Mass games

Federal Gymnastics Festival in Milwaukee, 1893.
Czech Sokol festival, Prague, 1920.
Honoring South Korean President Park Chung-hee in a South Korean Army Parade at Armed Forces day on October 1, 1973.
1998 mass games in Pyongyang. The performers are honouring the image of the former North Korean leader Kim Il Sung.
Arirang Festival mass games display in Pyongyang.
Mass games festival in North Korea. The performers are honouring the image of the former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung.

Mass games or mass gymnastics are a form of performing arts or gymnastics in which large numbers of performers take part in a highly regimented performance that emphasizes group dynamics rather than individual prowess.

North Korea

Mass games are now performed only in the Rungnado May Day Stadium (the highest capacity stadium in the world) but in the '90s there were mass games held at the Kim Il-sung Stadium. Mass Games can basically be described as a synchronized socialist-realist spectacular, featuring over 100,000 participants in a 90-minute display of gymnastics, dance, acrobatics, and dramatic performance, accompanied by music and other effects, all wrapped in a highly politicized package. Students practiced every day from January onwards. The 90 minute performance is held every evening at 7pm and features the 'largest picture in the world' a giant mosaic of individual students each holding a book whose pages links with their neighbours’ to make up one gigantic scene. When the students turn the pages the scene or individual elements of the scene change, up to 170 pages make up one book.

According to Kim Jong-il, the philosophy behind the events was that:

Developing mass gymnastics is important in training children to be fully developed communist people, to be fully developed communist man, one must acquire a revolutionary ideology, the knowledge of many fields, rich cultural attainments and a healthy and strong physique. These are the basic qualities required of a man of the communist type. Mass gymnastics play an important role in training schoolchildren to acquire these communist qualities. Mass gymnastics foster particularly healthy and strong physiques, a high degree of organization, discipline and collectivism in schoolchildren. The schoolchildren, conscious that a single slip in their action may spoil their mass gymnastic performance, make every effort to subordinate all their thoughts and actions to the collective
— Kim Jong Il, On Further Developing Mass Gymnastics. Talk to mass Gymnastics Producers. April 11th 1987

History

In Germany, Friedrich Ludwig Jahn developed an efficient gymnastics method called Massenturnen. For propagating Massenturnen, Germany started Massenturnen show (de:Deutsches Turnfest).

Mass games developed alongside 19th century nationalist movements, particularly the Czech Sokol movement. Participants were factory workers brought in by Party Secretaries.

In Japan, schools adopted German gymnastics and mass games were started. Since 1925, mass games were played in Meiji Jingū Kyōgi Taikai (Meiji Shrine Sports Competition).

In Romania, the communist government organized compulsory mass games after Communist Party leader Nicolae Ceauşescu and his wife had visited China and saw such games there. These were the hardest working days of the year since every individual was required to participate along with his fellow workers. Being late on this day or not shouting the party leader's name loudly enough would lead to being reported by fellow workers and to prosecutors.

In Bulgaria, mass games were occasionally held during the Zname na mira ("Flag of Peace") international youth festivals. However, Bulgaria did not have a tradition of mass games, and performances were rare.

Current performances

Today, mass games are regularly performed only in North Korea, where they take place to celebrate national holidays such as the birthdays of rulers Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. In recent years, they have been the main attraction of the Arirang Festival in Pyongyang. The 2004 documentary film by VeryMuchSo Productions and Koryo Tours A State of Mind details the training of two young girls from Pyongyang who perform in the mass games.

Arirang mass games were first performed in 2002 in Pyongyang's May Day Stadium and have been held every year since - between August and October and on one occasion in Spring. The show was on 4 times a week. Tourists from all over the World were welcomed to the DPRK during Mass Games.

Sokol organization for Czech and other. Eastern European youth athletic organize exposition, competition, and nationalist identity building event organized called Slet.[1] The word slet means 'a gathering of falcons'. The first Sokol slet was held in 1882 in Prague to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Sokol organization.[2] Since 1994 it is held every 6 years.

It is also possible to consider the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games as instances of mass games.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "History". SOKOL USA CHICAGO GYMNASTICS. Retrieved 22 December 2008.
  2. ↑ Bednar, Charles and Sivak, Paul: The Sokols and Their Endeavor. 1948.

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