Shobana Jeyasingh: Recreating the 1918 flu pandemic through dance

Choreographer and director Shobana Jeyasingh has been creating dynamic, fearless and ground breaking dance works for 30 years. Born in Chennai, India, her acclaimed pieces have toured internationally, tapping into both the intellectual and physical power of dance. Two years ago her major new work Contagion was inspired by the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918 which infected a third of the world’s population. It’s estimated that this flu killed between 50 and 100 million people, more than the First World War itself. Felicity Finch joined Shobana and her company of eight female dancers, along with the show’s composer and video designer, as they explored the challenge of how to portray the Spanish flu virus and its devastating effects through contemporary dance. Two years later, Felicity explores how Shobana feels about this piece in the midst of a new global pandemic and how the work is very relevant today.