Rugby League World Cup opening ceremony will feature dance extravaganza

16 October 2013

Specially-designed lighting, original music, and a dance extravaganza created by some of the UK’s leading choreographers, will form part of the opening ceremony for the Rugby League World Cup later this month.

Organisers have confirmed details of the hotly-anticipated ceremony at the Millennium Stadium on October 26, which will involve more than 1,500 performers.

Classical singer Camilla Kerslake will sing 'God Save The Queen' ahead of England's clash with Australia. Kerslake has sung for the Queen and an audience of 140,000 people at the Epsom Derby.

Music at the ceremony will also include performances from female classical-pop quartet Escala and Welsh ‘Queen of the Harps’ Catrin Finch, and a mass choir of a thousand voices.

Finch’s CD The Celtic Concerto went to number one this year in the classical charts. In 2000, she was appointed Royal Harpist to HRH The Prince of Wales, a position which she held for four years reviving the ancient tradition of a post last held in 1873.

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 12: Camilla Kerslake attends the Breast Cancer Campaign's Pink Ribbon Ball at The Dorchester on October 12, 2013 in London, England. (Photo by Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images for Breast Cancer Campaign)

The dance performance will feature opening ceremony presenter Gethin Jones and former Rugby League legend Martin Offiah doing the jive with their original Strictly Come Dancing partners, Camilla Dallerup and Erin Boag.

RLWC2013 ambassador Gareth Thomas will also be putting on his dancing shoes, joining hundreds of elite and community dancers on the Cardiff pitch. He will dance with 50 professional dancers, among the best in the UK.

They will be joined by 500 dancers from local communities in Wales and South West England as part of a £1 million project part-funded by the Arts Council England and Arts Council Wales, and supported by the charity Wooden Spoon.

Offiah, a RLWC2013 ambassador, said: “I’ll be reunited with my Strictly partner Erin Boag. I have to say I’m nervous but also very excited. I might take a little grief from the fans but it should be good fun.”

RLWC2013 Tournament General Manager, Sally Bolton said: "There will be dramatic lighting, special effects, and an aerial show celebrating the 14 nations taking part in what promises to be a great tournament, the first major sporting event taking place in the UK since London 2012.

"The atmosphere under the closed roof of the Millennium Stadium is going to be electric, so it’s really important that fans are in their seats by 1.30pm. It’s a show not to be missed."

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