Bicentennial Parade, Paris (excerpts) (1989)
Title
Bicentennial Parade, Paris (excerpts) (1989)
Subject
Parades
Paris (France)
URL
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Description
Content description from NYT Archives (https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/14/world/france-celebrates-a-day-of-history.html):
As if to make Paris again the center of the world, Francois Mitterrand today presided over the opening of a week of ceremony to mark the bicentennial of one of the pivotal events of history, the French Revolution.
The French President invited leaders from both rich and poor countries for celebrations to include the opening tonight of the new opera house on the Place de la Bastille, where the Revolution began, to be followed by days of traditional dancing, fireworks and merry-making in the streets of Paris.
Yet the tight security measures imposed to protect the leaders from Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa appeared to have put something of a damper on the mood in the city, which has been abandoned by many Parisians for the duration.
With gawking Parisians and tourists barricaded from the square where the dread Bastille prison once stood, Mr. Mitterrand and his guests attended an inaugural concert of French arias at the gleaming new Bastille Opera. Ideals, Terror, Dictatorship
Ephemera: none available.
Limitations: This page displays video content associated with a videotape in the CCDR Collections audiovisual library recorded by Joann W. Kealiinohomoku. Please be advised that, because this videotape has not yet been digitized for direct access, we cannot guarantee that the video content on this page is an exact match with the content originally recorded by Dr. Kealiinohomoku. We also cannot guarantee function or access for re-hosted video content.
As if to make Paris again the center of the world, Francois Mitterrand today presided over the opening of a week of ceremony to mark the bicentennial of one of the pivotal events of history, the French Revolution.
The French President invited leaders from both rich and poor countries for celebrations to include the opening tonight of the new opera house on the Place de la Bastille, where the Revolution began, to be followed by days of traditional dancing, fireworks and merry-making in the streets of Paris.
Yet the tight security measures imposed to protect the leaders from Europe, the Americas, Asia and Africa appeared to have put something of a damper on the mood in the city, which has been abandoned by many Parisians for the duration.
With gawking Parisians and tourists barricaded from the square where the dread Bastille prison once stood, Mr. Mitterrand and his guests attended an inaugural concert of French arias at the gleaming new Bastille Opera. Ideals, Terror, Dictatorship
Ephemera: none available.
Limitations: This page displays video content associated with a videotape in the CCDR Collections audiovisual library recorded by Joann W. Kealiinohomoku. Please be advised that, because this videotape has not yet been digitized for direct access, we cannot guarantee that the video content on this page is an exact match with the content originally recorded by Dr. Kealiinohomoku. We also cannot guarantee function or access for re-hosted video content.
Original Format
TV broadcast recorded off air by JWK: Betamax tape
Creator
Robert Wilson (Bastille Opera stage)
Publisher
British Broadcasting Company (BBC)
Date
1989
Citation
“Bicentennial Parade, Paris (excerpts) (1989),” Cross-Cultural Dance Resources Collections, accessed January 21, 2026, https://ccdrcollections.omeka.net/items/show/847.