Streb Extreme Action Heralds London 2012 Games with SURPRISES: STREB

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As excitement builds towards the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, a thrilling ambush by some of the world's most gifted performers has arrived in the capital.

From Brooklyn, New York, fresh from the fiercest training regime anywhere in professional dance, come the STREB EXTREME ACTION dancers. They are in London to amaze us with a performance choreographed by their founder Elizabeth Streb, entitled Surprises: Streb.

Suddenly appearing at landmark locations around the city, those catching this one-off spectacle will witness the human body being pushed to its ultimate limits through daredevil feats of extreme athleticism.

Mark Ball, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of LIFT, commented: "Our free, secret performances have formed some of London’s biggest 'wow' moments recently, popping-up without warning, taking over and transforming some of London's most iconic landmarks during 2011 and 2012 – remember the fantastic musical balloons of the Sky Orchestra - Surprises: Streb is going to be no exception."

Surprises: Streb is one of several high profile events being presented by the Mayor of London and London 2012 Festival as part of an unprecedented cultural festival taking place in every corner of the capital this summer to celebrate the Games.

Staged by LIFT, the London International Festival Of Theatre, Surprises: Streb is an event on a scale never before seen in this country, thrilling spectators not only locally but across the planet, as the gaze of the world’s media intensifies its focus on the city as it hosts the 2012 Games.

Surprises: Streb is designed as a sudden explosion of human energy and art that appears out of the blue: an extraordinary surprise for the person in the street, a thrilling and inspirational assault on the senses for in this most vibrant of Capital Cities.

Surprises: Streb has been commissioned by the Mayor of London and the London 2012 Festival, with funding from Arts Council England, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and the National Lottery through the Olympic Lottery Distributor.

Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, said: "I am thrilled that we've been able to bring Elizabeth Streb's incredible dancers to the capital. In an unprecedented summer of supreme sporting competition and world-class cultural events, the awe inspiring jeopardy they will bring to our landmark buildings promises to be one of the most mind-blowing highlights of the year."

Follow Surprises: Streb on Twitter @SurprisesSTREB and Facebook. And for more about Mayor of London Presents and the London 2012 Festival, go to www.molpresents.com and www.london2012.com/festival.

The Mayor of London is supporting a huge programme of free events and cultural activities to add to the excitement of 2012. Working with outstanding International Artists and world-class cultural organisations this unprecedenTed Mayor of London Presents programme is taking place in every corner of the capital to add to and complement the London 2012 Festival. It includes Secrets: Hidden London, with artists and performers transforming hidden and lesser known locations; Showtime, the largest outdoor arts festival ever seen in the capital, with dozens of electrifying artists from the UK and abroad coming to every borough, in high streets, parks and town centres; BT London Live, bringing live action from the Games, as well as sporting activities and entertainment to Hyde Park, Victoria Park and Trafalgar Square; and Surprises bringing pop-up performances and once in a lifetime experiences, including Surprises: Streb - to locations familiar and unusual, above your heads and atop landmark buildings.

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