With the opening ceremony of this year’s Olympic Games just days away, strange images and rumors are circulating in Paris.
On Monday, as the French press suspected that surprise artists would appear – with Celine Dion, Lady Gaga and Dua Lipa among the frequently heard names – local cameras caught a glimpse of a grand piano, hidden under a tarpaulin, floating over the Seine. And while Paris 2024 organizers have remained tight-lipped about any cameo appearances, the emblematic waterway itself will play a starring role in Friday’s affair.
The open-air competition lasts just under four hours and plays out like a nautical cruise, following 85 boats – each with an Olympic delegation on board – on a six-kilometre parade through the main artery of the City of Light. The nautical event departs from the Pont d’Austerlitz and culminates at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. It will make use of the city’s historic sites and sites, with twelve living tableaus, overseen by French theater director Thomas Jolly and brought to life by 3,500 people. actors, dancers and music artists.
“For the first time in the history of the ceremony, the athletes will do so [take part in the artistic show] by going through the tableaus,” says Jolly. “From the beginning, we wanted to overturn the traditional structure that kept the artistic show, the athlete parade and the protocol as three separate elements. Instead, we combine them all into one large fresco.”
That fresco will carve a non-linear path, recreating the special experience Jolly and his team feel when exploring the capital.
“The city does not unfold chronologically,” Jolly explains. “Instead, it juxtaposes different monuments from different eras, different architectures with different styles that tell different stories. The story is told in 360 degrees and not in a straight line. And this correspondence of different historical elements creates poetry.”
“[This confluence] also reflects the national spirit,” he added. “We’re always asking questions, questions, questions, and that’s joyful, that’s important. France is not one idea, but several; France is a story that has never stopped constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing itself. [That may sometimes result] in demonstrations, polemics and strikes, because above all we are a thinking people – and it is good to reflect that to ourselves and to the rest of the world.”
The fresco will also have a slightly mischievous look, celebrating the occasion while gently poking fun. To find that precise balance, Jolly worked with “Call My Agent!” creator Fanny Herrero, who aims to channel a similarly playful, self-referential humor.
“It’s clear that the world has a lot of fixed images of us,” he laughs. “We have to fully embrace many of those clichés in order to undermine them. There is a different Paris behind the accordions and croissants, a different France than ‘Emily in Paris’, but you also have to go through such stereotypes to better turn them around. And Fanny knows exactly how to do that.”
‘The Lovers on the Bridge’
Of course, Jolly was also very much looking towards the big screen, hinting at a (suitably) breathtaking tribute to Leos Carax’s ‘The Lovers on the Bridge’.
“The history of France is also the history of cinema,” says Jolly. “France gave the world the means to represent itself, while Paris itself has been so widely photographed and painted that it has given us a wealth of reference material to use for our own story. [On a wider scale,] we will pay tribute to our creativity in science fiction, literature, film, video games and comics.”
Jolly and his team saw the ceremony as a joyful mash-up, a celebration of diverse cultural expressions, with performers equally adept at breakdance and ballet, while classical orchestrations were paired with modern pop icons and electro giants. (Although Jolly plays his cards close to his chest, an appearance by Lady Gaga is strongly tipped).
What’s more, they’ve done it all in secret: for the past year they’ve been rehearsing the very public show in remote airline hangars, away from prying eyes, all using technology developed specifically for the occasion that takes the full six mile-long route of the show. the Seine. That means that once the 3,500 circus performers, actors, dancers, acrobats and musicians leave their mark on the bridges, rooftops and quays of Paris on Friday – and an expected 2 billion home viewers from around the world tune in – they will all share in a experience never done before.
Given this commitment, Jolly remains impressively (and surprisingly) at ease.
“I notice that I’m relaxed, which is quite amazing because normally when I approach a premiere I’m a lot more stressed and anxious,” he says. “But I’m so looking forward to this, I want to share it so badly. The sheer scale of this project and the incredible team it has put together have put me in a state of relative calm – but I am still impatient to get on with the show!”