Mayor of Kazan attends KAZAN 2015 opening ceremony rehearsal
Today Mayor of Kazan Ilsur Metshin visited the Tatneft Arena Sports Palace where rehearsals of the Opening Ceremony for the 16th FINA World Championships and the Pilgrim show take place. He saw a small extract of the show and met with performers after the rehearsal.
The Opening Ceremony rehearsals are held behind closed doors at a small site of the Tatneft Arena Sports Palace. Kazan Mayor Ilsur Metshin saw today a small extract of the rehearsal and shared his impression with reporters.
“Very little time remains until the start of the Opening Ceremony and the FINA World Championships, and rehearsals of the Pilgrim show are in full swing. Unfortunately, we cannot show you even a small piece of the show as it is kept strictly secret. We want it to come as a pleasant surprise to everyone. There is one thing I can tell: the show will be epic and stunning not only in terms of its scale, but also in terms of exclusive know-hows that we intend to use for the first time. A huge responsibility was placed upon us. We are expected to welcome representatives of more than 190 participating countries which is a record number for the World Championships – there have never been such a thing before. We also plan that our tournament will be seen by 4 billion TV viewers. And almost one fourth of this quantity will watch the Opening Ceremony. Just like before, the core team will be made up of artists, dancers, singers and production directors of Kazan and Tatarstan. It is a huge responsibility, huge honour and huge possibility for Kazan to market itself around the world. We’ve reached a stage where we know we are capable to do it and show it to a large number of people,” the Mayor said.
“With 10 days and even a week to go until the Universiade, people kept asking me, ’Will you really finish everything in time?’. Wherever I went I was asked the same question not only by reporters but by my friends and colleagues. Only Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov had no doubt. And we always gave the same clear answer, ‘On July 8 at 8 o’clock in the morning not only will the city be ready but you will see how different it looks‘. And today the scope of upcoming preparations is equal to the works carried out in the build-up to the Universiade. But we not only make methodical efforts at the republican and municipal levels but also take some individual approaches. We arrange meetings with restaurant keepers, hotel owners and representatives of housing maintenance companies. Let me take this opportunity to thank everyone for their patience and understanding. We have another two weeks to complete all preparation works and I think after that we can proudly showcase Kazan to the entire world. Our city has never attracted so much global limelight before. The very idea that the media coverage will reach 4 billion people – which is more than half of the world's population - gives me the shivers,” the Mayor said.
As it was previously mentioned, even the smallest details of the show are kept secret. At the moment it is known that the show's plot is based on real-life events and sceneries will be installed on a multi-level cascade of swimming pools ranging in depth from 0.05 to 3 metres. The pools will be mostly used by highly-skilled synchro swimmers, while circus artists will perform mid-air above the arena. The production director of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 16th FINA World Championships, Alexey Sechenov, promised that the show will provide a mind-blowing experience.
”As far as the installation works and rehearsals are concerned, everything goes according to the plan, without failures, and we are even a couple of days ahead of the schedule. Yes, this year we have a smaller venue for the ceremonies, but it does not mean that the shows will be less ambitious. On the contrary, spectators will seat closer to the venue, which means that their involvement in the performance, their understanding of the show will be more intense. Spectators will play an active part in the show and this is our best card. If during the Universiade spectators were just simple observers, here they will become co-characters and will perceive every twist in the plot more dramatically,” admitted Alexey Sechenov.
“What is the show about? I will say this: during our entire life we travel a path from beginning to end. We are heading somewhere all the time; we are going towards a goal. And this goal is called a spring. And as soon as we reach this spring, at some point we realise that the spring itself has no value, it is the path we travel that is of importance. So this is what the show is about. I would like to thank the organisers for providing us with unprecedented opportunities to create and to continue improving ourselves,” Alexey Sechenov said.
Before being selected into the ballet company, all actors had to pass a series of auditions. It was important to understand how different kinds of artists (circus performers, synchro swimmers and acrobats) get along on the same stage.
“All of us are part of a world-class unforgettable show, the likes of which has never been seen before. We started daily rehearsals one month ago, although we planned to start them even earlier. We are currently working non-stop in order to bring this incredible show to life. The interesting thing is that we are all representatives of different genres (from folk music to street style) and we are woven together here. Auditions? Of course, not all comers were accepted as there are certain standards and requirements. The ballet company only includes 160 dancers, and there are also circus performers and acrobats,” said Ruslan Richi, one of the show’s performers.