Students and soon-to-be graduates connected with the University's BA Street Arts programme have and continue to showcase their talents at the Olympic Games, with over a 100 fully costumed interactive walkabout acts wowing London's crowds.

The popular Street Arts project, which provides Winchester students with the opportunity to perform and create imaginative contemporary productions, has also been recognised with the London 2012 Inspire Mark in each of the last three years.

Earlier this year, students had their first taste of the Olympic experience when they performed in front of a crowd of 35,000 spectators at the 2012 School Games, and organisers were so impressed by the students' work, which featured The Art of Demonstration, that they invited the performers to return for the Olympic Games.

The BA Street Arts course is one of the first of its kind in Europe and course programme leader John Lee said the chance for students to perform at the Olympic Park was "an opportunity of a lifetime".

Street Arts students at the University, Nathan Moore and Dan Stotesbury, who are both soon to move into their third and final year of studies, said the experience of performing at the 'greatest show on earth' was invaluable.

Nathan said: "Street Arts is a new project which is recently becoming more acknowledged by the general public. Opportunities like this (to perform at the London 2012 Games) are fantastic. This is the type of thing we've seen professionals doing and as we've got one more year left and to have been given the opportunity to do this, is a great experience and we're very grateful for it. It's going to help us a lot really."

Nathan's colleague Dan, continued: "This is the only Street Arts degree in the UK and possibly the world. I always knew I wanted to study comedy and devise my own work but I didn't know what to do, but this brilliant course allows you to go anywhere you want to go in the profession and field. You develop what you want to develop and the tutors support you through that. It's just brilliant.

"Three years ago I don't think any of us would have imagined that we'd be performing at the Olympics, it's just amazing and the atmosphere here is just electric, it's incredible."

In the video below, you can watch some of the student acts, involved with various performing companies, perform as part of the Streets Art project at the Olympic Park, they include (in order):

"The Tour Bus" by Nathan Moore and Dan Stotesbury

"The Cleaners" by Desipio  (Callum English and Joe Hollis)

"Anna and Bell" the siamese twins by Hotch Potch Performance. For more information on Hotch Potch Performance, started by Ross Wheeler, Eve Blackmoore and Laura Surgenor, visit their website here. 

University of Winchester lecturer Olu Taiwo.

By Stuart Appleby