PRESS RELEASE: Sadler’s Wells joins Big Dance 2012 and Wayne McGregor for world record attempt

[Jan McNulty]

Sadler’s Wells joins Big Dance 2012 and Wayne McGregor for world record attempt

 

Friday 18 May, 1:00pm

Sadler’s Wells, EC1

 

As part of the Big Dance 2012 Schools Pledge, Sadler’s Wells will join schools and venues across the world in an attempt to set a new Guinness World Record for ‘Largest Dance Routine – Multi Venue’, on Friday 18 May at 1:00pm, to coincide with the arrival of the Olympic torch relay in the UK.

The event will see thousands of school children all over the UK and abroad dancing a specially created 5 minute work by Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist, CBE Wayne McGregor, set to music by Scanner and Joel Cadbury.

 

Over 60 local residents and children from local schools will gather in Sadler’s Wells’ main foyer, before a video introduction by Wayne McGregor counts down to the beginning of the record attempt at 1:00pm. The current record is held by the Netherlands with 264,188 people in 1,472 locations. It is estimated around 600,000 school children across 20,000 schools in the UK will be taking part in Friday’s record attempt, with schools in 55 other countries around the world also taking part.

 

The choreography has been devised to depict different Olympic sports, including fencing, rowing, running and basketball. Big Dance is one of the principle projects of the Cultural Olympiad’s London 2012 Festival, and the record attempt on 18 May marks the official countdown period to the Big Dance Festival week (7 – 15 July), which concludes with another mass Wayne McGregor performance on 14 July, when one thousand school children will perform a specially commissioned McGregor work in Trafalgar Square.

 

Wayne McGregor said: "The Schools Pledge is a fantastic and fun opportunity for young people of all ages to learn a new dance inspired by the Olympics and to perform it as part of our Guinness World Record attempt. On the day the Olympic Torch arrives in the UK, young dancers throughout Britain and in our partner countries worldwide will share a unique moment in time, dancing together and in unison, sharing our passion for the art form we love. Everyone, take up the challenge, learn the dance, teach it to your friends, your class and your school and on Friday May 18th be a world record breaker!"

In collaboration with the British Council, Big Dance’s Schools Pledge provides dance related educational resources to schools in return for the commitment to teach their students the choreography and take part in a Guinness World Record attempt and undertake to do an additional 20 minutes of dance a day during Big Dance week (7-15 July 2012).

 

Big Dance is one of the world’s biggest and most influential dance festivals, featuring dance in unusual spaces and showcasing the diversity of dance styles in the capital and across the UK. The festival features work on television, in the streets, in theatres and schools and right into the heart of communities all over the country. An estimated 5 million people across the UK will be participating in this year’s Festival, with the majority of events free to access.

 

The UK’s leading dance house, Sadler’s Wells, is the North London hub for Big Dance and will host workshops, masterclasses and performances across the region from 18 May – 15 July.

 

Further information on Big Dance Schools Pledge can be found here: http://www.bigdance2...nd_teachers.php