Turin Olympics opening ceremony punctuated by the surreal
TURIN, Italy -- To cries of "Bravissimo!" and the shimmer of fireworks, the 2006 Winter Olympics opened here Friday night with athletes from 80 countries marching in a three-hour spectacle that paid tribute to Italian style, design and passion. Fifty years after the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo and 46 years after the Summer Games in Rome, the Olympics returned to Italy -- to exuberant cheers from a crowd of more than 30,000 in Olympic Stadium and a worldwide television audience. Like a film from the legendary Italian director Federico Fellini, the production Friday was punctuated by the surreal.
The pageantry mixed scenes from Italy's Renaissance years with rave dancing, marrying the appearance of famed operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti with the roar of a red Formula One race car burning rubber. At one point, 28 acrobats, clinging to ropes and relying on a specially created system of nets and counterweights, formed themselves into the shape of a dove. The Games in recent years have switched to such symbolic representations of peace instead of using live doves.
Italian fashion was given its due. Supermodel Carla Bruni, dressed in a sparkling white, floor-length gown, carried the Italian flag across the oversized stage. The fashion house Moschino designed the dresses for the women who preceded each nation's entry into the stadium, relying on sweeping white hoop skirts. Organizers paid homage to the inspirational role of women in various walks of life.
No comments:
Post a Comment