In a dazzling display of emotional pride and shimmering color Saturday, some 6,000 Albertans welcomed the world to their Winter Olympics.
More than 60,000 spectators in gaily decorated McMahon Stadium paid $70 for the honor of donning coded blue and earth-toned plastic parkas to create living mosaics beside the simulated Canadian Rockies during the spectacular opening cermony.
The two-hour extravaganza ended more than a million man-hours of preparation, the costs topping $7.5 million, roughly $145 per spectator.
The flavors were western Canadian, of rodeo cowboys, Indian riders, Mounties and chuckwagon racers, all on a field spread with white sand to simulate snow for TV cameras and provide decent footing for the horses.
”We`re definitely trying to show a Calgarian identity,” said artistic director Jacques Leman, on loan from the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. ”Take the two-step. People don`t do the two-step in Montreal, but here they even go to bars to two-step. It`s a fact of life, and we`ll be showing it off to the world.”
The world also beheld the dramatic rise of seven mountain peaks 60 feet high and 110 feet long, the largest cold-air inflation ever attempted. An estimated 1.5 billion TV spectators saw 960 square dancers, 540 two-steppers, 165 ballerinas, 450 flag-wavers, 1,075 choir singers and 1,056 school children doing interpretive dancing in glittering, intricately matched costumes buffered by space-age insulation to ward off the bitter cold.
All told, some 50,000 costume items, including caps, gloves, scarves and fake silver fox furs, were produced by 1,700 real and volunteer milliners to ensure one of the more lustrous pageants in Olympic history.
The hundreds of square dancers wore abstract maple leaves created from 30,000 appliques, puffy crinolines and 80 color combinations.
But there were stunningly futuristic moments as well. More than a thousand schoolchildren ages 10 to 12 shimmered like snow, hiding 2,000 ostrich feathers in their leg warmers.
Some 620 members of a Greek-Roman type ”Winterguard” twirled icy hoops while giving the impression of human sculptures.
The Royal Canadian Air Force`s Snowbirds aerobatics team buzzed the stadium, the planes emitting smoke in Olympic colors from their jets while 88 hot-air balloons rose on cue.
Some 1,000 racing pigeons were released instead of doves to form a swirling heart before embarking upon a 50-mile odyssey to the community of Bassano.
The highlight came when 1,700 athletes from 52 countries made their dramatic entrance, followed by the arrival of the Olympic torch.
The flame that was born atop Mt. Olympus in Greece had been carried through Canada to ignite a huge cauldron within an 18-story metal teepee. That flame now burns along with cauldrons at seven other Olympic sites, one the 626-foot Calgary Tower that dominates this city. There, a 15-foot orange flame burns 30,000 cubic feet of natural gas an hour, costing $500,000 over the course of the Olympics.
As the cauldron was lit, church bells pealed throughout Canada and 25,000 helium balloons flew from the simulated ”mountains” in the five Olympic colors.
The music included 28 original compositions by seven Canadian composers and appearances by Canadian performers Gordon Lightfoot and Ian Tyson.
Details of the production had been kept secret throughout the months of planning and preparation, even after being filmed for TV purposes on the outside chance that a huge storm might tie up the city and knock out electricity.
”It`s something we just had to do,” said Ed Roberts, ceremonies chairman. ”You can`t put a year of energy into something like this and then say, `Oh dear, we forgot about the weather.` ”
Spectators had been cautioned to dress warmly in several layers of clothing and to bring blankets and sleeping bags as shields against anticipated 30-mile-an-hour winds and 5-degree temperatures.
For the first time, athletes from demonstration sports were included in the ceremonies. Special permission was secured from the International Olympic Committee to allow curlers, short-track speedskaters and handicapped skiers to share equally in the athletes` glory.
