Studio Wayne McGregor

Winged Bull in the Elephant Case
2018

Company
BBC Performance Live

Duration
30 minutes

Concept
Robin Friend

Direction
Robin Friend, Wayne McGregor

Choreography
Wayne McGregor, Bonetics, Charlotte Edmonds, Botis Seva

Dancers
Company Wayne McGregor (Rebecca Basset-Graham, Jordan James Bridge, Travis Clausen-Knight, Louis McMiller, Daniela Neugebauer, Jacob O'Connell, James Pett, Fukiko Takase, Po-Lin Tung, Jessica Wright), Alessandra Ferri, Bonetics, Far From The Norm (Botis Seva, Joshua Nash, Jordan Douglas, Erza Owen, Shango Edunjobi)

Spoken Word
Isaiah Hull

Music
Joel Cadbury, with performances by Tunde Jegede and Joanna MacGregor 

Producers
Studio Wayne McGregor, John Wyver (Illuminations)

Live screen director
Rhodri Huw

Premiere date
17 March 2018, BBC Two, 10:40pm

Dates

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, and the live screen director is 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.

Images: Robin Friend, Ravi Deepres