Big Dance ‘08

From the first spark of inspiration to a fully fledged big idea – get involved now!

Big Dance is a weeklong dance extravaganza organised by the Mayor of London's office and is designed to encourage people to get dancing. Running from 5th – 13th July Big Dance will encourage Londoners to get active, be inspired and have fun with dance.

Above: Big Dance 2006 (photograph by James O'Jenkins)

There will be many and varied dance events taking place in the streets, schools, parks, museums and cultural centres across London. Big Dance aims to get as many people dancing as possible, so participation in the events is designed to be as accessible as possible – no special kit will be needed and participants don’t need to be super-fit. From lambada to lindy hop, ballroom to ballet and tango to tap, Big Dance will be an exciting opportunity for Londoners to discover dance in its many diverse forms and styles.

There are many ways to get dancing, to find out how you can get involved check out the Big Dance website at www.london.gov.uk/bigdance.

Summertime at Big Dance

We are thrilled to announce that the success of Summertime at the Royal Albert Hall will be repeated, this time at the Clore Ballroom, Royal Festival Hall as part of the Big Dance on Sunday 6th July.

Summertime was an exciting dance project where the ISTD, Royal Albert Hall Education and English National Ballet joined forces to give more than 200 pupils from 12 London secondary schools the chance of a lifetime. They took to the stage at the Royal Albert Hall on 16th June having had expert tuition from leading Dance Artists in a wide variety of dance styles ranging from Bollywood to Ballet and Lindy Hop to Latin American.

Above: All the schools dancing together to Rhapsody in Blue in the finale of Summertime at the Royal Albert Hall (photograph by Sheila Burnett)

The five schools taking to the stage once more on Sunday 6th July, in the order that they will appear, are:

Gable Hall School
Song: It Ain’t Necessarily So; dance style: Capoeira

Holland Park School
Song: A Foggy Day; dance style: Latin American

Hackney Free and Parochial School
Song: Nice Work if You Can Get It; dance style: African Caribbean

Paddington Academy
Song: My Man’s Gone Now; dance style: Hip Hop

St Saviour’s and St Olave’s School
Song: I Got Plenty; dance style: Disco/Freestyle

For more information about Summertime visit www.young-dancers.org