Following the saiga

quote

galya bisengalieva

The saiga antelope, native to the Eurasian steppes, holds a revered place in Kazakh culture. Its long migrations across the open plains embody freedom, endurance, and resilience, qualities central to the nomadic way of life. In folklore and oral epics, the saiga—especially rare white or albino individuals—is seen as a mystical guide and protector, connecting the physical and spiritual worlds. Historically intertwined with survival and ritual, the saiga symbolises harmony with nature, and today, as a critically endangered species, it also represents the urgent need for ecological preservation, making it a potent emblem of heritage, mythology, and environmental consciousness.

“Saiga” is an immersive artistic exploration of Central Asian myth and mysticism, inspired by the sacred imagery of the saiga antelope. Drawing from Turkic and Mongolic folklore, the project examines themes of transformation, ancestral memory, and the liminality between the spiritual and earthly worlds. The saiga serves as metaphor for guidance, endurance, and sacred connection, weaving together history, myth, and contemporary expression.

Performance Elements

• Orchestra & Choir: selections from the work of Ludwig van Beethoven, Joseph Haydn, and Henry Purcell, evoking space initially, moving into rising action in the last third of this section.

• Example repertoire includes Purcell Dido & Aeneas, Z. 626: Overture , Dido & Aeneas, Z. 626, Act I - Ah! Belinda , Dido & Aeneas, Z. 626, Act II - Prelude for the Witches (Sorceress, First Witch),  Dido & Aeneas, Act III, Z. 626: X. Dido's Lament

• Screen/ Film cues:  Screen begins in white, leading to choreography of the same performer on stage. Images and colours featuring  Lee’s last garments, images from last show, abstracted. The dancer on screen presented on a larger than life scale, over the three screens.

• Dance : Midway through the section, a lone performer moves through an illuminated path through the orchestra wearing ochre garments, prefiguring the use of red later in the film, marking & echoing rising music action. Choreography embodies ‘ There is No More’

• Staging & Lighting :  Stage is white, lighting design using shadow, blocks of colour. Rigged Fabric, up-lit.

Movement II: Dante :  Descent & Ascent

Duration: 25 mins

"I think religion has caused every war in the world, which is why I showed in a church"

-Lee McQueen

This movement captures a moment of personal and cultural emergence for Lee. The erotic, violent and sacred are introduced to the audience. Dante in 1996, Lee’s international breakthrough moment was staged at Christ Church in London. The catwalk was built in a crucifix shape. McQueen was inspired by the work of the photojournalist Don McCullin, who immortalized extremely distressing scenes of the Vietnam War during the 1960s. McCulin's pictures were illegally printed and used in Dante.

Lee was pop. Lee was young. Lee was defiant. Lee’s music during his coming of age was Fuck You.

John Gosling abetted.

Performance Elements:

• Orchestra & Choir & Organ : Selections from Dante including Gregorian Chants, Adagio for Strings, Apocalypse Now building into and driving a turning point in the concert. Voices used here also to create a sense of crowd and momentum

• Example Repertoire Includes Victoria Requiem (Missa Pro Defunctis) Requiem Aeternam & Sanctus, Barber Adagio for Strings, The Rolling Stones - Paint It Black, LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out, The Prodigy - Poison (95 EQ) Apocalypse Now OST Strange Voyage & Susie Q

• Screen/ Film cues: A mesmerizing, hypnotic sequence of pure colour. Fluid animations and lighting effects, Archival footage from Dante.

• Dance : Choreography embodies conviction, violence, descent & ascent. Costume tbc

Staging & Lighting :  The stage is white and red. Red carpet/ fabric between sections of orchestra, front of the stage. lighting design using shadow, blocks of colour. Mist to be used. The orchestra in silhouette. Rigged Fabric up-lit, which drops during the last moments of this section.

Movement III: Plato’s Atlantis

Duration: 25 mins

“We’re descending to where we came from. The show’s about the future, it’s about the planet ending and it’s about survival of the fittest. What’s left? The strongest species will survive. I used a lot of techno music because it feels like a natural progression towards what comes next.”

-Lee McQueen

This final movement finds the concert full expression and resolution. The rhythm, electronic moments in the orchestral soundscape drives an euphoric final section which opens back into space. This absence is active. Lee’s evocation of the myth of Atlantis evokes corruption and utopia, his expression of this was nature and technology, mediated by the human body. 

Lee’s music at the time focused on the world making, of the possibility of being somewhere new.

Performance Elements:

• Orchestra & Choir & Organ : Musically,  works like Inside by Pig and The Abyss (OST) by Alan Silvestri were part of Lee’s process at the time. The energy of Das Rheingold (Prelude) and music and samples by John Gosling and Pig featured in the show. 

• Example Repertoire Includes Watts/Gosling/Watts Intro, Part 1, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5  Lady GaGa Bad Romance.

• Screen/ Film cues: focusing on natural and industrial elements,  close-ups of iconic Altantis, imagery inc. textiles, accessories. Repetition & sense of emergence is conveyed through images of the dancer on screen presented on a larger than life scale, mirroring the orchestral and vocal layering of tension and release.

• Dance : none, apart from final moments,  Back to the audience. Costume tbc, releases a final red cloth.

• Staging & Lighting :  Stage is white, lighting design using shadow, blocks of colour. The focus is on the film, the audience experiencing the concert visually now.

  Additional Musical Elements 

  Nyman - The Heart Asks Pleasure First, Here to There, A Wild and Distant Shore & The Promise Nirvana - Come As You Are & Smells Lke Teen Spirit Mozart - Piano Concerto 23