More than 30 musicians, visual artists, playwrights, choreographers, graffiti artists, film-makers, poets, photographers, DJs and actors from Rio de Janeiro will collaborate with their London counterparts to showcase the best of Rio to the capital.
The Brazilian elements will be integrated into the 12-week cultural celebration running from 21 June to 9 September.
Organisers say it will create opportunities for Brazilian artists to collaborate and create relationships with established and emerging British artists.
Highlights will include a Rio-style float taking part in the One Hackney Festival’s street parade to celebrate the arrival of the Olympic Flame in the London 2012 Host Borough on 21 July. The festival will also feature collaborative performances by Hackney groups from Fundiçao Progresso in Lapa and by Rio’s leading disabled carnival group Embaixadores da Alegria and the UK’s only accessible carnival project, Blue Touch Paper Carnival.
On 7 July, Rio’s Tiradentes Square will be the stage for a presentation of dance bringing together around a thousand young dancers and from various Rio schools. The choreography will be filmed and shown throughout London 2012 on a screen in Trafalgar Square. This event will mark the official start of the London-Rio partnership to create the Rio Big Dance, a programme to spread dance across different spaces spread throughout the city.
The closing festival of Rio Occupation London will be a three-day celebration of the best of what has been created and presented in the city throughout the project. It will take place in a 42,000sqm space near the Olympic Park.
Seb Coe, chair of Locog said: "The brilliance of these artists’ work for the London 2012 Festival illustrates the depth of the shared vision of London 2012 and Rio 2016 to build strong relationships through culture. People around the UK, in Brazil and right across the world will be able to enjoy the results of this vision during the London 2012 Festival, in the build up to Rio 2016 and beyond."
Adriana Rattes, the secretary of state for culture of Rio de Janeiro, said: "The London 2012 Festival and Rio Occupation London - which the State Culture Secretariat has programmed in partnership with Locog - will strengthen Rio de Janeiro's international cultural relations, promote a dynamic, attractive and contemporary image of the State of Rio, and create a platform on the world stage for the best work of artists emerging in Rio, bringing to life the Olympic spirit through our artists and creating a legacy for Rio 2016."
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