The Olympic Closing Ceremony: A Cast like No Other

Who would have thought that I would get to be a part of the closing performance of the Closing Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games alongside over 300 other dancers plus hip hop artist K-OS? I sure didn’t. When filling out the application form, all I knew was that they needed volunteer performers and that the minimum age was seventeen. I thought, “Hey this is perfect!”

After hours and hours of practices in a giant white tent beside BC Place, everyone was getting super excited for the big day. Once we tried on our costumes and did a few rehearsals in the actual stadium, the thought of performing for over a billion viewers was becoming a reality. The energy from my fellow performers, directors and choreographers was incredible; everyone was pumped to reveal all of our hard work to the world.

The big day, February 28th, started off with the entire hip-hop cast watching the gold medal hockey game, which brought the energy level to an ultimate high point. Everyone went wild as Canada took the gold and it created an indescribable atmosphere leading up to the Closing Ceremony.

I was in two sections of the Closing Ceremony: the Sochi section and the K-OS performance. In the Sochi section, my role was to carry a giant balloon filled with red, blue and white confetti down the aisle. As I stood with my balloon attached to a metal rod that was equipped with a trigger to pop the balloon, I looked out into the audience and saw the flashing lights and antlers that the audience members were given. Then the voice in our in-ear monitors gave us our first cue, “Balloon wranglers, arm your balloons.” And we pulled a lever to prepare for the release. Then we heard “Balloon wranglers, go!” and I pressed the trigger that popped my balloon, and I saw all of the others do the same, sprinkling the crowd with the festive confetti.

Then we got ready to perform our hip-hop choreography in the aisles of the stadium for the K-OS performance. Wearing our colourful sweatshirts splattered with glowing paint, we danced in the aisles as other dancers were performing on the stage and as K-OS was singing and the energy and atmosphere was amazing. We did the choreography with enthusiasm and I was feeding off the energy of the audience, which was such a great feeling.

At the end of the night, I was so happy that I was able to take part in this incredible opportunity. I was able to meet a lot of interesting people, participate in one of the greatest Closing Ceremonies, and was able to perform for over a billion viewers. This was ultimately one of the most memorable experiences of my life and I can’t wait to show my grandkids my souvenirs and say “I was in the Closing Ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics back in 2010!” I’ll always have a bit of Canadian history in me, which will add to many other great memories from the Games.