It was a big and important day for all of us because it's the opening ceremony that night! All of the groups would perform for the first time here and we were given 8-minute performance each. We started the day by having general rehearsal at the main hall. Everybody gathered and was ready with the props. We stood in a circle with the hosts in the centre explaining what we had to do, the turns, stage entrance, and other details. Some of the non-Spanish speaking countries, including us, were a bit confused at first because they kept talking in Spanish. We would do the performance outside while the rest would have to wait inside. I was excited that I got to see the dances I had never seen before. When it was nearly our turn, we became very nervous because we thought it would be the real performance as everybody would watch us for the first time. We had to really bring it to make a great impression. After it was done, we had lunch, rest, prepared ourselves, had dinner, and left.
The ceremony took place in a city called Zafra. We arrived at 8pm I think but the ceremony itself started at 10pm and before that there was a parade. We all had to wait at this outdoor terrace where we could see the locals hanging around. We had to wait very long but I enjoyed this moment because I could see the groups wearing their amazing costumes, taking pictures with them and the locals, we just mingled with everybody. And when the sky was getting darker, we started walking towards the stage.
The ceremony started and each group was called one by one passing the front of the stage. In the middle of the way, I could already hear the cheers of the audience. I assumed there were lots of people. And it was much more crowded than I expected! Hundreds of seats were fully occupied. The people who are having their dinner at the restaurants nearby could watch us too. This is huge!!
And the show began. The groups look so much better with their costumes. However, the stage floor was made of woods and it was flaky. It was a nightmare for the groups who performed without their shoes on, even us who were wearing socks, the wood flakes harmed our feet pretty badly. Despite the inconvenience, I believe we all still managed to pull it off and wow the audience.
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| Poland |
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| Uruguay |
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| Timor Leste |
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| Chile |
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| Georgia |
After it's all done, we sat backstage having baguette. I was enjoying the moment watching the locals. It was already around 1.30 am but even the little kids were still running around. I was a bit surprised we had not gone back yet. I wonder what time we would arrive at the uni because we had to do something the next morning. I thought we would have to perform at late hours like this and arrived at dawn, sleep for a few hours, and start the day again only that day. But in fact, our schedule would be pretty much the same every single day! Let us begin our Spanish life.
Photos by Adam Rahmansyah
