Tarot in the Olympics

Tarot appeared in the closing ceremonies, which I didn’t see. According to Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Turin Bids Arrivederci to Winter Olympics

A dizzying array of circus acts, parades and carnival shenanigans followed – clowns on swings and swiveling in large hoops, ballerinas and tumblers, acrobats dangling high above the stage from ribbons and rings, a stilt walker jumping rope, dancers dressed as Tarot cards. One convoy of clowns was equipped with vintage Italian motor scooters and pint-sized Fiat 500s, one of the smallest cars ever mass-produced.

According to people at Aeclectic who saw the closing ceremonies on television, the dancing Tarot cards resembled the Tarocco Piemontese (click on link, scroll down for images). Many older Tarot decks originated in northern Italy and southern France, and the Piemontese in particular is used in and around Turin, so it seems fitting for the Turin Olympics.