Who Remembers the Opening Ceremonies?

On the bus the back from my shift the other night, I sat with a representative from Musqueam, one of the Four Host First Nations. She was a dancer and a singer, and was asked to perform in the opening ceremonies for the Paralympic Games.

I also found out that she was one of the hundreds of dancers in the opening ceremonies for the Olympics.

So I cut to the chase.

I asked her why the heck they had to dance for, like, 3 hours while the athletes came out. Why would they make them do that?! It looked torturous... Like a dance marathon (In the worst way possible). I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. C'mon, it was rediculous!

She told me some interesting things.
1) Each one of them volunteered; VANOC people came to all the reserves and asked  if anyone would like to perform
2) All outfits worn by the First Nations dancers were their own. They were only offered help with hair and makeup by MAC artists.
3) They all lived together up in Squamish, BC for a bit before the opening ceremonies where they trained; after the opening ceremonies, they had a few days of free tours and travelling arranged through VANOC
4) They did so many practices, run-through's, and dress rehearsals before the actual night that the endless dancing we saw on TV was no big deal.


Mystery solved.


Pictured: Girl I took the bus with, second from right at a welcoming ceremony for the athletes