UNITED KINGDOM: Rio comes to London in a cross-cultural exchange between the 2016 and 2012 Olympic hosts.

Record ID: 330938

  • Title: UNITED KINGDOM: Rio comes to London in a cross-cultural exchange between the 2016 and 2012 Olympic hosts.
  • Date: 22nd July 2012
  • Summary: LONDON 2012 FESTIVAL BANNER
  • Embargoed: 6th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Entertainment,Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA2XAGJJV083YKI5WQC2JYAWI1E
  • Story Text: The Beatles' classics were given a samba twist when Rio and London joined forces on Saturday (July 21) for an arts and culture exchange between the two host cities of the summer Olympics of 2016 and 2012 respectively.
    East London's borough of Hackney, close to where the Olympic stadium where many of the sporting events will take place during the games, was transformed into a samba carnival.
    Brazilian band Bloco do Sargento Pimenta, which in English means Sargeant Pepper's Block, performs Beatled songs with a samba beat.
    "We're having the Olympics in Rio in four years, I always thought it would be perfect to perform in England before going to Rio because we are the group in Brazil that makes the bridge between England and Rio. We sing Beatles songs with Brazilian rhythms, so it's an honour to be here, band member Leandro Donner told Reuters Television.
    In a commission by CREATE, an organisation that brings art out of traditional places and puts them into east London's open spaces, musicians, artists and performers exchanged ideas by travelling to one another's country.
    Samba dancers from London travelled to Rio to get a better understanding of the Brazilian art form.
    "First of all you have to just let go, I think UK, Brits people is held back a little bit so you have to think 'Oh yeah, I can do that. It doesn't matter.' Because in samba, there is no wrong or right. It's inside, so it takes over, especially on a day like that, you just put your arms out, put your hips out. Smile and then shake, shake, shake," said Brazilian dancer Paula Santos, from the Paraiso School Samba, dancing for the cameras to show how it's done.
    For Paul McLaren, producer from art collective Shademakers, travelling to Brazil to learn about how floats were made for the yearly Carnival was a major experience.
    "It's very hard to have a life-changing experience like that. It was a trip of a lifetime but it's worthless if there's no continuation. There needs to be some kind of continuation, there needs to be some sort of dialogue, that makes sense. We don't want to go just one time and that's it. We made friends there. We love them and they love us in a way," he said.
    Ruth Mackenzie, director of the Cultural Olympiad and London 2012 Festival, said after years of building the programme, it was time for her to see the various Olympic-related events she helped set up.
    "Now it's the fun bit where I get to see all the fruits of all the hard work. We've got tonight 1,500 musicians from every country taking part in the Games, doing free concerts on the banks of the River Thames and we've got fantastic community celebrations in the run-up to the Olympics themselves," she said.
    Her counterpart Beatrice Caiado said the festival in Hackney's Gillett Square has taught new lessons.
    "We have to be open for everything. This is the first and most important lesson that we have. We have to open for every kind of expression, every surprise, that can arrive," she said.
    The London 2012 festival cost around 55 million pounds to organise, and according to Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt, was a chance to showcase Britain's cultural heritage.
    Some events officially counted as part of the Cultural Olympiad would have happened anyway, but many have also been put on especially for the programme.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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