2011 SU Update: Music for Performance

A Chinese journalist testing the effectiveness of the music therapy under the guidance of KeBo

SHENZHEN – Music can be uplifting, it can make you feel sad or happy about something, recall special moments of your life, but most importantly – in case of professional athletes – it can make you concentrate, while at the same time taking away the stress.

Some may recall seeing Usain Bolt dance the stress away before delivering breathtaking performances, or the likes of Yelena Isinbaeva saying that the music gives unbelievable energy while she’s sitting under a blanket, getting ready to break another record. The two are by far not the only ones that used music to get in the mood for a higher performance. A few know that in Shenzhen, the organizers of the Universiade provided the athletes with an opportunity for a special musical experience during their stay in the Universiade Village. According to KeBo, the primary teacher at the Music Mental Decompression Centre, it was organized to “feel the beauty of our life, experience the imagination and creativity in our self-rich inner world, relax body and mind deeply, with the aim to release or relieve pressure”.

The music therapy has two core elements that have an individual and group focus. Tarris, the interpreter at the centre leads me to a room, where another journalist is sitting in a very medical-looking chair. Sensors are strapped to his fingers, measuring the heart rate and blood pressure, a perfect proof for the doubtful that the therapy actually works.

The group therapy section provided a different perspective, and it’s hard to doubt that this is where all the fun happens. The group hall is large enough to fit some 20-25 chairs, arranged in a circle. Each of the visitors would get a drum to play. Apart from that, there are a number of other instruments, such as the unusual-looking guzheng. The instrument is a traditional Chinese zither, which has to be played with fake nails strapped on the fingers of the player… As Tarris shows me around, KeBo is teaching a couple of female employees a traditional Chinese dance. The performances are just yet another opportunity to get in touch with the local culture and have a broader experience of China.

As my guide explains, the largest group of visitors thus far was the US water polo team. There wasn’t even enough space to fit all of them in the room. At the same time the center is also real popular among individual athletes, and throughout the Universiade it gained a fair number of admirers. The main office has 3 large posters covered with messages of gratitude from athletes all over the world, and it indeed makes one hope to believe that some of them were helped to step on the podium by a group of devoted music therapists.

(Source: Natalia Donets, FISU-AIPS Young Journalist/Russia)