![Paralympics: a spectacular political ceremony at the foot of the Champs-Elysées Paralympics: a spectacular political ceremony at the foot of the Champs-Elysées](https://broadcastunited.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/AFP__20240821__36EH4GJ__v1__Preview__FranceOlyParis2024ParalympicsVenue.jpg)
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Place de la Concorde as a theatre
Around 30,000 spectators in the stands of the Place de la Concorde in central Paris will be able to take part in the three-hour ceremony conceived by Paris Olympic artistic director Thomas Jolly, which will kick off the first Summer Paralympic Games in France.
Another 15,000 people will be able to watch the athletes parade in a free area at the bottom of the Champs-Elysées, and another 30,000 will be able to attend the final part of the ceremony, with the lighting and take-off of the Olympic flame near the Louvre.
Organisers assured that the ceremony, which took place outside the Olympic Stadium, would be just as “ambitious” as the July 26 ceremony celebrated around the world.
Some 4,400 disabled athletes from 168 delegations will parade from the Champs-Elysées to the square, where, on a central stage around the diagonal, there will be a “never-before-seen performance” with a strong focus on the body, entitled “Paradox.”
“Our theme is to ask a unanimous question: +Do we really agree (…), especially on the issue of disability+?”, Thomas Joly asked at a conference on Monday.
Rehearsals were open to the media, and he had inclusivity in mind. The show, he assured, would highlight “all bodies.”
. Who is editor Alexander Ekman?
The chief choreographer of the award ceremony is Alexander Ekman, a Swede who is world-renowned and has created more than 50 works with the Paris Opera Ballet and the Boston Ballet.
He is known for his magnificent set designs, such as the 6,000 litres of water that filled the stage in his version of Swan Lake, or the rain of green balls that fell from the sky over the Paris Opera (Dramaturgy).
Thomas Joly called for combining “festival and politics”. The choreographer told AFP on Saturday that through this show, the message of inclusion of people with disabilities is conveyed, “I want to educate, make people think” and “make people see things from a new perspective.”
For the first time, he worked with dancers with disabilities – about 20 out of a total of 150. “They are more capable mentally and physically than many able-bodied people,” he assured.
. VIP
Among the 4,400 disabled athletes who took part in the parade:
From the Arc de Triomphe to the Elysee Palace, 240 French athletes will take part, led by the two tricolore flag bearers, Nantenin Keta and Alexis Hanquinquant.
No big-name guest artists are attached at this stage, but the team have announced it will be a “crossover of our musical repertoire”.
Music is the new hallmark of the Paris 2024 Olympics anthem, with Victor Le Masne, the composer, creating a score that is “more minimalist, more bare-bones” than the Olympics, but with “a lot of drums, a lot of keyboards, a lot of variety.”
For the clothing, Daphn Brki hired French stylist Louis-Gabriel Nouchi (author of Inclusive and Sensual Fashion) to create around 700 looks. It promised a revisited palette of feathers, gold, embroidery and blue, white and red in homage to the French flag.
The Olympic flame will be illuminated again and will rise into the Paris sky during the two-week Olympic Games.
The closing ceremony will take place on Sunday, September 8 at the Stade de France and, like the Olympics, will be a large-scale electronic concert with 24 artists and DJs including Jean-Michel Jarre, Cassius and Kavinsky.
. Accessibility
LSF (French Sign Language) and French and English subtitles are planned to be available
Audio description for the public and athletes and in English and French.
The website is accessible to people with all types of disabilities. The ticket office offers specific seats for people with disabilities (especially those in wheelchairs or with accompanying persons), the prices range from 150 to 700 euros online.
According to Grald Darmanin, about 15,000 police officers will attend the opening ceremony.
The Minister mentioned the fight against terrorism in and around the internal security border.
Departs from Place de la Concorde and Tuileries Garden, details to be announced later.
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