Extract from Winged Bull in the Elephant Case, BBC Performance Live, 2018
Winged Bull in the Elephant Case
Winged Bull in the Elephant Case
2018
Company
BBC Performance Live
Duration
30 minutes
Concept
Robin Friend
Direction
Robin Friend and Wayne McGregor
Choreography
Wayne McGregor, Bonetics, Charlotte Edmonds and Botis Seva
Producer
Studio Wayne McGregor and John Wyver of Illuminations
Live screen director
Rhodri Huw
Music
Joel Cadbury
Tunde Jegede ‘Earth – the Elements’ (performed live on cello by Jegede)
Ludwig van Beethoven ‘Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor Op. 57' (performed live on piano by Joanna MacGregor)
Spoken Word
Isaiah Hull
Dancers
Company Wayne McGregor: Rebecca Bassett-Graham, Jordan James Bridge, Travis Clausen-Knight, Louis McMiller, Daniela Neugebauer, Jacob O'Connell, James Pett, Fukiko Takase, Po-Lin Tung and Jessica Wright
Alessandra Ferri
Bonetics
Far From The Norm: Botis Seva, Joshua Nash, Jordan Douglas, Erza Owen and Shango Edunjobi
Broadcast date
17 March 2018, BBC Two, 10:40pm
“THE ELEMENTS RANGE FROM CLASSICAL TO GRIME, BALLET TO THE SPOKEN WORD OF ISAIAH HULL. ITS COMPONENTS ARE EXCELLENT"
- David Stubbs, The Guardian
As the Second World War broke out and bombs menaced London, the National Gallery’s art collection was evacuated to Snowdonia, buried for safe-keeping deep in the Manod slate mines. Winged Bull in the Elephant Case dramatises the journey of a lost painting that takes human form, as it strives, with help from its friends, to get back to the National Gallery. Combining extraordinary dance forms, and filmed underground and in the National Gallery, this immersive performance for the screen questions how far we should go to preserve our cultural heritage in the face of violence and aggression.
Winged Bull in the Elephant Case features choreography by Wayne McGregor, Charlotte Edmonds, Botis Seva and Bonetics, performed by Company Wayne McGregor, Alessandra Ferri, Bonetics, and Far From The Norm. The production for BBC Performance Live is written and directed by Robin Friend, choreographed and directed by Wayne McGregor, with live screen direction by Rhodri Huw. The music is composed by Joel Cadbury with performances by pianist Joanna MacGregor and cellist Tunde Jegede, and spoken word performed by Isaiah Hull with an introduction by Clemency Burton-Hill.
The film was broadcast on BBC Two on Saturday 17 March 2018 at 10:40pm, and is now available on BBC iPlayer. Winged Bull in the Elephant Case screens centrally to the free exhibition at the National Gallery, Manod: The Nation's Treasure Caves until 8 April 2018.
A Studio Wayne McGregor/Illuminations production for BBC Television and Arts Council England.
Performance Live is a partnership between Arts Council England, BBC Arts and Battersea Arts Centre.
Concept image: Robin Friend.
Production images: Ravi Deepres.
Extract from Winged Bull in the Elephant Case (dir. Robin Friend and Wayne McGregor, BBC Performance Live, 2018), featuring Company Wayne McGregor accompanied with a live piano performance by Joanna MacGregor. Copyright BBC.
