The creative director for the official opening ceremony of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Dimitrios Papaioannou, said on Wednesday that Friday’s showcase event is inspired by the aim of having an Olympics on a human scale.
”It describes the history of Greece,” said Papaioannou. ”Avant-garde young Greek artists have created something for modern Greece.”
Papaioannou said there will be two leitmotifs running through the show.
”These are the human heartbeat to represent humanity, and running to represent the first Olympic sport.”
He gave a general rundown of the schedule for the opening ceremony, but kept most details secret to maintain an element of surprise for an expected worldwide television audience of up to four billion people.
The ceremony will start with a welcome for the crowd with a unique Greek sound. The Olympic and Greek flags, as well as the Greek president, will then be welcomed.
A presentation of the evolution of humanity — ”Man, know thyself”, which concludes with an image of the Greek islands — will follow.
The next item will be a one-minute show representing the Greek god of love, Eros, which shows erotic attraction. This will be followed by a tribute to Greek history.
The athletes will then be welcomed into the stadium and a special song dedicated to them will be performed. The flame will then be brought into the stadium.
Papaioannou said the flame symbolises the light of peace.
”The flame unites the stadium with the roof to symbolise unification of earth and sky.”
David Zolkwer, who is in charge of the production of the opening, said it is an epic production.
”It is the largest light rig ever, with 2Â 000 moving lights. The back stage is 23m and 25m in diameter. We are aiming for a stadium theatre which tells an epic story on a human scale,” he said. — Sapa-DPA