Circus skills are to feature in the Paralympic opening ceremony, showcasing the skills of deaf and disabled artists – and the directors promise a “spectacular celebration” of the inspirational spirit of the Paralympics that challenges perceptions of human possibility.
The ceremony on 29 August will open with a fly past by ‘Aerobility’, a British charity that trains disabled people to become pilots.
All the host London boroughs are playing their part along with schools, and 50 specialist performers have just started an eight week circus skills training programme at Circus Space in Hackney.
The programme, funded by Arts Council England, will see performers with disability, including established artists and people new to the arts such as rehabilitating soldiers and non competing Paralympians, learn circus arts skills.
On the theme of ‘Enlightenment’ the ceremony by co-artistic directors Jenny Sealey and Bradley Hemmings promises to be an electrifying celebration to mark the occasion when the Paralympic Games, which originated in the UK as the Stoke Mandeville Games in 1948, will come home.
Jenny Sealey, artistic director of Graeae, the UK’s flagship disabled-led theatre company, said: “Bradley and I are relishing this opportunity. It is immensely exciting and always terrifying especially as the days are passing at the rate of knots. But we will be ready to show the world the story we have so carefully developed and nurtured.”
Co-director Bradley Hemmings, the artistic director of Greenwich+Docklands Festivals, said: “Jenny and I want our ceremony to be both spectacular and deeply human at the same time. We’re determined that the ceremony should speak from the heart.”
Artistic directors Bradley Hemmings and Jenny Sealey. Photo: ©Dave Tully at In Press on behalf of LOCOG
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