North Korea could have done it better

Olympic performers struggle for their art

Martial arts student Cheng Jianghua only saw the Army barracks he stayed in and the stadium where he performed at the spectacular Olympics opening ceremony.

But his sacrifices were minor - other performers were injured, fainted from heatstroke or forced to wear adult nappies so the show could go on.

-------------------------------------------------------

Cheng and 2200 other carefully chosen pugilist prodigies spent an average of 16 hours a day, every day, rehearsing a synchronised tai chi routine involving high kicks, sweeping lunges and swift punches. They lived for three months in trying conditions at a restricted Army camp on the outskirts of Beijing.

Zhang told the Southern Weekend that only communist North Korea could have done a better job getting thousands of performers to move in perfect unison. "North Korea is No. 1 in the world when it comes to uniformity ... These kind of traditional synchronised movements result in a sense of beauty. We Chinese are able to achieve this as well. Through hard training and strict discipline."

-------------------------------------------------------------

"In one week, we could only work 4 1/2 days, we had to have coffee breaks twice a day, couldn't go into overtime and just a little discomfort was not allowed because of human rights. You could not criticise them either. They all belong to ... unions. We can work very hard, can withstand lots of bitterness. We can achieve in one week what they can achieve in one month."

In the segment showcasing the Chinese invention of movable type, the nearly 900 performers who crouched under 18kg boxes donned adult nappies to allow them to stay inside for at least six hours.

In one rain-drenched rehearsal, the participants were kept on their feet for 51 hours with little food and rest and no shelter from the night's downpour. Despite the sacrifices, performers were grateful for the opportunity to participate in the historic event and viewed it as an honour.

Chinese director Zhang Yimou telling the press that he was curbed in his quest for an aesthetic opening extravaganza by the need to observe human rights is telling. Responsible for hits such as Hero and House of a Thousand Daggers, Zhang felt restricted by the need to give his performers coffee breaks twice a day during 16-hour gruelling rehearsals.

The notion of suffering for one's art is one that is well established in romanticised notions of the artist, and also in low-paying occupations. Even at Disneyworld, workers are forced to leave their heads of their costumes on in front of customers or face being fired, leaving many to vomit and faint in the sweltering heat.

51 hours is an extraordinary amount of time to be kept on one's feet in a row. It is important to read through the democratic doublespeak that has characterised China's hosting of the Olympics. While Zhang says the performers belong to unions, I doubt any union would endorse forced standing to the level that the US uses to torture insurgents at Guantanamo.

The Herald's Olympic Armchair blogger asks where the Chinese spectators are after observing many sports where the background is punctuated by rows and rows of empty seats. The answer is simple: while we experience the Olympics as a celebration of the global village through our media, for the Chinese it is yet another example of the perils of living under an oppressive regime.