Tokyo: Forget mass choreography, large props and spill dancers, actors and lights associated with the Olympic opening ceremony.
Grand Tokyo’s openings on Friday will not have such grandeur or caution.
Instead it will be an enhanced business, “serious” performance, Marco Balich, an executive manufacturer of the old opening ceremony, and now a senior advisor to the Tokyo ceremony producer, told Reuters in an interview.
“This will be a much more serious ceremony.
However, with beautiful Japanese aesthetics.
Very Japanese but also synchronous with today’s sentiment, reality,” Balich, who is responsible for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, said.
“We have to do our best to complete this unique and hopefully the only one from the Olympics is the type.” Rising Covid-19 cases in Tokyo have given a large shadow over an event that, after being postponed last year because of a pandemic, it will now take place without the audience.
Japan this month decided that participants would compete in empty places to minimize health risks.
So far there are 67 cases of Covid-19 infection in Japan among those who were accredited for the match since July 1, when many athletes and officials began to arrive.
It also affected the opening ceremony, with not all athletes present in the parade of many teams as possible flying before their competition and go shortly after avoiding as many contacts as possible.
Empty seats, not more than 10,000 athletes marched to the stadium of the capacity crowd as usual, the team parade will be smaller, at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium bar mostly empty several officials, and with strict social distance rules.
“There will be a few hundred marshals to guide athletes to the parade.
The opening ceremony by way of being unique and focused on athletes,” Balich said.
“That (pandemic) of course has consequences.
Bulk choreography does not occur clearly, because Covid-19,” he said.
“The numbers in Rio are 12,600 athletes and officials at the parade.
I am afraid there will be less this time.
It has given a serious distance between the athletes in the stadium,” said Balich, who also produced the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics ceremony.
Among the others.
“The Japanese team must fight between how to promote their aesthetics and combine fears and concerns related to the Olympics and infections and diseases.” There are concerns that are widespread among the people of the salvation holding the spectacle of global sports in the middle of the pandemic and many Japanese olympic fears can turn into a super-spreader event.
“I think the big achievement of this ceremony’s creative team is that they have managed to accept empty seats as a fact and still maintain a focus on athletes,” Balich said.
“This will be very meaningful, far from the priority of the previous ceremony.
Moment now.
This is a beautiful effort.
The ceremony is very honest and honest, nothing is fake.” “No smoking and mirror.
It will be about the real things that happen today,” he said.