Royal Opera House of London team visits Brazil

The Royal Opera House of London landed in Rio this week with educational programs and events that include dance lessons for children living in the city's shanty towns. "We had the Olympics in London and the next ones are in Brazil, so there's a natural legacy from London," ROH spokeswoman Elizabeth Bell told AFP. "It seemed like a natural fit." Bell added: "It's about opening the appetite for opera and ballet... it's about enabling more people to see what we do." In a two-day symposium ending Thursday ROH teachers gave classes at Rio's Theatro Municipal to local ballet instructors and their students, including those based in area shanty towns, locally known as favelas. ROH members will also train Brazilians on the latest technology regarding illumination, sound systems and scenery, a task important not only for stage performances but also for the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2016 Olympic Games. Also, several main ROH dancers, including Rio natives Thiago Soares and Roberta Marquez, will perform at the Theatro Municipal starting March 1. "Culture and dance have been a tool of social mobility in Brazil for a lot of years, and we've a lot to learn" in Brazil, Bell said. The visit follows similar work with the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing ahead of the 2008 Olympic Games. The Brazil trip comes ahead of a proposed Royal Ballet tour in 2015, one year ahead of the Olympic games.