 22 dance performances are the crystallization of the sweat of the actors and staff, and also a precious gift for Wuhan University in the golden autumn. They aroused the audience’s wonderment and led them to anticipate the next golden autumn, when performers will once again dance in the spotlight.
Photo by Miao Zhengyan
Edited by Zheng Zicheng, Qin Zehao& Tu Hua
