About Akram Khan, Choreographer
Akram Khan is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists of today. In just over 23 years he has created a body of work that has contributed significantly to the arts in the UK and abroad. His reputation has been built on the success of imaginative, highly accessible and relevant productions such as Jungle Book reimagined, Outwitting the Devil, XENOS, Until the Lions, Kaash, iTMOi (in the mind of igor), DESH, Vertical Road, Gnosis and zero degrees.
As an instinctive and natural collaborator, Khan has been a magnet to world-class artists from other cultures and disciplines. His previous collaborators include the National Ballet of China, actress Juliette Binoche, ballerina Sylvie Guillem, choreographers/dancers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Israel Galván, singer Kylie Minogue, indie rock band Florence and the Machine, visual artists Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley and Tim Yip, writer Hanif Kureishi and composers Steve Reich, Nitin Sawhney, Jocelyn Pook and Ben Frost.
As a choreographer, Khan has developed a close collaboration with English National Ballet. He created the short piece Dust, part of the Lest We Forget program, which led to an invitation to create his own critically acclaimed version of the iconic romantic ballet Giselle. Creature is Khan’s latest work for English National Ballet.
Khan has been the recipient of numerous awards throughout his career. He is an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London and Curve, Leicester.
“In modern thinking, we are often taught that we must see it in order to believe it. However, in the past, my grandparents felt that we must believe in it, in order to see it. Hence, the latter approach has always been my steady compass when I am in creation of anything. Which is the reason I am now returning back to my roots, to my tradition, to my past which has always informed my present. This work is a coming together of memories of a memory for our collective love and devotion towards classical Indian dance forms that have been with us since our childhood. And what excites me most, is that for the first time in my career I am delving into a project where I will be directing a group of extraordinary soloist artists through the lens of my contemporary sensibilities, that I have acquired over time… The theme is based on explorations of love, loss, despair and innocence that will manifest through the language of Indian classical dance and live music forms. Right now, there is an urgent part of me, that feels strongly, and with conviction, that we have sadly, collectively lost touch with nature, with Mother Earth, and with ancient myths… and so, I feel there is a need to once again listen to the ones that are deeply rooted in nature, and who very much embody the ancient and future generations of this earth.” Akram Khan