A Party that Keeps on Going

Rio de Janeiro keeps the show going with the start of the 2016 Paralympic Games today, keeping the prevailing party atmosphere going that befitting the culture there that was prevalent throughout the Olympic games last month.

With every Olympic event, there are always some spectacular feats of human ability on display.  Equally amazing are the displays of the host city's culture.  Similar themes carried over from the Olympics opening ceremony to the closing ceremony.  Some of the highlights for me were the colorful dancers, and the Carnival-themed festiveness, with lots of fireworks to go around, which went off constantly throughout the ceremony.  Much of the performing happened even with rain falling, which didn't appear to cause any kind of concern as the performers showed themselves to be having a good time.  Then there was that impressive planned rain during that one number by a well-known Brazilian singer, one of many songs sung to highlight Brazilian pop culture.

I liked how there was a choir that sang the Brazilian national anthem, singing it so grandly, in contrast to the simple grandeur of the solo guitarist performing it in the opening ceremony.  In both cases, the national anthem demonstrated itself to be a song espousing a strong sense of pride for the land that is Brazil.  In the closing ceremony, it was quite something to see the colors of the Brazilian flag projected onto the arena floor.  And the Brazilians made their statement again about their role in aviation history by showing again Alberto Santo Dumont, who they say is the one who invented the airplane, before the Wright Brothers' first flight in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

But the ceremony also gave the worldwide audience the chance to look ahead to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.  I was enthralled by teh montage showing the sports culture in Japan.  And I was intrigued by the montage with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Mario, the video game character.  It will be interesting to see the full show Tokyo puts on in 2020.

In the months leading up to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, news headlines spoke to concerns over the city's ability to pull off the Olympics event, given the problems plaguing them.  But at the closing ceremony, it was clear those problems hardly posed an issue in Rio de Janeiro putting on a fabulous event.  Perhaps the same will be said of the Paralympic Games, as I saw some headlines expressing similar concerns.  In the spirit of having a good time, it was fitting that upon the extinguishing of the Olympic torch at the closing ceremony, the Samba music and dancing got going alive and well, as if it would last all night long.