Ballet of LorraineTristan Ihne has been dancing professionally for nearly two decades. But on July 26, he gave a performance unlike anything he had ever done. Along with around 200 other dancers, he danced atop a golden platform filled with water next to the Seine River in an 8-minute piece of Maud Le Pladecas part of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris.
“The best part for me was feeling the energy of the band,” he says. “Here we were together with mixed generations and mixed training styles. It was amazing.” He’s never performed in such a big show or danced in front of such a huge global audience. “There’s nothing to compare it to,” he says.
This group energy resulted not only in a memorable spectacle, but also in a different kind of French tradition. the threat of: strikesubmitted by the French union of contractors SFA-CGT. When the dancers started rehearsing together a few days before the ceremony, they realized that the amount they were being paid for broadcasting rights varied widely, from 60 to 1,600 euros. The protesting dancers also demanded payment of travel and housing expenses. “The collective agreement specifies that if you hire someone who comes from more than 40 kilometers, they have to get their expenses covered,” said Ihne, who took part in the protests. In the end, the organizers of the event complied with some of the demands and the dancers dropped their strike threat.
Dancer Magali Brito — a performer with an aerial dance troupe Retouramont companywho played during the Notre Dame Scaffolding Ceremony and with the heavy metal band Gojira in decapitated costumes of Marie Antoinette– says that while he sympathizes with the dancers, their promotion seemed relatively minor compared to the larger issues surrounding the Games. “I would like there to be a strike for the rights of many people in Paris who have been completely distorted,” she says, highlighting the thousands without permanent housing who have been sent from Paris before the Games.
Still, she was happy to participate in the ceremony — even if everything didn’t go exactly as planned. For example, Brito says that she and the other Retouramont dancers had to be hung from the walls of the building during the Gojira concert. “But after security issues, we weren’t allowed to hang on the walls, so we just did a few poses on the windows in costumes,” she says.
There was also the infamous rain during the ceremony, which caused major problems especially for the dancers Moulin Rouge, who performed on a slippery surface right on the bank of the river. “It was good for us because we were going to be playing in the water anyway,” says Ine. “But for other dancers it made it harder – I give them even more credit.”
Brito says that for her and many of the dancers, any extra challenges were worth it to participate in a ceremony that makes such a statement. “From a political point of view, it was very important to be able to participate in this event,” she says. “In France we just had new choices:and it felt good to be able to participate in something that showcased people of every color, every body type, and every gender.”