Reunited to deliver moving performance

Since the stadium is very large, her team spent a lot of time working on the movements. For example, they did some math to make sure that each of the dancers arrived at the right point on the stage at the right time. They also worked with the audio and visual departments to design the moves, since the dancers performed with illuminated and changing images on the floor.

"We spent lots of sleepless nights in the venue, having meetings and changing plans over and over again. The final version was determined only a month before the opening ceremony," says Wang.

For Wang, the National Stadium means a lot to her personally.

Beijing is the first city to host both the Summer and Winter Olympics. The opening ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympic Games also took place at the National Stadium, which was also directed by Zhang. Wang was a member of Zhang's team then, too.

Compared to 2008, which involved hundreds of thousands of dancers, the dance piece, Forming a Snowflake, had less than 100 dancers and was the only dance piece performed on the opening night.

"In 2008, we tried to introduce ourselves to the world by letting people know about our 5,000-year-old history. So we employed various means to achieve that goal. In 2022,14 years later, the country's international status is firmly established. We are stronger and much more confident," says Wang. "The opening ceremony is simple yet spectacular. We want to showcase contemporary China and the great future we will have."

As an old friend of Zhang, Wang is widely celebrated for choreographing the ballet piece, Raise the Red Lantern, directed by Zhang in 2001.

"He is full of energy and ideas. He always works day and night," says Wang of the film director.