2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony: Difference between revisions
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===Speeches=== |
===Speeches=== |
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Once all the nations arrived into the Stadium, [[London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games]] (LOCOG) chairman [[Sebastian Coe]] and President of the [[International Paralympic Committee]] (IPC), [[Philip Craven|Sir Philip Craven]] addressed the audience. The Games were then declared open.<ref name=2012paralympics/> |
Once all the nations arrived into the Stadium, [[London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games]] (LOCOG) chairman [[Sebastian Coe]] and President of the [[International Paralympic Committee]] (IPC), [[Philip Craven|Sir Philip Craven]] addressed the audience. The Games were then declared open by Queen Elizabeth II.<ref name=2012paralympics/> |
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===Paralympic Anthem and Flag=== |
===Paralympic Anthem and Flag=== |
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Revision as of 23:44, 29 August 2012
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| Date | 20:30, 29 August 2012 (+01:00) |
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| Location | London, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 51°32′19″N 0°01′00″W / 51.53861°N 0.01667°W |
| Also known as | Enlightenment |
| Filmed by | |
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| Part of a series on |
| 2012 Summer Paralympics |
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The 2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony was held on 29 August 2012, starting at 8.30pm and marking the official opening of the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, England.[2] The show – named Enlightenment – has Jenny Sealey and Bradley Hemmings as its artistic directors.[3] Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the Games and was joined by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.[4][5] The ceremony was performed in front of a capacity audience of 80,000 people.[6]
Programme
The ceremony featured a fly past by Aerobility, a British charity that trains disabled people to become pilots. Students from local schools who are part of the get set network were part of the under-16 cast. These include Millfields Community School in Hackney, Eastlea Community School in Newham and Trinity School in Barking and Dagenham.[7] A total of 110 days of rehersals took place in Dagenham.[8] The ceremony had an adult volunteer cast of over 3000, along with over a 100 children and over 100 professional performers.[2] Among the professional performers were 73 deaf and disabled performers and among the volunteers were 68 people with disabilities.[9]
Enlightenment
Professor Stephen Hawking appeared live to narrate the ceremony,[6] which was produced by Stephen Daldry. The ceremony continued the theme of Shakespeare's The Tempest from the opening ceremony of the 2012 summer Olympics, with Hawking acting as a guide to Miranda, a character from the play played by the disabled actress Nicola Miles-Wildin, and Ian McKellen playing Prospero.[6]
Hawking "guided ... Miranda on an “exquisite journey” of discovery as mankind breaks through the barriers of what is scientifically possible in the same way that Paralympians push the boundaries of what is physically possible. Artistic director Jenny Sealey said Miranda’s famous line “O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in't!” fitted perfectly with the Paralympics because “she sees everybody but she does not judge”. She added: “That’s fundamental, you look without judging. It’s about removing those attitudinal barriers.”[10] One of the tasks Miranda had to perform was finding an apple after passing through a maze. When Miranda found the apple, the whole audience took a bite into apples they were given at the start of the ceremony, at the exact same time.[9]
Based on scientific discoveries and The Enlightenment, the ceremony featured the Big Bang, a giant library and the Large Hadron Collider at the CERN laboratory in Switzerland. It also featured a giant representation of the sculpture Alison Lapper Pregnant by Marc Quinn.[10] Prominent figures such as Sir Isaac Newton and William Harvey were featured as well as others from science, sport and music.[10][11]
In the build-up to the opening ceremony, an eight week circus skills training programme took place at The Circus Space in Hoxton, London and was run by 50 specialist performers. Participants included professional artists and many people who were new to the arts scene, for example soldiers undergoing rehabilitation and non-competing Paralympians. The programme was funded by Arts Council England.[7] The performers will participate during Enlightenment, performing on a 35 metre high platform above the stadium floor.[11]
Another performance within this was called "Ella Ella Ella", a remix of Rihanna's song Umbrella, performed by amongst others the troupe Flawless. During this umbrellas were used as the central theme as a nod to the apparent British weather.[9][12]
Parade of Athletes
After the Host Nation's flag was raised and the national anthem played, the Parade of Athletes began. Teams entered in alphabetical order, according to the language of the Host Country, apart from the team of the Host Nation (in this case ParalympicsGB), who marched in last. [3] 165 countries are to participate in the Paralympics.
During the parade, a mix of global music was played by local DJs.[9]
Speeches
Once all the nations arrived into the Stadium, London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) chairman Sebastian Coe and President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), Sir Philip Craven addressed the audience. The Games were then declared open by Queen Elizabeth II.[3]
Paralympic Anthem and Flag
Once the Games were declared open, the Paralympic Flag was carried into the Stadium and hoisted into the air as the Anthem was played. The Paralympic Flag featured three 'agitos' (Latin for 'I move') in red, blue and green – the colours most represented in national flags around the world.[3]
Oaths
A participating athlete, a judge and a coach from the Host Nation stood on the rostrum and, holding a corner of the IPC flag in their left hand and raising their right, took the Oath, vowing to compete and judge according to the rules of their respective sport.[3]
The Torch and Cauldron
The big finale was the entrance of the Paralympic Flame into the Stadium. It was passed to the final torch bearer, who lit the Cauldron, indicating the beginning of the Games. The Flame will continue to burn for the whole of the Games.[3]
Broadcasting
The ceremony was broadcast in the United Kingdom live between 8.00pm and 12.20am BST by Channel 4, the British rights holders for the 2012 Summer Paralympics.[13]
Music
- "Umbrella" was the first song performed during the ceremony.[9]
- "Principia", a specially composed piece by Greenwich based composer Errollyn Wallen, inspired by Sir Isaac Newton's Principia Mathematica, and performed by six-London based choirs, including the London Gay Men's Chorus and the Lewisham Choral Society.[14]
- "Spirit in Motion" a newly-commissioned song sung by Denise Leigh, the blind soprano who won Channel 4’s Operatunity.[10]
- "Spasticus Autisticus" written by Ian Dury, a singer-songwriter disabled by polio.[15]
- "I Am What I Am" sung by Beverley Knight, who will encourage the audience to join in verbally and with sign language.[10]
- An abridged version of "Jupiter", from The Planets by Gustav Holst was performed during the raising of the paralympic flag.[12]
Development
Artistic director Jenny Sealey "said it was pure coincidence that she and Hemmings had chosen a line from the same play that was used by Danny Boyle in the opening ceremony of the Olympics: “When we found out Danny Boyle was going to reference The Tempest we burst out laughing,” she said."[10]
See also
- 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, which was also themed on The Tempest
References
- ^ "London 2012 Paralympic Games to be broadcast to largest ever global audience". london2012.com.
- ^ a b "Vision for Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony revealed". Retrieved 29 August 2012.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|Work=ignored (|work=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e f "Paralympics Opening Ceremony". London 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
- ^ "London 2012 Paralympic Games to be opened by The Queen". LOCOG. London2012.com. 29 February 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
- ^ "The Queen to attend opening of Paralympics". 28 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|Work=ignored (|work=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c "Paralympics: Games opening promises 'journey of discovery'". BBC. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Vision for Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony revealed". Arts Council England. 3rd May 2012. Retrieved 29th August 2012.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ "Vision for Paralympic Opening Ceremony revealed". 2 May 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|Work=ignored (|work=suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e "'Enlightenment' gala opens London's Paralympics". Associated Press. 29th August 2012. Retrieved 29th August 2012.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ a b c d e f Rayner, Gordon (29 August 2012). "Paralympics 2012: O brave new world, that has such people in't!". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
- ^ a b "Paralympics opening ceremony 2012: a 'brave new world'". The Daily Telegraph. 29th August 2012. Retrieved 29th August 2012.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ a b "Paralympic Games opening ceremony text commentary". BBC News. 29th August 2012. Retrieved 29th August 2012.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=and|date=(help) - ^ "London 2012 Paralympic Games". Channel 4. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
- ^ "Paralympics open with big bang". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
- ^ Gardner, Lynn (8 February 2012). "No more Teletubbies: Paralympics opening ceremony director speaks". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2012.