For years, the brilliant JI freshmen welcome show has been a hit in the SJTU campus. This year, the highly anticipated event was collaborated with the School of Foreign Language and the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and the exciting “Trio” captivated the audience at Jingjing Auditorium on October 30. Leaders, staff of Student Affairs Offices, freshmen, faculty and staff from the three schools as well as SJTU student representatives and 200 parents from all over China attended the feast of sight and sound.
With “Trio” as the theme, the talented student performers from the three schools rolled out the three movements of Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, which depicted the freshmen’s anticipation, upper-classmen’s warm welcome, and the caring of JI and parents.
The colorful program kicked off with a dynamic hip hop dance and heartwarming funny video clips. The uplifting song “Try” inspired dreams and hope. The hilarious skit “Male Losers’ Adventures in the Wilderness of Minhang” poked fun at SJTU’s eccentricities and odd balls.
The second movement started with good wishes for the freshmen from their friends in universities across China, followed by the play “A Life of One Year, Seven Months, and Eighteen Days” which portrayed artistically how the freshmen bid farewell to their past and an eye-opening glow-in-the-dark dance “Monster” which fused art with high tech innovation. It culminated with the “President Show” where the presidents of various student clubs revived childhood cartoon characters with outrageous and sidesplitting acts which invoked thundering applause.
Other programs such as cross talk “SJTU Tidbits,” martial art “Walking Cloud and Running Water,” and folk song “Moon Flower by the Water” ignited the Chinese spirit amid JI’s international atmosphere; a rock band’s 60s oldie “Purple Haze,” a folk band’s “Counting Star,” a love song medley “Say Love,” and a group dance “OH” all provided wonderful entertainment. The grand finale “I believe” drew the curtains down.
This year’s welcome show was simultaneously broadcasted by professionals. Real time comments from viewers popped up on the screen from time to time, promoting interactions between the performers and the audience.
The success of the show was made possible with the generous financial support of the JI Parents’ Fund. While the rehearsals were going in earnest, the freshmen were busy adjusting to SJTU: reflecting on yesterday, seizing today, and anticipating tomorrow. On the show night, the dreams were singing with the dancing of the youth. Best luck to the freshmen, wishing them success in their SJTU endeavor.
