The 2014 Winter Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony.

If this is the first you've heard to the Winter Para-Olympics there is a good chance that you need to thank the UK and in particular it's Channel 4 (C4) broadcaster. For not entirely altruistic reasons the UK and C4 provided unprecedented coverage of the 2012 Summer Para-Olympics that were held in London. That made the 2012 games the most successful para-Olympics in history and placed great pressure on future Olympic hosts to do the same.

As a result if I had to identify one over-riding theme of the opening ceremony it was a troika of tension between myself, Channel 4 and the entire population of Russia.

Proceedings began with a short video animation of the mythical "Firebirds" of Slavic (Russian, Polish Ukrainian etc) folklore making their way from the sun across the vastness of the Russian nation to the Fischt stadium where the ceremony is being held. This animation was very much in the style of Hamish Hamilton's "The Snowman" which C4 shows every Christmas without fail.

As always with folk/fairy tales there isn't really a definitive version of the Firebird story however in most versions the Firebird represents something of immense natural beauty and power that men try to chase and capture. As it's rare that anyone succeeds in capturing the Firebird it is often an allegory for the misery that comes from constantly pursuing the unobtainable. In Igor Stravinsky's ballet version which is probably one of the most well known the Firebird is portrayed as a woman that a Prince captures/marries but is forced to set free. That struck me as a very specific hint to Rihanna or more accurately Drake. As Firebirds are often said to come from the sun and leave a fiery trail their use was also an attempt to bring up the issue of global warming in particular solar activity.

Probably the most important thing to remember about this sequence though is that every single frame of the animation was painted in oils in a vaguely impressionist style. This is really difficult to do and incredibly time consuming. It also contrasts nicely with the modern computer animation that is used in video games and the UK recently won so many Oscars for due to the visual effects in the film "Gravity."

Just as the video sequence came to an end fireworks lit up the inside of the arena in a way similar to the way the circus tent had been destroyed in the Olympic closing ceremony. At the same time sparks began to cascade down from the ceiling. This was of course meant to signify that the Firebirds had arrived in the arena. It was also an early indication that this ceremony wouldn't follow the rigid schedule of having artistic segments and clearly separate segments dealing with Olympic protocol. That of course makes it a lot more difficult for people like me to write up the ceremony. Over the course of the 2012 opening and closing ceremonies there was a concerted effort to make the ceremonies as complicated as possible to the point that there was so much going on in the para-Olympic closing ceremony it was almost impossible to take it all in let alone write a review of it. The heavy, industrial imagery of the sparks cascading as if in a steel mill or foundry was supposed to emphasise that the London ceremonies were just too much like hard, heavy work.

After the fireworks Russian President Vladimir Putin and International Para-Olympic Committee (IPC) Phillip Craven took their seats alongside other VIP's. As always at the para-Olympics this was more a case of simply acknowledging that the VIP's were already in their seats because it can take a seriously long time for wheelchair users like Craven to climb stairs.

It was then time for the raising of the Russian national flag and the singing of the Russian national anthem. This involved a sequence in which a troupe of essentially majorettes marched around the stadium dressed in the red, white and blue of the Russian flag. Beyond the colour scheme the majorettes costumes were in the style of the iconic "Communist Worker." I think the point trying to be made was that this style of blue denim overalls was just how Russian workers dressed at the time of the Communist revolution. It was only when Chairman Mao appropriated this style of dress for China's Communist revolution in the 1940's that the look became synonymous with Communism. That point obviously triggers discussion about former Communist Russia's relationship with still Communist China.

I wouldn't say that were was anything specific about the drill manoeuvres that the majorettes performed. However this type of square bashing marching drills are synonymous with the military. The fact that they were being performed here by people who were clearly in civilian dress touched on the discussion about Russian hard (military) power versus soft (cultural) power that has been an undercurrent of all the Sochi ceremonies so far. Eventually the majorettes formed up in the shape of the Russian flag and waved in the breeze. In the Olympic opening ceremony the 'flag' achieved this waving effect by people marching backwards and forwards. In this opening ceremony the effect was achieved by people crouching down and standing up. After waving for a little while the flag marched in formation to what is known as the protocol stage where the flag poles and podiums for the speeches are located.

However the actual Russian flag was brought into the stadium by six flag bearers as is the tradition. Rather carelessly I did not note down the names of the those flag bearers so I may re-visit this section if more information becomes available. I'm pretty sure though that the only political message of the flag bearers that they've all reached the top of their professions despite having a form of disability. For example one of them was a well respected blind actress. This theme of achieving in spite of disability is pretty much the entire point of the para-Olympics and comes up a lot. For example all of the starring performers in the ceremony suffered from some form of physical impairment.

Once the Russian flag had been raised it fell to the Pan-Russian Choir to sing the Russian national anthem. As with the Russian language itself the Russian national anthem sounds really harsh to foreign ears so a very conscious effort was made to soften this sequence through the use of a civilian choir dressed in costumes with a very delicate blue and white (winter) colour scheme. This was in direct contrast to the Olympic ceremonies in which the national anthem was sung by military/police choirs. During their performance the members of the choir sort of un-did a button and their costumes suddenly changed into the bright colours of the famous Matryoshka Russian nesting doll. The colour scheme of the Matryoshka dolls are based on traditional Russian folk costumes with different styles representing different tribes or ethnic groups. As such this sequence seemed to be highlighting that despite the way it is being portrayed in the west perhaps Russia's involvement in Ukraine is less of an invasion and more of a humanitarian operation intended to prevent ethnic war breaking out.

Following the signing of the national anthem French Canadian musician Andree-Anne Gingras-Roy appeared playing a glass organ - that is to say that she was playing a tune by running her fingers around the rims of wine glasses filled with water. Although I wouldn't be happy to be quoted on it I suspect that Gingras-Roy suffers from some form of visual impairment meaning that she personifies the para-Olympic theme of overcoming adversity. Also the fact that that she is Canadian helped to remind certain people that Sochi 2014 was in fact picking up the Olympic baton from Vancouver 2010 not London 2012. Finally in her dress and demeanour Gingras-Roy struck me as resembling Lorde the 17 year pop sensation from New Zealand. Lorde's debut single "Royals" which was released in the middle of 2013 seemed very much like a deliberate insult to the US' Rihanna operation - the message quite simply being; "You'll never be good enough to trouble us."

Although I'm far from an expert I think the music that Gingras-Roy was playing came from Peter Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker." As both a famous Russian and a gay man Tchaikovsky is central to the discussion about Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws. The argument being that if Russians are not allowed to talk about homosexuality are they also not allowed to talk about Tchaikovsky meaning that his works should be banned? Also The Nutcracker is traditionally performed around Christmas time. In the northern hemisphere Christmas occurs in the middle of winter and these are the Winter Olympics after all. The reference to The Nutcracker so close to a reference to C4's "The Snowman" also promotes discussion about other things that are synonymous with Christmas. In the US that very much means the film "Its A Wonderful Life" which was used in the Olympic closing ceremony to highlight Ukraine's significant economic problems.

Emphasising the ballet theme Gingras-Roy's performance was accompanied by a "Dance of the Snowflakes" performed by female students from ballet schools across Russia. The fact that some of these dancers were very young - I think the youngest was only 6 - feeds into that great Olympic discussion about the age of sexual consent because I think most people would agree that 6 years old is definitely too young. Obviously the discussion about the age of sexual consent also has special relevance to Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws which are often defended by people who wrongly link homosexuality with paedophilia. Finally a ballet teacher trying to explain the emotion involved in Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" to a young student could quite innocently find themselves falling foul of those anti-gay propaganda laws.

With Gingras-Roy's sequence ending it fell to a choir from a special Russian school for musically gifted children with disabilities. The choir was dressed in very Victorian/Tsarist style costumes in a clear reference to the way in which disabled people were locked up in asylums during that time. The work of this school whose name frustratingly alludes me is obviously in direct contradiction to the ways Victorians treated the disabled. Sadly though many Victorian-style orphanages continue to operate in Russia and other former Soviet states such as Romania and it is these conditions that drives many foreign adoptions. So if Russians are genuinely worried about their falling population perhaps they should do more to help Russian orphans rather then worrying about gay people living openly.

While the choir sang acrobats in giant plastic bubbles made their way around the arena. This type of plastic bubble are often used in the curious pastime of "Zorbing." Due to the the 1946 novel and the 1964 film "Zorba the Greek" its not a huge leap from Zorbing to Greece. Although people often forget it Greece is actually a Balkan nation so this seemed to be an effort to remind everybody of the giant melting pot of cultures and ethnic groups that exists in the Black Sea/Balkan region. After all in Zorba the Greek the central character's best friend Stavridakis actually heads off to the Russian Caucasus to help Pontiac Greeks who are being persecuted.

As the plastic bubbles made their way around the arena though they began to resemble the famous "Snow Globes" which show often a famous landmark in a snow storm. Snow storms are of course synonymous with winter and this is the winter Olympics. However with the Firebirds returning and the colour scheme changing to fiery reds and oranges these bubbles become more of a metaphor for censorship. Obviously that touched on Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws and the connection with Soviet-era censorship that was central to the Olympic closing ceremony.

However the issue of censorship has a much more immediate relevance to the situation in Ukraine. That's because in both Russia and the West news outlets covering events in Ukraine in great detail but neither of them are exactly telling the truth. In fact it's only by watching a combination of both western and Russian news and then doing your own research that you can begin to understand what is actually going on. Of course in both Russia and the west this really biased news coverage provides plenty of fuel for intellectual discussions. However on the ground in Ukraine it is causing a lot tension and creating a great potential for violence as supporters of the various sides literally fight with each to shut down their opponents TV/radio stations/newspapers. The title of the ceremony "Breaking the Ice" seems a lot like a reference to the Russia Today show "Breaking the Set" because a lot of people in media circles are very interested to know what happened after it's presenter Abby Martin criticised the biased nature of Russian coverage of the situation in Ukraine  The fact that in the west she is said to have resigned gives you just a taste of the propaganda games that are going on.

As the Firebirds made their way back into the arena they were joined by the ballet dancers. The dancers proceeded to form up various shapes including a golden triangle, poppy-like flowers and of course snowflakes. These shapes touched on themes from the Olympic closing ceremony including Russia's massive border with Arabia, Persia and Asia including Afghanistan. Also it referenced intravenous drug use such as heroin use and its effects regarding HIV/AIDS which is a significant part of the debate about gay rights in Russia. Finally the dancers formed up in the shape of an Olympic torch.

While I don't want to detract from the athletes big moment the Parade of Nations/Athletes Parade is normally the most boring bit of any Olympic ceremony because it is essentially just a load of people walking around an arena for the best part of an hour. On this occasion if I had wanted to watch all of it I was unable to do so because the UK broadcaster C4 kept cutting away to advert breaks. Although this was largely just an economic reality of commercial television the fact that this meant that some nation's entries weren't broadcast feeds into the general debate over coverage that is present at all Olympic games and particularly at the para-Olympics. On this occasion it also feeds into the wider discussion about censorship. Really pushing this debate C4 not only cut away to adverts during the Parade of Nations they also cut back to the presenters in their London studio. From there the presenters cut away to another near-by London studios where final rehearsals were going on for that night's live broadcast of C4's "The Last Leg." Providing a light-hearted and often very funny review of the days events at the 2012 Summer para-Olympics The Last Leg was really one of the big success stories of the games loved by both competitors and spectators alike.

Unfortunately C4 tried to cash in on this success by turning The Last Leg into a general, light current events show and I think it's now in it's third of forth season despite the absence of an Olympics. Struggling with the format in the run-up to the Sochi games The Last Leg took it upon itself to lead the charge for gay-rights in Russia even going so far as to launch some pretty personal attacks on Vladimir Putin labelling him a gay icon and questioning his sexuality. With it becoming quite clear that people in the west - particularly the people behind The Last Leg - had very badly mis-read the political context of the gay-rights debate within Russia in the weeks prior to the start of the Sochi games Britain's foreign intelligence agency MI6 let it be known that it had spoken with people associated with The Last Leg telling them to tone it down. Obviously though with C4 being so heavily funded by the UK government that it counts as a state broadcaster MI6 could have done a lot more to keep The Last Leg in check.

Therefore the reason why C4 cut from the Parade of Nations to The Last Leg is because everybody associated with the Olympics and the international politics that goes along with them are very familiar with The Last Leg. In fact US President Barack Obama timed his statement on events in Ukraine of February 28th (28/2/14) to coincide with the start of The Last Leg's liveshow. As such I think it was very much up to the UK to include The Last Leg in the opening ceremony for discussion.

The other dramatic part of the Parade of Nations was the entry of the Ukrainian team. Only confirming that they would attend on the day the games began the Ukrainian team announced they would stage a form of protest against Russia during the Parade of Nations. This seemingly put them on a collision course with the IPC because overt political statements are very much against Olympic rules and normally attract harsh punishments. As it turns out the Ukrainians athletes simply chose to take their seats while a solitary athlete - Mykailo Tkachenko - carried their flag into the arena. This is the sort of indirect protest that is allowed so tension with the IPC was avoided. As Tkachenko is a double above the knee amputee I also like to think that this was the Ukraine conceding that politically and most certainly economically the Kiev government doesn't currently have a leg to stand on. I must also say that I am glad that Ukraine are participating because while due to primarily US pressure to grant formal recognition Russia can't speak to the Kiev government it can certainly speak to it's Olympic delegation. It is exactly this sort of compromise which made the Olympics so popular during the Cold War.

In terms of the stage setting during the Parade of Nations it was almost exactly the same as during the Olympic opening ceremony with athletes emerging from a ramp within the arena floor. However rather then images of the nations being projected onto the arena floor each nation arrived with the colours of their national flag being projected on the icicles/light tubes suspended from the ceiling. The only other interesting point was that as the Russian team entered they did so to a song entitled "Goodbye America" which is hardly complimentary about America. With the IPC not having banned Team USA from the games and Team USA not voluntarily withdrawing it seems they're going to have to put up with quite a lot of sarcasm.

Following the Parade of Nations it fell to Russian pop-star Yulia Samoylova to serenade us with her song "If You Need a Friend." Although I'm not a doctor, it doesn't seem to have been officially disclosed and her flowing white outfit was clearly intended to disguise it Samoylova obviously suffers from a very severe impairment - possibly Spina Bifida - which leaves her unable to use her legs and suffer from extremely limited mobility in her arms and trunk area. Despite this Samoylova did finish as a runner up in the Russia version of a X-Factor/Pop Idol style talent show "Faktor A" and has built a career as a pop-star. That obviously means Samoylova personifies the para-Olympic theme of overcoming adversity. Samoylova also poses questions about attitudes towards disability because although I didn't watch it I suspect that during her time on Faktor A there were discussions about whether people were just voting out of sympathy for the poor cripple?

Initially Samoylova's performance was accompanied by ballroom-style dancers. Some of these dancers were in wheelchairs while others appeared to be 'normal' although may have been suffering from a less obvious form of impairment such as deafness. This obviously further re-enforced the para-Olympic theme of achieving despite disability. Along with Samoylova's concealing outfit and her unstated impairment this also promoted discussion about the nature of impairment with some being immediately obvious while others can go unnoticed at first glance. It is one of the great contradictions of the para-Olympics that while the over-riding ideology is that you should see the person rather then the disability in order to classify the athletes for events you have to know exactly what their disability is.

Later in the sequence the ballroom dancers were joined a large group of dancers in sort of traditional Russian peasant dress and the return of the Firebirds. Despite the Firebirds adding their fiery red the colour scheme was kept as a very calming mix of the blue and white hues of winter, snow and ice. While Samoylova continued to sing  the larger group of dancers again arranged themselves into various shapes. For the most part these shapes weren't anything specific but seemed gentle and smooth which was keeping with the ballad style of the song. This was reminiscent of a sequence in the Olympic closing ceremony in which dancers made various shapes such as the "Ying Yang" symbol from Taoism and the Lemniscate symbol from mathematics. As such I think this sequence was meant to highlight the need for calm and unity within Ukraine.

Finally the dancers formed the shape of a Reindeer pulling Santa Claus' sleigh although you could have mistaken it for the traditional Russian troika of horses. That struck me as a beautiful little joke at the expense of people who incorrectly link paedophilia with homosexuality. After all Santa normally only gives presents to children and a "Troika" - literally translating as "Threesome" is certainly an example of a non-traditional sexual relationship.

Following the end of this sequence it was time for the obligatory speeches from the IPC President and Russia's National Olympic Committee (NOC) President. I didn't notice anything particularly dramatic or inflammatory about this speeches but that may have been because I wasn't provided with a translation of the Russian bits. Assuming that the Russian bits were in a similar vein to the English bits controversy was most certainly avoided.

With the speeches over it was time for the raising to the para-Olympic flag, the signing of the para-Olympic anthem and the taking of the Olympic oaths. In an effort to jazz things up a bit the majorettes returned still in their red, white and blue worker costumes to throw more shapes on the floor. The only really recognisable one of these was the Agitos symbol used to represent the para-Olympics.

Apart from the obvious reason this seemed to be an attempt to promote discussion about the Agitos symbol that was created by an advertising agency back in 2003. As a result it has absolutely no meaning but at various times various people have claimed that it means all sorts of things. The most popular one seems to be that it is derived from "Agito" - which is the Latin for "I move"  so the three symbols represent movement. However at the recent heritage flame lighting ceremony it was also claimed that it was derived from a Hephaestic sphere. Hephaestus being the Greek god of blacksmiths who according to some versions of the story was thrown out of Olympus for having crippled foot only to make a triumphant return. So it seems that the Agitos symbol is the ultimate Olympic ink blot test.

With the speeches made, the flags raised and anthems sung it was time for a spectacular final act and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron which I will cover in part two.

21:25 on 8/3/14 (UK date).