7 August 2008
City of London arts organisations unite for the Olympic Games
handover
‘Out of the Blocks’
A City celebration of the Olympic Games handover to London
Sunday 24 August, 1.00pm - 6.00pm
St Paul’s Cathedral steps & Paternoster Square
The City of London Festival brings together the LSO, Barbican
and Guildhall School of Music & Drama for a grand open-air
celebration of music, dance, circus and street art at St Paul’s
Cathedral and Paternoster Square for the handover of the Olympic
Games on 24 August 2008.
Highlights include:
- An Olympic-size swimming pool art installation across
Paternoster Square, led by Manchester collective Urban Canvas,
measuring 50m x 2.5m – the official size of one swimming pool
lane.
- 2Step, a site-specific dance performance against the
backdrop of St Paul’s Cathedral, featuring specially selected dance
degree students of the Central School of Ballet, Laban and The
Place, choreographed by Shobana Jeyasingh and commissioned by the
Festival.
- New theatrical juggling and circus performance
RhythmAsia, presented by the London Youth Circus and
commissioned by the Festival.
- London Symphony Orchestra Brass on the steps of St Paul’s.
- Strings, Jazz and Leadership departments of the Guildhall
School of Music & Drama presenting orchestras and bands
throughout the day in Paternoster Square.
- Schools from the Barbican Centre's Adopt-the-Barbican scheme
involved in the AfroReggae UK Partnership will close the day with a
big junk percussion finale.
Since its inauguration in 1962, the City of London Festival has
provided a regular summer feast of music and the arts within the
Square Mile's unique and remarkable collection of buildings - both
ancient and modern - and its squares, gardens and other open
spaces. The 2008 Festival ran from 20 June to 10 July, offering a
wide-ranging programme of music, literature, art exhibitions, film
screenings, architecture walks and talks. The Free Summer Events
programme runs from 20 June until 24 August, enhancing the City's
outdoors with jazz, world music, street theatre, circus, dance and
art, concluding with the celebration of the Olympic Games
handover.
The City of London Corporation is one of the most significant
sponsors of the arts in the UK, along with the Government and the
BBC, providing the Barbican Centre and Guildhall School of Music
& Drama, with significant support to the London Symphony
Orchestra and the City Arts Trust, which runs the City of London
Festival.
For further information and the full Festival programme please
visit www.colf.org
Ends
Press contacts
PR & Marketing Manager –
emily.caket@colf.org
Free Events & Education Manager –
ruth.oakley@colf.org
020 7796 4949