Opening ceremony for Paris Paralympics aims to reshape views of disabilities

Creative director Thomas Jolly has some lofty goals for Wednesday's opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, when the heart of Paris will once again become the stage for a stunning artistic display.

The outdoor ceremony at the Champs-Elysées and Place de La Concorde — a site where several members of the royal family were beheaded during the French Revolution — is aiming to challenge and reshape society's perceptions of disabilities.

"When we cut off the heads of the king and queen here, it changed society once. Maybe this ceremony will be the second time we change society," said Jolly, who was also in charge of the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics last month.

On Monday, under the sweltering Parisian sun, a hundred dancers, including 20 performers with disabilities, gathered at La Concorde for a final rehearsal under the secrecy of huge banners closing the square. The site hosted several competitions during the Olympics and has now been transformed into a grand open arena centred around the ancient Luxor Obelisk, the French capital's oldest monument.

Jolly said dance will be central to the show, celebrating all types of bodies through the universal language of movement. Swedish director Alexander Ekman has crafted a rhythmic spectacle where dancers — using crutches, wheelchairs, or adapted tricycles — will interact with pulsating beats.

WATCH l Helene Raynsford, Gregor Ewan light Paralympic flame in Stoke Mandeville: 

The music of the event is once again in the hands of Victor Le Masne, who also composed the entire score for the Paris Olympics.

On the eve of the Paralympic rehearsals, Le Masne welcomed a group of journalists into a secluded Parisian studio, offering a sneak peek of the track titled "Sportography,"