VIDEO SHOWS: REHEARSALS FOR OPENING CEREMONY OF 2026 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES INSIDE TEMPORARY TENT / TAILORS WORKING ON CEREMONY COSTUMES / COMMENTS FROM CEREMONIES DIRECTOR, MARIA LAURA IASCONE, AND COSTUME DESIGNER, MASSIMO CANTINI PARRINI RESENDING WITH SCRIPT SHOWS: MILAN, ITALY (JANUARY 28, 2026) (REUTERS – Access all) 1. STAFF MEMBER ENTERING ROOM, DANCERS TALKING INSIDE 2. VARIOUS OF DANCERS TALKING 3. DANCERS TAKING THEIR PLACES ON REHEARSAL STAGE INSIDE TEMPORARY TENT 4. STAFF MEMBER LOOKING ON 5. DANCERS TAKING STARTING POSITION 6. DANCERS STANDING IN STARTING POSITION AS MUSIC BEGINS 7. VARIOUS OF DANCERS PERFORMING 8. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) CEREMONIES DIRECTOR, MARIA LAURA IASCONE, SAYING: "We will recount the two different souls of these Olympic Games, namely the city and the mountains. In telling the story of the city, Milan of course, we will pay great tribute to what Milan represents in the world of fashion and design, but the greatest tribute will naturally be to Italian culture in a much broader sense, so we will tell our story in an extremely contemporary way, even playful, because the ceremony should also make people smile." 9. VARIOUS OF DANCERS DURING REHEARSALS 10. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) CEREMONIES DIRECTOR, MARIA LAURA IASCONE, SAYING: "Having two cauldrons will somehow double the excitement of lighting the flame, so Milan and Cortina, the two host cities of the Games, will take centre stage in the final moment when this wonderful cauldron is lit. That moment will be a spectacle within the spectacle, so we will create this magical moment, paying tribute to the sacredness of that flame, which represents the values of sport and marks the beginning of the Olympic Games in all territories." 11. VARIOUS OF STAFF MEMBER CHECKING COSTUMES 12. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) COSTUME DESIGNER, MASSIMO CANTINI PARRINI, SAYING: "Italianness is, let's say, what we have pursued as much as possible, not looking at fashion, but more at the past as a concept. We hope we have succeeded, because it is not easy, of course." 13. TAPE MEASURE AND THREADS ON TAILOR'S COUNTER 14. VARIOUS OF TAILORS SEWING COSTUMES 15. TAILOR CHECKING COSTUME 16. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) COSTUME DESIGNER, MASSIMO CANTINI PARRINI, SAYING: "The numbers I haven't counted, but there are thousands of pieces, absolutely thousands, because there are so many kids and a suit isn't just made up of one piece, so there are thousands and thousands of pieces." 17. VARIOUS OF TAILORS USING SEWING MACHINES 18. (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) CEREMONIES DIRECTOR, MARIA LAURA IASCONE, SAYING: "We have been very careful with the budget, and everyone's experience has certainly contributed to this: we have calibrated our expenses very, very carefully, so this ceremony does not cost much more than the budget for Turin 2006 twenty years ago. We have been very careful not to waste money and not to aim for spectacular spending; we have focused more on content and on the depth of the emotions that we will create." 19. DANCERS WEARING BLANKET, TAKING SEAT AFTER REHEARSAL 20. VARIOUS OF DANCERS TALKING AFTER REHEARSAL 21. (SOUNDBITE) (English) VOLUNTARY PERFORMER ORIGINALLY FROM JAPAN AND WORKING IN ITALY, ARIEL FUCHS, SAYING: "I'm super excited. I'm a little bit nervous, but honestly, everyone's been putting in so much hard work that it's gonna look so good, so I'm really excited. A little bit nervous (laughs)." 22. EXTERIOR OF TEMPORARY TENT, SAN SIRO STADIUM ON BACKGROUND 23. SIGNS READING (Italian): "No entry" 24. EXTERIOR OF TENT 25. DANCERS PERFORMING DURING REHEARSAL 26. VARIOUS OF STAFF MEMBERS SHIFTING PROPS 27. VARIOUS OF DANCERS PERFORMING 28. VARIOUS OF DANCERS STANDING ON STAGE AS REHEARSAL ENDS STORY: Inside a temporary rehearsal compound next to Milan’s historic San Siro stadium, the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics was taking shape on Wednesday (January 28) as hundreds of professional dancers and volunteers polished the final details for the global event. Over 1,300 performers, including around 1,200 volunteers from 27 countries, have been preparing for months in the tent. But with just over a week to go before the curtain rises on February 6, rehearsals are about to shift from the compound into the soccer arena itself. San Siro, however, will not be the only stage of the show. Sharing the global spotlight with the Lombardy capital will be three ski resorts across northern Italy: co-host Cortina d’Ampezzo, Livigno in Valtellina and Predazzo in the Trento province, marking the first "widespread ceremony" in the history of the Games. Creative director Marco Balich, a veteran of Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies, has built a show around the Greek concept of "harmony," understood as the meeting of city and mountains, man and nature, and the many cultures that share the Olympic space. The show will celebrate Italian history, culture and identity in a contemporary and playful key. "The ceremony should also make people smile," said Maria Laura Iascone, Director of Ceremonies for the Milano Cortina Foundation organising committee. Teenage dancers from the La Scala Academy trained with striking discipline on stage. Yet as soon as they stepped away, they turned back into ordinary kids, laughing and asking if lasagne would be on the lunch menu. Commitment is also a key trait among volunteers. Since they were selected months ago, they have been attending four-hour training sessions in the evenings, with increasing frequency as the ceremony approaches. One of them is 25-year-old Ariel Fuchs, originally from Tokyo and now living in Milan. With just a few days to go before the event, Ariel said she felt "super excited… and a little bit nervous." Costumes will be central to conveying Italy’s cultural roots, an especially fitting choice in Milan, one of Europe’s fashion capitals. Designer Massimo Cantini Parrini has overseen the creation of more than 1,400 costumes, produced under tight deadlines since last August. "We've pushed 'Italianness' as far as we could," he said, adding that the designs drew more on historical references than contemporary trends. Despite the ceremony’s scale and logistical complexity, Iascone said the overall cost will not be substantially higher than the budget for the Turin 2006 opening ceremony, which stood at around 28 million euros. "We have been very careful not to waste money and not to aim for spectacular spending. We have focused more on content and on the depth of the emotions that we will create," she said. (Production: Antonio Denti, Matteo Negri)
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