Friday, February 7, marked the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The games began with the Opening Ceremony which took place at the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia. According to nbcnews.com, “an estimated 31.7 million people watched the ceremony Friday night.” About 40,000 more people watched live from the stands of the stadium. The two hour and forty minute celebration consisted of Russian history, music, and dancing.

The program opened with the dream sequence of a young girl who imagined all the letters of the Russian alphabet. Each letter recalled a Russian writer, artist, or landmark. The young girl was then suspended in mid-air over landscapes of Russia to depict a dreamlike quality. “In my opinion, this was my favorite part of the ceremony,” said Sophomore Emily Sylvester. “I liked the surreal aspect of it.” Towards the end of the dream sequence, there was a malfunction with the five Olympic Rings that were to be formed from snowflakes. The first four went off flawlessly, but the fifth snowflake had a glitch and never went off.

Following the dream sequence was the parade of nations. A satellite image of the earth was projected on the floor as the athletes entered during the parade of nations. The map shifted so that the athletes emerged from their own country. Starting with Greece, the birthplace nation of the Olympics, the rest of the teams followed in Russian alphabetical order, ending with Russia.

The lighting of the torch followed and concluded the ceremony. Tennis player Maria Sharapova, ran with the Olympic flame into the stadium where she passed the torch to pole vaulter, Yelena Isinbayeva. From her, the torch was passed to the wrestler, Alexander Karelin and then to the gymnast, Alina Kabaeva. The relay was completed by skater, Irina Rodnina and hockey player, Vladislav Tretiak. Fireworks exploded over the stadium bringing the ceremony to a final end.