The Paralympics Opening Ceremony: Worth the wait

Under the direction of French President Emmanuel Macron the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games are now officially open. The Opening Ceremony was a spectacle to which the world was invited both in the Place de la Concorde and beyond and the organizers have made it a night to remember in many ways. Let's look back at how it all played out.

Marching to their own beat

The Champs Elysees is recognizable as the avenue that will take you to anything from a Louis Vuitton store to the Louvre. It is also famous for its cobblestone streets. In order to honor and accommodate the Paralympians who traveled to the site of the Opening Ceremony, those stones were smoothed over with temporary asphalt. According to the ParalympicsGB website, the athletes from 167 countries and the Refugee Paralympic Team were cheered on by a crowd of 50,000.

Team Great Britain, led into the Place by flagbearers Lucy Shuker and Terry Bywater, included 215 athletes on display in a jovial uniform of red jackets and blue shorts. Said Shuker being a flagbearer is "a dream come true, and I think for any Paralympic athlete that's the pinnacle that they could ask for."

The Journey

The Ceremony was punctuated by multi-lingual testimonials from athletes describing their experiences with disabilities and their journey to self-acceptance.

A blind athlete described the way in which she experiences the world and finds joy. Another spoke of how he felt that he had lost control over his own body, but now feels the need for self-respect instead of self-control.

These personal stories brought not only the athletes but those who were there to support the Games together in a greater understanding of how far they have all come.

Dance, dance, and the revolution

Creative Director Thomas Jolly indicated in the past that this ceremony would be "celebrating all types of bodies through the universal language of movement." The dance elements of the ceremony were some of the most effective.

In one group number, dancers of different abilities were bound together in movement with emotionally-riveting choreography, When one would falter or fall, the community would reach out to draw them back in and the group was strengthened by those efforts.

Another of the previews mentioned "Sportography," a track by Victor Le Masne that is a "blend of organic sports sounds and drum rhythm that captures the sport of athleticism." It was during this performance that the stage displayed different sport venues from a basketball court to a track and even included water sports. In the last one, the crutches of the performers stood in for oars as they "rowed."

Carrying on the focus on individual achievement, South African dancer and amputee Musa Motha performed both as part of an ensemble and as a soloist. His artistry and skill was on full display, not only unhindered by his disability but enhanced by his agility and balance.

The lighting of the cauldron at the culmination of the torch relay that began in Stoke Mandeville was always guaranteed to be a high point of the Ceremony. It is notable that these Paralympics not only had the Paralympic cauldron, but twelve separate sites throughout France where the flame would burn. There is one for each day of the Games and serves to unite the country in a unique way. Before the torch could be delivered to the three final bearers, however, a troupe of dancers bearing torches of their own completed another performance to the strains of Maurice Ravel's Bolero.

Musician Lucky Love, who was born without a left arm, also appeared to perform a reworking of his song "Masculinity." Titled "My Ability," the song drew attention to the universal experiences of those with and without impairments and was a powerful statement in this venue.

The Inclusion Revolution

Public figures were on hand for the opening. International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons followed up a comment that this would the most fun revolution ever seen in France with a call for "the inclusion revolution."

President Macron, meanwhile, praised Parisians for their unflagging support of the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer. He encouraged them to continue supporting Les Bleus (the French athletes) and hailed the audiences as "le public completement fou," (Roughly translated in various sources as anything from a frenzied crowd to a stark raving mad audience.)

All in all, the Opening Ceremony was a masterpiece that set the perfect stage for the days to come and it left us all looking forward to finding ourselves completement en fou as we support the members of Team Great Britain.