London schoolchildren to perform in London 2012 Ceremonies

The announcement comes with exactly six months to go until the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

All 18 primary and seven secondary schools involved in the audition process are engaged in the official London 2012 Get Set education programme, and have incorporated the Olympic and Paralympic Values into their curriculum.

Worldwide audience

The audition process for the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony has involved children aged 7-9 years and 11-13 years. In total, 1,650 children auditioned for the London 2012 Ceremonies Mass Movement Team, undertaking large scale choreography as well as dance routines.

More than 900 children will be selected over the coming weeks to perform in the Opening Ceremony on July 27, watched by 80,000 people in the Olympic Stadium and a worldwide TV audience of over a billion people.

LOCOG Chair Seb Coe said: ‘Being part of the Ceremonies is a great way of inspiring young people, I’m delighted schoolchildren from the Host Boroughs will be part of our show and help tell our story to the world. The students involved will have an incredible experience which will build their confidence and a sense of pride in themselves, their friends, family, school and wider community.’

Isles of Wonder

The name of the Olympic Opening Ceremony show has also been revealed, along with confirmation that the worldwide broadcast will commence at 9.00pm on the 27 July.

Danny Boyle, Artistic Director of the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony said: ‘We've called the show "Isles of Wonder", inspired by Shakespeare's The Tempest. Our Isles of Wonder salutes and celebrates the exuberant creativity of the British genius in an Opening Ceremony that we hope will be as unpredictable and inventive as the British people.’

Danny Boyle also revealed that the sound of the largest harmonically-tuned bell in Europe will kick off proceedings. The bell is being produced by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, and will measure two metres tall by three metres wide, weighing 23 tonnes. It will be inscribed with the words ‘Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises’ from The Tempest, as well as ‘London 2012’.

Among the highlights of the Ceremony – which will celebrate the best of British while representing all the regions – will be a special sequence using adult Volunteer Performers from the NHS.

Further details about the Opening Ceremony will be launched in the run-up to the Games.

Read the full press release

Did you know...

The Olympic Games Opening Ceremony will feature:

• 15,000 square metres of staging – equivalent to 12 Olympic-sized swimming pools
• A flying system that can lift 25 tonnes – the same as five elephants
• 12,956 props, over 100 times more than a West End musical
• A million watt PA system using double the amount of speakers than on the main stage at Glastonbury
• Services and products provided by 64 different supplier companies
  

For all four Ceremonies there will be :

• 15,000 volunteer cast members, with UK-wide auditionees from 18-90 years old, including people who watched the London 1948 Games live
• 23,000 costumes and a total of 12 hours of music 
• A combined TV audience predicted to be over four billion people
  

Applications are open until 22 February for adult volunteer performers to audition to participate in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.