The only other person who wanted to do it with me was my friend Emilie (from Sweden) and, even though she hadn't signed up online, the two of us went to the audition. We assumed 1) that she wouldn't be allowed in since she hadn't officially signed up, 2) once we got in that we wouldn't be chosen or, 3) best case scenario, we'd end up being hip hop dancing bananas or something similarly ridiculous (this based on youtubing Brazil's World Cup Opening Ceremony).
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| audition |
It was the first time I'd auditioned for anything in my life, aside from sports tryouts if those count (and I actually knew what I was doing in those cases). Instead of being nervous, we decided to just have a good time and not worry about what would come of it afterwards. We later found out that part of our audition later ended up on the news
(but the online link doesn't work in the U.S. so here's a shitty version
I recorded on my phone for Erin to see):
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| In the end, though, the costumes did end up being pretty baller...lol |
The truth is, for the entire first month of rehearsals, we considered quitting almost every time. Except for the very first rehearsal, they were all terribly unorganized. The food they gave us was awful, the hours were super long, we had no friends except each other and we were apparently going to be warriors for like two minutes in the ceremony (and then do a dance with a silly choreography after that). As time went on however, we started meeting more and more people and by the time we moved into Maracanã Stadium, everything had changed.
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| There was something amazing about being in the middle of those thousands of seats and imagining what it would be like to run out there on the night-of, making the hours and hours (of sitting around and waiting for the choreographers to get their shit together and figure out what they wanted) worth it. |
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| rehearsals the first month took place outside the stadium |
We'd made friends with the most talented, hilarious, dedicated and positive people and there was constant singing, dancing and laughing going on at all times. Brazil. :) I was impressed to find out that most of the rest of the people there were actually artists of some sort--either into acting, singing, dancing or whatever...and it was fun to have it all mix together to make each rehearsal into a new party.
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| rehearsing in Maracana Stadium w my new friends!! |
Then...I can't say enough about the energy on the night of the ceremony. Backstage, though about 10 degrees hotter than anyone would've liked, was amazing. Per usual, our choreographers were nowhere to be seen and the stage managers and our coordinator were yelling at us to get to makeup and put on our insane costumes.
Nerves were high, as we'd only practiced with our outfits one time before and it didn't go so well (we only learned once we were already running on-stage that we had to be careful because the little shreds of the material our wigs, clothes and spears were made of got sucked into our throats and noses--which resulted in two people vomiting the first time we tried it)...but everyone was super excited! They had us all ready hours early and just sitting there waiting which led to nonstop shenanigans until the show started and then shit got real!
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| A couple of people held up cellphones to live-stream the show as each group did what they'd been practicing for the last two months and we all crowded together to watch. |
It became so emotional. As each group went on or came off stage, everyone backstage cheered them on.
Normally there would've been constant chatter and dancing but I looked around and noticed that for a few minutes, everyone was completely silent. Knowing 60,000 people were in the stands and that millions and millions were watching worldwide...and that we'd still never gotten final answers on the choreography changes they'd made just a couple days before....the nerves had totally kicked in. The music we'd heard so many times at the beginning of our scene came on and we walked to the entrance where we were about to run out.
After that, it happened fast but luckily I'm well-versed in living in the moment. I enjoyed every minute of it, including the things that went wrong. The fireworks went off as we ran out on-stage, we found our places even though it was dark as shit and we were wearing sunglasses and our choreography began. We did it...and fucked things up as well...and then went on the the "charme," the second more pop-ish dance we did. It was way too much fun and, at that point, we could really look into the stands, see ALL the people and hear the crowd roar as we jumped around singing and dancing on-stage. I ran out of my position and went to find all my friends of course and then we got to run offstage into the stands and high-five people and sing and clap on our way out.
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| When you run across the entire stadium to find your friends and dance with them during the "free" part |
We snuck in and out of the stands during the rest of the ceremony and watched the athletes walk by backstage before they went out. I thought the ceremony, as a whole, was incredible. They presented the world with Brazil's history and told the story beautifully. That music and the choreography when the Indigenous people came out...then when the Portuguese arrived--it became emotional, even for me. Then all the other groups of people who arrived in Brazil and affected the culture, making it what it is today--they only made the scene more beautiful. I loved it!
The songs Eu Só É Ser Feliz (that speaks so beautifully and honestly to the injustices, inequality, racism and class-ism that people in Brazilian favelas face on a daily basis) and Deixa a Vida Me Levar (a song whose title basically sums up my lifestyle) played right before we came out.The 81-year-old singer, Elza Soares, who has fought to improve life for minorities in Brazil, especially black women, performed. The famous athlete, Vanderlei de Lima, who would've won an Olympic gold years ago, had a crazy Irish priest not jumped out of the audience and grabbed him during his marathon, lit the torch, giving him a well-deserved moment.
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| Right before going back on-stage one last time <3 (No, we weren't supposed to be with all our friends but, no, we didn't care.) |
We went out one last time at the end of the show, in time to see the lighting of the torch and take part in the confetti and samba party. We got to dance samba (bahaha--believe me when I say I cannot do it as fast as that music was going) in the aisles between all the people in the crowd to get everyone excited. (Before we went back on, we had to wait backstage in the heat (and our crazy costumes) for a ridiculously long time, as usual...and it turned into a Pitch Perfect-type battle, with each of the groups chanting "insults" at each other, singing and dancing around and it was all hilarious--I just wish I could say I understood everything, lol -- Videos to come later!).
The whole thing was an incredible experience to be a part of and, needless to say, we all started to go through pretty severe withdrawal once the ceremony was over and we weren't spending hours and hours together with our new friends, waiting around (still, in my opinion, quite unnecessarily) in Maracanã.
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So one day, while I was in the middle of my volunteer job in the Olympics, I hear that, if we had participated in the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics, we could audition for the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympics even though they had started their rehearsals more than a month before. Yes, I was exhausted and, yes, I was starting to get sick but my friend (who had already auditioned but is amazing at life) offered to go with me and, at that point, I couldn't resist.
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| Straight from work, he made me a coffee and we were off to the auditions! |
Right from the first moment, it was even better than the first ceremony. Yes, I was back to knowing very few people, making the first few rehearsals a bit awkward, but I knew it would work out and I would make amazing friends, just like I had the first time. (Spoiler alert: I was right!) The audition was muuuuch more difficult than the one we'd done the first time but that led to me actually dancing in the next ceremony. The clothes turned out to be worse (I felt like a sad, homeless clown dressed in a garbage bag, rather than a golden warrior rock star like the first time) but the dance and all-around choreography were SO much better!
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| Paralympic Rehearsals |
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| Paralympic Rehearsals |
I was a part of the typical Rio beach scene they did and it was awesome! They had everything: parasols, people laying out, selfies, sunscreen, soccer, fresco-ball, and people selling globo biscoitos, mate (typical snacks sold up and down the beach every day) and bikinis. There were about 400 of us dancing and no one that I know of even messed up the choreography that night! The dance was super fun, the crowd freakin ROARED when we made the Brazilian flag and, of course, I made some awesome new friends during the rehearsals and we've been hanging out since!
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| Right before going on-stage |
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| We came back on-stage one more time at the end of the show |
Overall amazing experience. Plenty of Brazilian bureaucracy but way more fun than I ever could've asked for. Opening Ceremony Korea 2018, anyone?? ;P
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