Press releases In Toto Theatre's "Art in the Air" comes to Lord Mayor's Show
Wednesday 15 October 2008

Notes for Editors

For further information, please contact Lesley Mair at the City of London Corporation on 020 7332 1754 or by email: Lesley.Mair at cityoflondon.gov.uk.

The Role of the Lord Mayor

The Lord Mayor of the City of London is an international ambassador for the UK financial services industry and spends up to 80 days a year traveling to around 20 countries to promote this industry and the Square Mile as a place of excellence in which to do business.

As head of the City of London the Lord Mayor is involved with local government and London-wide issues, ranging from the City of London’s work in the regeneration of neighbouring boroughs to transport and environmental issues which affect the City.

On behalf of the Sovereign and the Government, he also acts as host when the City of London provides hospitality for visiting heads of state and foreign dignitaries. In addition, the Lord Mayor provides a platform for Government Ministers to make keynote speeches. The Prime Minister attends the Lord Mayor’s annual Banquet at Guildhall, whilst the Bankers’ Dinner each June is the occasion for the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s annual keynote speech, known as the Mansion House Speech. The Easter Banquet, also held at Mansion House, is the major annual opportunity for all London’s diplomats to listen to the Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary. Other Cabinet members and international business figures also value these opportunities.

The Lord Mayor also presides over meetings of the Court of Common Council and Court of Aldermen, and attends Livery events and charitable projects. He receives visiting overseas ministers and senior businessmen and keeps in close contact with City institutions and firms as well as travelling to other UK financial centres to keep in touch with regional economic activity. In his year of office he will make some 600 speeches on a wide variety of subjects from City financial matters to charity and patronage.

City of London Corporation

The ancient City of London Corporation has a 21st-century role supporting the business city as the world’s leading international financial and business centre. The City of London Corporation provides local government services for the City of London Square Mile at the heart of London but its responsibilities also extend far beyond the City boundaries and include paying for and running the Barbican Centre, Epping Forest, Hampstead Heath, and three wholesale food markets, as well as acting as the London Port Health Authority.

In Toto Theatre is one of just four London groups to have received £15,000 in funding from the Lord Mayor of the City of London to build its own float for inclusion in this year’s prestigious Lord Mayor’s Show.
In the coming weeks, more than 75 people including recent arts graduates, children and young people will be hard at work learning new skills and developing their creative and artistic flair to entertain around 300,000 spectators when the parade hits the streets of London on Saturday 8th November.

In Toto combines puppetry, live music, story-telling and dance to create a “total” theatre experience for children, families and young people, primarily in the Lambeth and Southwark areas of South London. Based in the Colombo Sports and Community Centre on London’s South Bank, the group will be hosting workshops in street dance, circus skills, musical percussion, mask and puppet-making and body/face painting, working closely with the youth initiative based at the sports centre itself.

Reflecting the theme of “Art in the Air” their Show entry will feature brightly-coloured costumes, expressionistic in style, inspired by the artist Miro. Participants will carry all kinds of weird and wonderful creature creations and droll puppet figures, especially a colourful array of bird puppets and masks. They will be accompanied by a street jazz band where saxophones and trumpets will be played alongside bird whistles and theatrical sound effects.

Sarah Carter at In Toto Theatre said: “We’re very excited at taking part in our first Lord Mayor’s Show. It’s a great opportunity for our young people to learn new skills in the design and creation of the masks, costumes and float. We’re determined to be one of the most colourful and lively entries in this year’s Show.”

The Lord Mayor’s community float scheme extends links between the Square Mile and neighbouring City fringe boroughs. Sponsorship in terms of finance and through expert workshops allows group participants to develop their talents – which are demonstrated on the day to the Show’s audience across the world.

ENDS

Facts about the Lord Mayor’s Show:

• First Lord Mayor was elected in 1215; the Show is now in its 793rd year.
• It welcomes in the 681st Lord Mayor of the City of London.
• The Show takes place annually on the second Saturday in November.
• At 5pm, the Lord Mayor will light the touch paper to the Lord Mayor’s Fireworks display on the River Thames between Blackfriars and Waterloo Bridge. A team of eight pyrotechnicians takes two days to set more than half a tonne of giant fireworks, some of which shoot more than 600ft into the air. It is the largest firework display in London.
• The word “float”, used to describe components of a parade or procession, is derived from the Lord Mayor’s Show when originally the exhibits would do just that – “float” along the Thames in barges.
• The Pageantmaster, Dominic Reid, is responsible for organising the logistics of the Show – this includes arranging for the lifting and checking of 3,500 manhole covers, installation of 4,000 grandstand seats and 6,300 galvanised crowd barriers and laying of 43 tonnes of sand.
• This year he will also be in charge of the 6,100 participants, 71 floats, 200 horses and 220 vehicles – which include a WW2 tank, a fleet of Morris Minors, several vintage buses and horse-drawn sleigh with Santa Claus!
• To enjoy the celebrations, get to the City for the morning of Saturday 8th November and nab a place on the well-marked route. The procession will weave its way from Guildhall in the heart of the City, through the historic streets of the Square Mile, passing the Mansion House and St. Paul’s Cathedral before continuing to the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand.