PARIS — The final act of the Paralympic Games in Paris will be a gigantic dance party.
That is a promise from Thomas Jolly, artistic director of the opening and closing ceremonies of this year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Jolly says 24 DJs will perform thumping techno and dance music at the Stade de France on Sunday as the curtain falls on the 2024 Paralympic Games.
“We want to make the Stade de France the biggest dance floor to celebrate the end of the Paralympic Games,” Jolly told The Associated Press in an interview.
Just like during the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, which included performers with disabilities and dancers with crutches or wheelchairs, the dance floor will be open to everyone.
“There will be choreographic sequences that show the body,” Jolly said.
The closing ceremony marks the end of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic journey. For Jolly, a 42-year-old theater director, it is the last chapter of a busy summer.
Jolly directed the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris on the River Seine on July 26, which was widely praised but also met with some criticism.
Some viewers thought that a scene featuring French singer Philippe Katrine disguised as Bacchus, the deity of wine and celebration in ancient Roman mythology, was a depiction of “The Last Supper,” a famous painting by Leonardo Da Vinci depicting the last meal of Jesus Christ with his apostles. Critics believed this was a mockery of the Catholic Church. Paris 2024 organizers said they were “sorry” if people felt offended.
Although Jolly said he did not mean to mock religion, he and his family faced harassment on social media, including death threats and attacks based on his sexual orientation and falsely assumed Israeli roots, prompting French authorities to open an investigation into hate speech.
“I’ve been doing shows for 20 years and I’ve had criticism of all my theater productions,” Jolly said. “Criticism can please, it can hurt. That’s the job. But the attacks, the threats, the insults..” ..that’s another matter.”
Jolly, who received support from French political leaders including President Emmanuel Macron and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, said the controversy did not lead to changes in the ceremonies that followed.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “Nothing has changed, and nothing should have been changed.”
He noted that all scenes had been approved months in advance by the French government, the city of Paris and the International Olympic Committee.
Born in Rouen, Jolly moved to Paris to prepare for the Games, spending two and a half years creating the ceremonies. Much of the preparation for the previous ceremonies took place at night or in remote locations, in an attempt to maintain a degree of secrecy.
The preparations for Sunday’s closing ceremony are no different. Because the Stade de France organizes Paralympic athletics competitions during the day, many rehearsals take place at night.
“I devoted myself completely to the work,” Jolly said. “I haven’t celebrated anything yet, I haven’t partied, I didn’t even have time to watch the ceremonies on TV.”
Jolly said he is considering writing a book about his Olympic experience before returning to his roots in theater.
“I don’t think I’ll ever have an audience like that (of the Olympic opening ceremony) in my life,” he said. “But it doesn’t matter. There are also important things that can happen in a fifty-seat theater.”
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AP Paralympic Games: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games
