DANCERS PERFORM MESMERISING HAND BALLET AT 2020 PARALYMPICS HAND OFF CEREMONY

As part of its closing handoff ceremony, the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games arranged a very special and unique choreographed performance. 

The beautiful hand ballet dance was choreographed by Sadeck Waff. It breathtaking performance was executed perfectly in sync by 126 professional and amateur performers in wheelchairs.

The performance started with a special 12-year-old boy, Oxandre Peku,who was also the first person in France to receive a 3D-printed, multi-grip bionic “Hero Arm” by Open Bionics. After his part the performance slowly transitioned to the stage of performers in wheelchairs. The performance worked in synced with their hand ballet to beautiful music which was composed by Woodkid and performed by Orchestre National de France.

The group also payed tribute to the upcoming Paralympic Games in France in 2024 by creating “2024” with their hands for their final move. 

Some of Waff’s choreography for the Paralympics is reminiscent of some of his other sequences for example his Murmuration Project 64 features most of the same tight arm movements displayed in the games. Waff revealed, “There is magic everywhere, the key is knowing how to look, know how to see and listen in silence, like a cloud of birds forming waves in the sky, each individual has his own identity, but an irreplaceable place in the whole.”

Watch the handoff ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games, below.