Who could forget wheelchair athlete Hou Bin hauling himself and his wheelchair into the air and lighting the cauldron on the stadium roof at the Beijing Paralympics opening ceremony in 2008?

Or what about Stephen Hawking giving a speech on science and reason at London’s 2012 Paralympics opening ceremony?

To open the 2024 Paralympic Games in the heart of Paris on the Place de la Concorde, artistic director Thomas Jolly – who was in charge of the River Seine opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics last month, is aiming to deliver choreographic performances “that have never been seen before”.

At a final rehearsal earlier this week at the historic square – a site where several members of the royal family were beheaded during the French Revolution – Jolly opened up on his vision of challenging and reshaping 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, according to the Associated Press.

Dance spectacle

Up to 100 dancers, including 20 performers with disabilities, practised under huge banners closing the square, AP reported, which has now been transformed into an open arena around the 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, with the dancers using crutches, wheelchairs or adapted tricycles.

“A spectacle that will showcase the Paralympic athletes and the values that they embody … that will unite spectators and television audiences worldwide around the unique spirit of the Paralympic Games,” he said.

A group of dancers use crutches during the rehearsal of the Paralympic Games opening ceremony in La Concorde square on Monday. Photo: AAP

‘Love at first sight’

In Paris local time, the Paralympics will run from August 28 to September 8.

In Australia, this means viewers can watch the opening ceremony at 4am, August 29 (AEST).

For the first time, the ceremony will be held outside of a stadium, with 65,000 spectators cheering 6000 athletes from 184 countries parading along the iconic Avenue des Champs-Elysees to the historic La Concorde square.

It is expected to draw an audience in excess of 300 million.

Jolly’s Paris Olympic opening ceremony included a story of 12 tableaux including a controversial unintentional depiction of The Last Supper, with global superstars Lady Gaga and Celine Dion finishing off the night.

Mixing themes of France’s history, there was thrash metal band Gojira, who played into France’s pop culture alongside DJs and classical music performances.

‘Unprecedented’ ceremony

Unlike the Seine, which was marked by tight security and heavy rain, organisers will allow the public to freely watch from the Champs-Elysees and near the Louvre Museum.

Officials say it’s an “unprecedented” ceremony, and it remains a secret as to who will perform on Thursday.

Composer and musical director of last month’s events, Victor Le Masne, says he wants to “put the athletes first” for this event.

We do know that Cyréna Samba-Mayela, the only French woman to have won a medal in athletics at the Paris Olympic Games, and six-time paralympian Ryadh Sallem, a member of the wheelchair rugby team, will light the cauldron in front of the Hôtel de Ville.

Lit on August 24 in the England’s Stoke Mandeville, the historic birthplace of the Paralympic Games, about 1000 forerunners – including Hollywood’s famous martial arts actor Jackie Chan – will have carried the torch to its final resting place.

The 53-year-old Sallem, who is described as “one of the figures of disabled sports in Paris” by deputy mayor Pierre Rabadan, was born a quadriplegic in Tunisia.

Australia will be represented by 160 athletes in 17 sports, with track and field star Madison de Rozario and swimmer Brenden Hall announced as the opening ceremony flag bearers.

‘Love at first sight’

President of the French Paralympic Committee, Marie-Amélie Le Fur, a nine-time Paralympic medallist, including three gold medals,  simply wants the Games to generate similar excitement to that of the Olympics.

“I want it to be love at first sight,” she told Le Parisien this week.

“The athletes must be at the heart of this ceremony … Jolly’s choice of an activist ceremony is also the right tone.

“We are here to defend a cause, to defend access to rights for people with disabilities … and when we do it through sport and culture, it is generally very engaging, without being moralistic or pathetic, and with the right line.

“It will perhaps be an opportunity to give some people recognition for a list of achievements that has not always been given media coverage.”

Perle Bouge, a two-time Paralympic Para rowing medallist and member of the Paris 2024 Athletes’ Commission, says her feelings for the opening are “pride, impatience, determination”.

Paris 2024 Paralympic Games opening ceremony on Nine, 9Gem, 9Now, and Stan Sport on August 29 at 4am (AEST)