BBC Four Dance Season - Choreographing History

Shobana Jeyasingh is one the most interesting choreographers working in Britain today. Originally from India, she likes to explore relationships between cultures and delve into history.

Culture Whisper has been following her career with interest; we were particularly taken with her reinterpretation of the ballet La Bayadère, where she looks at the cultural projections and misunderstandings between 19th century – and indeed modern day – Europe and India.

Now Jeyasingh returns to history, but focuses on a single episode closer to our time: the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which killed over 50 million people.

Her new work, Contagion, evokes this terrible period; and this half-hour BBC documentary follows her attempt at choreographing history, as she researches the pandemic and draws inspiration from it.

Shobana Jeyasingh always works very closely with her dancers; and the film illustrates their join work to translate an historic episode into graphic and telling movement.

Highly original, Shobana Jeyasingh’s work is always rewarding for the viewer; and Choreographing History will give viewers a welcome first insight into her brand new work, Contagion.