By Joel Tichinoff, Sports Editor
When Canadian identity comes up, it’s time to flip to the next page. Really, who even cares?
It is hard to give words to the elusive idea of Canada. Searching for Canadian identity can be like looking straight at the sun; any effort to directly examine who or what we are tends to make most Canadians want to look away with the same cringing pain we collectively felt when, as billions watched, the Olympic torch malfunctioned at the climax of the Vancouver Olympics’ opening ceremonies.
Yet no matter how hard it may be to see, the idea is up there somewhere – if only because it has to be. The organizers of Vancouver’s opening ceremonies made it the theme they explored in front of the world. It was a bold effort to weave a thread of common identity in through the layers of individualistic, pluralist, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural Canada. If we can’t look at the sun, we can at least take in the landscape lit up by its reflected light.
Olympic opening ceremonies have become a proclamation of a host nation’s glory, a celebration of a unique civilization. It didn’t help that we were following on the cultural-celebration heels of the Chinese, the Italians and the Americans, and that whatever we did had to live up to upcoming ceremonies from the Russians and Brits.
For a people who aren’t even sure they want to be a people, or that they even need a collective identity, it seemed impossible for the Vancouver organizers to say something every Canadian could agree with. Far from being able to say who we are, Canadians have a hard time saying what we’re not. Like a lonely teenager filled with big ideas yet unsure of our own worth, we are a country starved for defining moments. True to teenage insecurity, many viewers caught the awkwardness: the confused presentation of the heads of state, an overly jazzy rendition of “Oh Canada”, Nelly Furtado’s cheesy singing, the unthinkable embarrassment of the torch-lighting ceremony – corniness in general. And yet what will be remembered are the moments of sublime human perfection: competing nations joined in mourning the death of a Georgian luger, stunning visual effects transforming the arena floor into ocean waves broken by breaching whales, and a divided world united by candlelight as K.D. Lang sang Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”. If Canada needs moments that define us, to explain us to the world and ourselves – why not this one?
The opening ceremonies did capture something of the Canadian idea and experience even if it was mostly peripheral. The ceremony began with a proud welcome from four Aboriginal nations of the Lower Mainland who were then joined by additional Aboriginal nations from across Canada. Below four welcoming totems, the first people of Canada met together in proud and majestic display before the world.
Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado performed a song notable for little except the spirit and enthusiasm it conveyed. While stiflingly cheesy, the song succeeded in building a tone of pride, excitement and hospitality.
Next, athletes from across the world were welcomed to the stage to much fanfare. However what was most memorable was the relentless dancing at centre stage by the Aboriginal performers. As the people of nation after nation were welcomed to the stage, they refused to be forgotten, their drums and singing often rising above the cheers and music. They did a series of artistic performances depicting various elements of the Canadian experience – the smallness of humanity in the face of raw nature and the magic our vast, empty land.
Following impressive acrobatic performances interlaced with quotes relating to Canada, the Maritimes received a complimentary nod with a lengthy plaid-clad Celtic dance and fiddle performance. Speeches and songs wrapped up the ceremony. Mounties raised the Olympic flag while a Canadian opera singer delivered a powerful rendition of the Olympic hymn. Gretzky lit the flame. Few of those hearts who watched K.D. Lang’s epic rendition of “Hallelujah” were anything less than glowing. The song, by one woman before 60,000 candles, created a moment that was moving, intimate and powerful in a way that seems incapable of replication.
It is impossible to convey the spirit of the ceremonies to those who didn’t see them, suffice to say that they were unlike any opening ceremonies to date. Perhaps the overriding message of the Vancouver Olympics will be the idea that we exist and we are more or less who we say we are. A country that is many different things to many different people just said something only we can in a way only we can. Canada has made the Vancouver Olympics an opportunity to tell the world something about our identity, and succeeded in doing so before any medals were handed out. Gold medals or not, no one will want to miss the closing ceremonies.
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