On the occasion of the arrival of the Olympic Flame in London on Friday 18 May 2012, we invite you to take part in the Big Dance, the biggest dance programme in the world and part of the Cultural Olympiad 2012.

Big Dance aims to promote the Olympic spirit, innovation and education. It is being organised by the British Council in schools all over the world as a source of inspiration and creativity for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

On Friday 18 May at 1500 (Greek time) thousands of students in the UK, Greece and worldwide will try to beat the Guinness World Record for the 'Largest Simultaneous Multi-Venue Dance' by simultaneously presenting a five-minute dance routine created by Wayne McGregor, choreographer at the Royal Ballet in London, who has been described by the New York Times as 'the closest thing to a rock star that ballet can currently claim.'

The current world record for the largest simultaneous multi-venue dance is held by the Netherlands, with 1,472 locations and 264,188 people dancing. More than 200,000 children have joined the Big Dance to date.

McGregor's dance is inspired by the Olympic sports and, among other elements, it incorporates movements from football, basketball, racing and cycling. You can enjoy it on the Big Dance website.

In Greece, we're organising the teaching of McGregor's dance routine at schools in Athens and Thessaloniki and then its simultaneous presentation by the children at the schools taking part on 18 May, either in their school playground or at a big celebration of dance that will take place in Dionysiou Areopagitou Street.

On the big day professional dancers and Olympic champions will be in Dionysiou Areopagitou Street at 1200 midday to teach the dance routine and at exactly 1500 everyone will be ready to take part in the Big Dance via live connection with London!

If you’d like your school to take part in the Big Dance, please:

			visit www.bigdance2012.com
			sign up simply by providing the name of your school and an e-mail address
			download the video and the music for the dance routine and join the global Big Dance team!

You can perform the Big Dance routine either in your school playground or in your neighbourhood square, and Athens schools can join us in Dionysiou Areopagitou Street on Friday 18 May 2012 for rehearsals at 1200 so that we'll be ready to perform the dance at 1500 sharp!

'On the day the Olympic Torch arrives in the UK, young dancers throughout Britain, Greece and 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 students, your class and your school and on Friday May 18th be a World Record breaker!'
Wayne McGregor