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The Rio Olympics Closing Ceremony Was One Giant Dance Party

August 21, 2016

The 2016 Rio Olympic Games officially came to an end last night, but the super-fun closing ceremonies sent them off in style. The best part? Despite the pouring rain (Rio de Janeiro‘s Maracana Stadium is open-air, leaving everyone exposed to the elements), the night was essentially a massive Carnival–samba party. The entire stadium (athletes and all) danced the night away and celebrated until the early hours of the morning.

(Photo by David Ramos/Getty via NPR)

In case you missed it, here are a few of our favorite moments:

Grupo Corpo’s Performance

We LOVED seeing one of Brazil’s leading contemporary troupes highlighted on the world stage. The company’s style is a mix of their own Afro-Brazilian genre with other familiar contemporary styles. The group performed part of its show Parabelo and the piece led to more dancers dressed as clay dolls, common in the Northeastern region of Brazil. The segment highlighted clay’s history as one of mankind’s earliest tools and sources of creation.

Grupo Corpo’s dancers (Photo by Reuters via The Telegraph)

The clay doll dancers that were part of Grupo Corpo’s performance. (Photo by Reuters via The Telegraph)

The Dancing Parrots

The Twitterverse promptly lost its mind over the dancing parrots running around the arena at the beginning of the ceremony. The parrot dancers were apparently creating formations of some of Brazil’s most iconic landmarks, but the images were kinda (OK, very) unrecognizable, prompting memes and jokes galore online. But we must say, their colorful, flowing costumes were still dazzling to watch.

Rio’s dancing parrots (Photo by Getty via The Telegraph)

(Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images Sport/Getty Images via Bustle)

Japan’s Super-Cool, Show-Stealing Appearance

Uh, Japan kinda stole the spotlight here, guys. Their segment made us REALLY excited for the next summer games in Tokyo in 2020. Their piece and dancing had an awesome futuristic vibe and we’re pretty sure it’s safe to assume Tokyo’s ceremonies will be sleek, technology-driven and will feature dancing that’s seriously on point. #RiotoTokyo

(Photo by Getty via Yahoo! Sports)

Great Britain’s Light-Up Shoes

The U.K.’s athletes came to this dance party prepared. The team donned the coolest light-up sneakers, which they later wore on their hands to further get into the festive spirit. I mean, how great would these be in a hip-hop piece? We’re gonna need some ASAP.

Simone
Bile’s Selfie Game

You know you’re a queen when you can’t go more than two seconds without other athletes/fans stopping you and asking for a selfie. Biles killed it at these games, straight through to the closing ceremonies where she was chosen as Team USA’s official flag bearer.

 

And last but not least…

After the official ceremony was over the arena erupted into a giant Carnival and samba dance party. In true Brazilian form, the costumes were sparkly and colorful, the music was upbeat, the athletes were breaking out some stellar dance moves and the energy was palpable all the way back to where we were watching in the States. Rio, you were one for the books.

(Photo by AFP via The Telegraph)

(Photo by Getty via Yahoo! Sports)


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