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The Sultan's Elephant

January 24, 2023

The Sultan's Elephant was a show created by the Royal de Luxe theatre company, involving a huge moving mechanical elephant, a giant marionette of a girl and other associated public art installations. In French it was called La visite du sultan des Indes sur son éléphant à voyager dans le temps (literally, "Visit from the Sultan of the Indies on His Time-Travelling Elephant"). The show was commissioned to commemorate the centenary of Jules Verne's death, by the two French cities of Nantes and Amiens, funded by a special grant from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication.[1] The show was performed at various locations around the world between 2005 and 2006.

Design and construction

The elephant was designed by François Delarozière.[2] It was made mostly of wood, and was operated by 22 'manipulateurs' using a mixture of hydraulics and motors. It weighed 42 tons, as much as seven African elephants.

[With] hundreds of moving parts and scores of pumping pistons (22 in the trunk alone), the elephant appealed to the same part of the British psyche that admires Heath Robinson contraptions and reveres eccentric inventors. More than 56 square metres of reclaimed poplar was combined with steel ribs to create the elephant's sturdy skeleton. The attention to detail was extraordinary, from the flapping leather ears and deep wrinkles around the eyes to the puffs of dust sent up by its plodding feet, and the snaking, reticulated trunk.[2]

The elephant no longer exists: Helen Marriage of Artichoke, the company that produced the London performance, said "Royal de Luxe were so fed up with being invited all over the world to perform The Sultan's Elephant, they just destroyed it."[3]

A non-exact replica, Le Grand Eléphant (The Great Elephant) was built in Nantes (France) in 2007, as part of the Machines of the Isle of Nantes permanent exhibition.[4] It is 20 feet tall.

Performances

Nantes and Amiens

The show was first performed in the French cities of Amiens, from 16–19 June 2005 and Nantes, from 19–22 May 2005.

London

The Sultan's Elephant show was performed in London from 4–7 May 2006. The show started with a rocket "crashing" in Waterloo Place on Thursday May 4, smashing up the tarmac, with smoke coming out from the bottom.

On Friday, the elephant arrived, along with the Sultan. An oversize marionette emerged from the rocket—this was the girl from the Sultan's dreams. The girl met up with the elephant. Friday evening the elephant wandered round St. James's, while the girl went on a trip around London on an opentop AEC Routemaster bus.

On Saturday, the elephant walked to Trafalgar Square, where it rested over lunch. Then the girl marionette was lifted by a crane onto the elephant's trunk, and was carried on 'Grand Parade' back to Horseguards Parade, with the 'sultan' sightseeing with a troop of dancers on top of the elephant.

The girl has a needle and thread, and likes to sew things[citation needed], including a series of cars that were 'sewn' to the tarmac.[2]

On Sunday, the show finished with a Grand Finale, in which the girl climbed into the rocket, which then 'took off'. This involved the rocket firing, with smoke and flames coming out of the bottom. The rocket didn't go anywhere, but when the top was removed from the rocket, by a crane, the girl had disappeared. She had travelled in time.

Whilst in London, the elephant and the girl were stored at the Battersea Power Station, and were transported to the various sites in the early hours of the morning with a police escort. Many lampposts and traffic lights were removed to allow the elephant through. The police, who were more used to escorting large steel items overnight, were reported to have had fun with the event by making up explanations to members of the public. Between the performance days both the elephant and the girl were left sleeping at Horseguards Parade. After the performance the elephant was once again transported in the early hours of the morning back to Battersea Power Station. The return trip took longer than expected as some of the street furniture had been put back in place too early. The event, the biggest piece of free theatre ever staged in London, with an audience of a million people,[3][5] was brought to England by production company Artichoke, who were also responsible for bringing the giant mechanical spider La Princesse to Liverpool in September 2008.

Antwerp

The Sultan's Elephant show was performed in Antwerp, Belgium, 7–9 July 2006. Besides the elephant, the rocket and the small giant, there was also a carousel with fantasy vehicles.

Calais and Le Havre

Performed in the French cities of Calais 28 September–1 October 2006 and Le Havre 26–29 October 2006.[6][7]

Associated performances

The giant girl performed alone, without the elephant, in Santiago, Chile 25–28 January 2007 and in Reykjavík, Iceland, from 9–12 May 2007.


References

  1. ^ . The Sultan's Elephant official London website. Archived from the original on 2013-01-20. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
  2. ^ a b c Moss, Chris (30 August 2008). "François Delarozière - Mechanical mystery". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-09-14.[dead link]
  3. ^ a b Gardner, Lyn (27 August 2008). "And for our next trick ...The duo who brought London to a standstill with a giant elephant are going one step further in Liverpool". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
  4. ^ . Les Machines de l'Ile. Archived from the original on 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
  5. ^ . The Arts Council. Archived from the original on 2009-06-21. Retrieved 2008-09-11.
  6. ^ French original
  7. ^ English translation

Related links

 
Wikinews has related news:
  • The Sultan's Elephant arrives in London
 
Wikinews has related news:
  • The Sultan's Elephant entertains London
 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Royal de Luxe elephant.
  • London
    • Official Site
    • BBC report 4 May 2006
    • BBC report 5 May 2006
    • BBC report 6 May 2006
    • BBC report 7 May 2006
    • BBC photographs 5 May 2006
    • BBC photographs 7 May 2006
    • BBC video 5 May 2006
    • The Observer review by Susannah Clapp
    • The Guardian comment by Catherine Bennett
    • The Guardian review by Emma Brockes
    • The Guardian report by Lynn Gardner
  • Antwerp
    • BBC video 10 July 2006
  • Calais and Le Havre
    • The Sultan's Elephant in Le Havre on October 2006. Pictures & videos

January 24, 2023
sultan, elephant, this, article, external, links, follow, wikipedia, policies, guidelines, please, improve, this, article, removing, excessive, inappropriate, external, links, converting, useful, links, where, appropriate, into, footnote, references, september. This article s use of external links may not follow Wikipedia s policies or guidelines Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references September 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Sultan s Elephant was a show created by the Royal de Luxe theatre company involving a huge moving mechanical elephant a giant marionette of a girl and other associated public art installations In French it was called La visite du sultan des Indes sur son elephant a voyager dans le temps literally Visit from the Sultan of the Indies on His Time Travelling Elephant The show was commissioned to commemorate the centenary of Jules Verne s death by the two French cities of Nantes and Amiens funded by a special grant from the French Ministry of Culture and Communication 1 The show was performed at various locations around the world between 2005 and 2006 At Horse Guards Parade London Contents 1 Design and construction 2 Performances 2 1 Nantes and Amiens 2 2 London 2 3 Antwerp 2 4 Calais and Le Havre 2 5 Associated performances 3 References 4 Related linksDesign and construction EditThe elephant was designed by Francois Delaroziere 2 It was made mostly of wood and was operated by 22 manipulateurs using a mixture of hydraulics and motors It weighed 42 tons as much as seven African elephants With hundreds of moving parts and scores of pumping pistons 22 in the trunk alone the elephant appealed to the same part of the British psyche that admires Heath Robinson contraptions and reveres eccentric inventors More than 56 square metres of reclaimed poplar was combined with steel ribs to create the elephant s sturdy skeleton The attention to detail was extraordinary from the flapping leather ears and deep wrinkles around the eyes to the puffs of dust sent up by its plodding feet and the snaking reticulated trunk 2 The elephant no longer exists Helen Marriage of Artichoke the company that produced the London performance said Royal de Luxe were so fed up with being invited all over the world to perform The Sultan s Elephant they just destroyed it 3 A non exact replica Le Grand Elephant The Great Elephant was built in Nantes France in 2007 as part of the Machines of the Isle of Nantes permanent exhibition 4 It is 20 feet tall Performances EditNantes and Amiens Edit The show was first performed in the French cities of Amiens from 16 19 June 2005 and Nantes from 19 22 May 2005 London Edit The Sultan s Elephant show was performed in London from 4 7 May 2006 The show started with a rocket crashing in Waterloo Place on Thursday May 4 smashing up the tarmac with smoke coming out from the bottom On Friday the elephant arrived along with the Sultan An oversize marionette emerged from the rocket this was the girl from the Sultan s dreams The girl met up with the elephant Friday evening the elephant wandered round St James s while the girl went on a trip around London on an opentop AEC Routemaster bus On Saturday the elephant walked to Trafalgar Square where it rested over lunch Then the girl marionette was lifted by a crane onto the elephant s trunk and was carried on Grand Parade back to Horseguards Parade with the sultan sightseeing with a troop of dancers on top of the elephant The girl has a needle and thread and likes to sew things citation needed including a series of cars that were sewn to the tarmac 2 On Sunday the show finished with a Grand Finale in which the girl climbed into the rocket which then took off This involved the rocket firing with smoke and flames coming out of the bottom The rocket didn t go anywhere but when the top was removed from the rocket by a crane the girl had disappeared She had travelled in time Whilst in London the elephant and the girl were stored at the Battersea Power Station and were transported to the various sites in the early hours of the morning with a police escort Many lampposts and traffic lights were removed to allow the elephant through The police who were more used to escorting large steel items overnight were reported to have had fun with the event by making up explanations to members of the public Between the performance days both the elephant and the girl were left sleeping at Horseguards Parade After the performance the elephant was once again transported in the early hours of the morning back to Battersea Power Station The return trip took longer than expected as some of the street furniture had been put back in place too early The event the biggest piece of free theatre ever staged in London with an audience of a million people 3 5 was brought to England by production company Artichoke who were also responsible for bringing the giant mechanical spider La Princesse to Liverpool in September 2008 Antwerp Edit The Sultan s Elephant show was performed in Antwerp Belgium 7 9 July 2006 Besides the elephant the rocket and the small giant there was also a carousel with fantasy vehicles Calais and Le Havre Edit Performed in the French cities of Calais 28 September 1 October 2006 and Le Havre 26 29 October 2006 6 7 Associated performances Edit The giant girl performed alone without the elephant in Santiago Chile 25 28 January 2007 and in Reykjavik Iceland from 9 12 May 2007 References Edit Royal de Luxe The Sultan s Elephant official London website Archived from the original on 2013 01 20 Retrieved 2008 09 14 a b c Moss Chris 30 August 2008 Francois Delaroziere Mechanical mystery London The Daily Telegraph Retrieved 2008 09 14 dead link a b Gardner Lyn 27 August 2008 And for our next trick The duo who brought London to a standstill with a giant elephant are going one step further in Liverpool The Guardian Retrieved 2008 09 14 The Great Elephant Les Machines de l Ile Archived from the original on 2008 09 13 Retrieved 2008 09 14 The Sultan s Elephant The Arts Council Archived from the original on 2009 06 21 Retrieved 2008 09 11 French original English translationRelated links Edit Wikinews has related news The Sultan s Elephant arrives in London Wikinews has related news The Sultan s Elephant entertains London Wikimedia Commons has media related to Royal de Luxe elephant London Official Site BBC report 4 May 2006 BBC report 5 May 2006 BBC report 6 May 2006 BBC report 7 May 2006 BBC photographs 5 May 2006 BBC photographs 7 May 2006 BBC video 5 May 2006 The Observer review by Susannah Clapp The Guardian comment by Catherine Bennett The Guardian review by Emma Brockes The Guardian report by Lynn Gardner The Independent on Sunday review by Howard Jacobson Antwerp BBC video 10 July 2006 Calais and Le Havre The Sultan s Elephant in Le Havre on October 2006 Pictures amp videos Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Sultan 27s Elephant amp oldid 1131005283, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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