The Parisian rain showed there is a good reason why Olympic opening ceremonies are held in stadiums
vant: le deluge. There was a moment, about an hour into Paris 2024’s Grand Opening Spectacular, as the rain soaked through shoes, trousers, socks and eventually skin, hair and bone; as yet more boats of waving people chugged down the Seine, like watching an endless series of weirdly nationalistic office parties; as some men did some dancing in a place, for reasons that frankly seemed quite remote at that point, where a thought occurred.
“By starting the ceremony at 7.30pm, we are counting on the sun and its flashes of gold to illuminate the stone and make the water sparkle.” The words, there, of Thomas Jolly, artistic director of the Paris 2024 opening ceremony, as recorded in his relentlessly upbeat manifesto. So much so that, as the rain continued to fall, there was a sense of the spectacle reasserting itself, becoming oddly heroic, a defiance of nature, at the very least extremely funny. Although, given the theme of the ceremony was by this stage no longer“The fusion of art and sport is total,” Jolly had warned us. “On this incredible stage, they will be bathed in the most beautiful light.”
Again, to be fair to Damian Gabriac, co-author of the ceremony, he probably wasn’t thinking here about men on BMXs doing awkward tricks on a horribly slippery deck, or one of the big screens winking out as rain trickled in, bringing with it the realisation that a thing that had been basically sitting watching boats on a screen in the rain was now just sitting in the rain.
The show was the work of 49 named creative directors, from a choreographer called Zenzel to the house of Dior. Six months of rehearsals went into this. It was complex, nuanced, fun, energetic, diffuse, diluted, and too spread out. It turns out there’s a good reason why big events are held in stadiums. How many more boats now? The best part was a wonderful interlude where Axelle Saint Cirel sang La Marseillaise on top of the Grand Palais. This was perfect and should just happen every day.
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