Rio 2016™ celebrated the Paralympic flag handover from London to Rio de Janeiro with an eight minute show on Sunday evening during the London 2012 Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony. The feature has dealt with the concept of “joy” – addressing themes such as “cultural diversity”, “harmony” and “contagious energy”.

After the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, has received the flag at the Olympic Stadium of London, Rio 2016™’s presentation was opened with a 44 seconds video on the sequence’s core concept “joy”, featuring images of Brazilian Paralympic athletes.

The core element of Rio 2016™’s show included three “dance battles” and three dance performances. The “dance battles” were inspired by a cultural phenomenon in the carioca communities known as “Funk do Passinho” – an updated version of north-american break dance blended with Brazilian rhythms that have been disseminated amongst Rio de Janeiro communities.

The competitions between the dance groups has inspired two other “battles” that evening, involving Brazilian regional dances – parafuso, frevo, samba and capoeira – and European dance – classic ballet. The “dance battles” embodied Brazilian cultural diversity and how it helps to create better communities and strengthen bonds between them.
The musical shows intertwining the “dance battles” brought three great Brazilian features to London: Carlinhos Brown, Os Paralamas do Sucesso and Thalma de Freitas.

The highest point of Rio 2016™’s presentation was the performance of the song “É Hoje” by Carlinhos Brown and Thalma de Freitas, dressed like Brazilian Hollywood-like icon Carmen Miranda.

After that, the Paralympic athletes Daniel Dias and Adria Santos went onstage with the Rio 2016™ Paralympic Games brand inviting all to a great moment in Rio in four years’ time.

Cao Hamburger and Daniela Thomas were the show’s artistic directors; Abel Gomes was in charge of the creative supervision and Marco Balich was the executive producer.
Carlos Arthur Nuzman, President of Rio 2016™ said: “Receiving the Paralympic flag from our friends here in London makes us in Rio and in Brazil very proud. With our presentation at the London 2012 Paralympic Games Closing Ceremony, we offered a glimpse of how exciting the Games in Rio 2016 will be.

“We will ensure that our hard work here in London to foster social inclusion, accessibility and the Paralympic sport is continued in Rio”.