The T-Mobile Big Dance Bus, which will tour London from today for six weeks leading up to Big Dance Week from July 3 to 10, kicked off in Southwark yesterday with the Siobhan Davies Dance company performing a new piece by Fevered Sleep for local schools and families.

The T-Mobile Big Dance Bus will stop at 16 locations around the capital where the public can come and take part in spectacular dance routines and sign up to join thousands of people performing in the Big World Dance in the streets of London and culminating in Trafalgar Square on July 10.

London schools are invited to take part in Big Dance 2010 by signing up to the Schools Pledge, a Londonwide dance initiative to get the capital's kids moving and grooving. Schools are invited to offer an extra 20 minutes a day of dance and join in with the Guinness World Record attempt on July 9.

Londoners are being offered the chance to join a dance workshop, watch a performance, learn the steps for the Big World Dance and more.

The bus starts its journey at the Schools Pledge launch in Havering today, visits Westfield the following day and then travels around London.

Tomorrow, Europe's biggest shopping centre will host live performances from the English National Ballet who'll be bringing Swan Lake to a new habitat. There will also be contemporary dance from the Combination Dance Company and Bhangra beats guaranteed to get shoppers moving, while the London Swing Dance will be showing shoppers how to jive.

The following day there will be dance workshops and classes from some of the UK's top dance professionals, including Pineapple Dance Studios, as well as a chance to take part in the Big World Dance, the huge dance event taking place in Trafalgar Square.

Five dance organisations from across the capital have got together for Big Dance Countdown. They are East London Dance, English National Ballet, Greenwich Dance Agency, Sadler's Wells and Siobhan Davies Dance and each will be leading a local Big Dance Hub.