Excitement, lights, dance, and Brazilian music at Paralympics opening
The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games opened amid a lively audience.
In another beautiful celebration, the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games opened amid a lively audience. The opening show, directed by Vik Muniz, Marcelo Rubens Paiva, and Fred Gelli, was complete with dancing, Brazilian music, and exciting moments.
As with the Olympic Games opening and closing ceremonies, organizers used light projection effects to emulate scenarios and interact with the performers. In the end, Brazil's swimmer Clodoaldo Silva lit the Paralympic cauldron and marked the start of the games.
Amazement at the opening
US extreme wheelchair athlete Aaron “Wheelz” went down a giant ramp and jumped through a “zero” loop sparkling with fireworks, flipping round in the air with his wheelchair.
At the beginning of the celebration, US extreme wheelchair athlete Aaron “Wheelz” went down a giant ramp and jumped through a “zero” loop sparkling with fireworks, flipping round in the air with his wheelchair.
Then the Brazilian National Anthem was performed by the country's renowned pianist-conductor João Carlos Martins, who has had his hands partially atrophied from Dupuytren's contracture. As he played, dancers with umbrellas formed the Brazilian flag on the Maracanã pitch, drawing wild applause in the packed stadium.
The organizers added an unexpected flair that made the parade of delegations more engaging and created athlete interaction with the ceremony. Each country delegation brought a jigsaw puzzle piece that was placed in the middle of the lawn. The pieces fit together reproducing the athletes' faces, and combined with the light effects, formed a beating heart in the middle of the field. A fireworks festival lit the skies of Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil's was last delegation to come in, parading to a song by celebrated Brazilian songwriter Gonzaguinha. The crowd sang, jumped, and celebrated with the chorus line that went, “the party is just beginning.”
Welcoming difference
In his speech, the president of Rio 2016, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, spoke about making a new world, without discrimination between people. “We celebrate a great challenge today – to build a new world, more accessible to all. Fairer, more fraternal, where all are able to walk hand-in-hand with no obstacles. It is a difficult mission, which makes us stronger. Even amid disbelief, we Brazilians grow. We are the country of impossible realization. We are together for equality between people. People who even looking different, have the same heart,” he said.
The audience applauded his speech, but booed when he thanked the federal, state and municipal governments. Shouts of “Brazil”, “Out with Temer”, and whistles were heard. After a brief pause, Nuzman said he would wrap up his words with an open heart to the athletes, and was loudly applauded.
The president of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), Philip Craven, saluted the Paralympic athletes. “They will surprise you. But most of all, they will change you.”
Amy Purdy danced graciously with her German-made robot partner.
The dancer and the robot
Amy Purdy, US dancer and snowboarder, delighted the audience with a dance performance that mixed samba and slower rhythms. Wearing prosthetic legs, Purdy danced graciously with her German-made robot partner that kept up with her in the slower moves. When the dancing picked up a faster pace, the robot could not keep up, and Purdy left amid wild applause.
Under rain and applause
One of the most exciting moments of the ceremony was the torch relay leading to the lighting of the cauldron. Former Brazilian athlete Márcia Malsar, who bore the torch during part of the relay, was a pioneer of Brazil's Paralympic sport. She was in the delegation that had a successful performance in New York/Stoke Mandeville 1984.
Malsar, who has cerebral palsy, walked with difficulty, using a cane. It was raining and, at one point, she fell. But she was helped to stand up again and completed her walk, drawing a standing ovation from the spectators as she came and handed over the torch to former sprinter Ádria Santos.
With thirteen medals won in four editions of the Games, Brazilian swimmer Clodoaldo Silva was chosen to light the Paralympic cauldron. With the torch attached to his wheelchair, he stopped when he got to a staircase leading to the cauldron, in a twist of suspense. He looked at the audience as if to ask them how he could get to the cauldron. Then the staircase opened and turned into a ramp, which he used to get to a cauldron that looked exactly the same as the one used in the Olympics.
Translated by Mayra Borges
Fonte: Excitement, lights, dance, and Brazilian music at Paralympics opening
