Stage show at Chapelfield Gardens, 5pm to 7.30pm
Get your place in the gardens early for this amazing Olympic spectacle or watch it live on the outdoor screen at The Forum (places are limited at this site).
The show begins at 5pm with a performance of The Pulse, followed by up-and-coming band Morning Parade, acrobats and dancers, footage of the Olympic Torch Relay and a digital screen show.
The last Torchbearer will light the Olympic cauldron on the stage and Pulse's musicians and performers will end this fantastic show. Celebrations then continue in the city centre.
The Pulse
A feast of rhythm, movement and visual impact starring athletes, dancers, performers and musicians. Produced by The Garage Trust in partnership with Norwich and Norfolk Community Arts (NORCA).
People from across Norfolk were invited to take part and selected on the basis of an 'X-Factor' style audition. These have been fashioned into two 10-minute pieces by Artistic Director Aaron Sillis and Musical Director Marcus Patteson, bringing together talented people of all ages into two performances to welcome the Torch to Norwich and celebrate the Olympic spirit.
The Pulse rehearsals started in April and have been taking place every Sunday at The Garage, working with 50 performers in total, 23 of these are ‘movers’ and 27 of these are musicians.
The performers come from a range of creative and sports disciplines which include the following: Samba, Taiko Drumming, Hammer dulcimer, drums, keyboards, vocalists, rapping, singing, guitar, beat boxing, dancing, body popping, gymnastics, break dancing, hula hooping, street dancing and contemporary dance.
Early on in the process it was decided to split the musicians and movers into two performance groups to work on separate 10 minute pieces. The musicians will be opening the 2 hour stage show and the movers will be closing the show.
A 10 minute piece of music has been composed under the musical direction of Marcus Patteson, and includes all the different musical performers in a unique and engaging mix. The musicians are in the process of rehearsing and staging their work.
The movers have been working hard under the direction of choreographer Aaron Sillis. Marcus has put together a mix of music for Aaron to work with that reflects current times. This is an upbeat, fresh piece of work with lots of lifts, flicks and energy.
Carrie Mansfield, project manager, has been liaising with the touring stage management regarding technical set up and with Norwich City Council in regard to marketing, build up and logistics.
There has been press coverage of the rehearsals in the evening news, and film crews have continued to gather footage for our DVD and for the BBC Norwich Big Screen.
What has been really great is to see people from all different backgrounds come together to work on this performance; people who under normal circumstances would never have met let alone created such wonderful work for such a memorable event.
There will be three performances of ‘The Pulse’. The first will be on Wednesday 4 July in Chapelfield Gardens on the Olympic Torch Relay Stage at 5pm and 7pm. The second performance will be on Saturday 7 July at 2.40pm on the Forum stage, and the third will be on Saturday 7 July on the Forum stage at 6.40pm. There will also be a DVD of the project and this should be available by the end of August.