I performed at the London Olympics!

MANILA, Philippines - In December 2011, a friend posted on Facebook that the organizing committee of the London Olympics was still looking for volunteers to audition to become part of the ceremonies. I didn’t have a ticket to the Games (they were very expensive), so I thought that this would be my best chance to go and see the ceremonies live.

Now, I am not a performer. I did some theater when I was still in school, but I have never auditioned for anything before — let alone a worldwide event seen by a billion people. I read the application guidelines and it said that I didn’t need to prepare a thing; to just be myself, and most importantly, to have lots of enthusiasm (check!). I applied online without expecting to be chosen among the thousands in the ballot.

Three weeks later, I received an e-mail from the committee saying that my application had been drawn in the ballot. They asked me to choose an audition date in February 2012 to test my abilities. When my audition day arrived, I went to the 3 Mills studio in East London. I was surprised to see my competition — people from all different walks of life, young and old, and of different races. It was like a microcosm of British society all in one venue. I, for one, was just an international scholar from the Philippines.

Nerve-Wracking Auditions

They gave us our Bib number, and then first tested our sense of direction. They put us in a big grid — north, south, east, west with corresponding letters and numbers — and asked us to move through the grid as directed. Getting lost meant not getting recalled. The second part of the audition was to test our dancing skills, and if we could memorize choreography. (I did my best, but there were other people better than me.)

After two days, I got called in for a second and final audition. What surprised me was that the people who, in my mind, were fitter and more talented than me were not there. Only ordinary folks like myself were left. In this final audition, they tested our acting skills. They asked us to perform scenes from everyday life. I was physically drained after that audition and even got sick.

I didn’t hear from the committee for almost two months. But then, finally, I got a message that I had been chosen to be part of Field of Play (FOP) — a group of 44 performers as coal miners in the Industrial Revolution segment of the London Olympics’ opening ceremonies — the most spectacular sequence of the event. I was elated. I never imagined I would get this far.

Top-Secret Project

I was asked to attend a briefing on May 1, and to submit a volunteer contract and non-disclosure agreement. This was a top-secret project. During the briefing, Steve Boyd, head of choreography, asked who among us had worked with an Academy Award-winning director. Of course, none of us raised our hands. But then he said, do you not know that all of you will be working with one? And he introduced us to Danny Boyle, artistic director of the 2012 Olympic opening ceremonies, and director of acclaimed films such as Slumdog Millionaire.

Danny described to us what we were to do, and told us that there would be live animals on stage, real grass, flowers, and plants, etc. The question that came to all of our minds was: How do we move all of these props in a few minutes? Then, they showed us the concept of our sequence through video. All of us got goose bumps. The music by Underworld was exhilarating. The organizers told us that what we were doing is like having every single West End show happening simultaneously on one night.

This was a 20-day commitment. I was busy writing my dissertation, but after meeting Danny Boyle, it was just so hard to turn down this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I felt blessed to be living in London during this special year for the UK. It was time for me to give back to my host country, which has been so generous to me, giving me the opportunity to study here.

Hands-On Director

Practices were held at a secret location in Dagenham in Zone 5 East of London. It was raining hard all the time, so we had to wear ponchos. But the atmosphere was very friendly among the volunteers, each one helping and assisting the other. The choreographers told us that in 20 days, they would transform us into talented actors and performers. Danny Boyle was a really hands-on director, as he was always there during the rehearsals, and gave pep talks to the volunteers. He is a very charismatic and approachable person. He once approached my group and I asked him where the Olympic Cauldron was. He told me in jest, “I wouldn’t be friendly anymore as that is a secret you’ll only know on the day itself.”

If you were able to catch the Olympics opening ceremonies on TV, you were probably in awe at the scale of the performance. In just one segment, I counted 70 sheep, 12 horses, 10 chickens, three cows, two goats, 10 ducks, and nine geese on stage. There is a part when Isambard Brunel, who was the English engineer who started the industrial revolution, spoke about the coming “Tempest.” A 40-foot oak tree model rose — and that was my group’s cue to come out of the grassy hill or “Tor.” Coming out from that location gave us the best vantage view of the whole stadium. My task, alongside 200 other “coal miners,” was to assist in dismantling the props on stage all in just 15 minutes.

Imagine the sheer number of props! It was organized chaos, so to speak. There were around 2,500 volunteer performers in our sequence alone. Real and artificial turf was laid on the stage and around 26,156 square feet of material were removed to change scenes from rural to industrial Britain. When all the props were taken out, a giant map of London’s streets was shown. This map was created by urban planning and design company Space Syntax, based on a mathematical analysis of street networks developed by researchers at UCL’s Bartlett School of Architecture. Seven-hundred-foot balloon chimneys were inflated by high-powered fans. A dry-ice machine was also used so that we could smell the sulfur inside the stadium to show pollution. Looms and models of Bessemer steam engines were constructed on stage. Special LED lighting and firework effects were used to create the river of molten steel. A series of winches raised the central ring to join the four others flying in on cables.

Once-In-A-Lifetime Experience

We were worried about the rain, given the fact that it is typical British weather. All the things that we had to move would become heavier and slippery when wet. Had the winds been strong, the chimneys could have bent. Luckily, the weather cooperated during the opening ceremonies and the show came out just perfect. One thing that was not apparent in the TV coverage was the sound of the drumbeats of 1,000 drummers in the stadium. It was an awesome sight — a theatrical performance to behold.

It was a fantastic once-in-a-lifetime experience. Initially, there was a lot of pessimism that London 2012 could top Beijing 2008, but Danny Boyle reminded us that what we were doing was something great, something different. Led by volunteers, the passion and the emotions were unimaginable. We did something entirely British; something creative and unique that has captivated the whole world. But most importantly, I learned the value of small contributions — when the efforts of every single one were combined, we were able to harness the energy of a nation to create something great to inspire a generation.

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The author, Benedict Carandang, is a British Chevening Scholar to the UK and a World Economic Young Global Leader of 2012.