PYONGYANG: The biggest show on earth made an astonishing comeback on Sunday (Sep 9) as North Korea put on its all-singing, all-dancing propaganda…
PYONGYANG: The biggest show on earth made an astonishing comeback on Sunday (Sep 9) as North Korea put on its all-singing, all-dancing propaganda display, the ‘Mass Games’, for the first time in five years.
Months in the preparation, the show featured tens of thousands of performers under the curved arches of the May Day Stadium, enacting scenes from Korean history and modern life against an ever-changing and unique backdrop.
It was made up of 17,490 children turning the coloured pages of books in sequence to create giant images rippling across one side of the stadium – an analogue version, on a giant scale, of a usually digital solution.
They portrayed scenes from floral landscapes to portraits of late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, interspersed with slogans including “We can win if we defend socialism” and “Our motherland is the strongest because of the Marshal” – a reference to Kim Jong Un, the third generation of his family to rule the country.
The crowd – the stadium is said to hold 150,000 people – erupted into cheers as Kim entered for the premiere of the new Mass Games, titled “The Glorious Country” and part of the celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, as the North is officially known.
On the covered pitch, dancers twirled, acrobats leapt, and brass bands played in a sequence of acts including “Our socialist homeland” and “We have the greatest Party”.
Performers are largely schoolchildren and students but ranged from child gymnasts to a 69-year-old player of the kayagum, a traditional Korean stringed instrument – accompanied by 1,200 others.
