Akram Khan

Akram Hossain Khan, MBE (Bengali: আকরাম হুসেইন খান) is an English dancer and choreographer of Bangladeshi descent. His background is rooted in his classical kathak training and contemporary dance.

Khan was born in Wimbledon, London, England, into a family from Dhaka, Bangladesh. He began dancing and trained in the classical South Asian dance form of Kathak at the age of seven. He studied with Sir Pratap Pawar, later becoming his disciple. He began his stage career in the Adventures of Mowgli tour 1984–1985 produced by the Academy of Indian Dance, now Akademi South Asian Dance. At the age of 13, he was cast in Peter Brook's Shakespeare Company production of Mahabharata, touring the world between 1987 and 1989 and appearing in the televised version of the play broadcast in 1988.

Following later studies in Contemporary Dance at De Montfort University and Performing Arts at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and a period working with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's Brussels based X-Group project, he began presenting solo performances of his work in the 1990s.

In August 2000, he launched Akram Khan Company. Always one for collaboration, he founded it alongside former dancer and recently graduated arts manager, Farooq Chaudhry. His first full-length work Kaash, a collaboration with Anish Kapoor and Nitin Sawhney, was performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 2002.

"The rules of Khan’s new company were simple: take risks, think big and daring, explore the unfamiliar, avoid compromise and tell stories through dance that are compelling and relevant, with artistic integrity."

As choreographer-in-residence and later associate artist at the Southbank Centre, he presented a recital with Pandit Birju Maharaj and Sri Pratap Pawar; and A God of Small Tales, a piece for mature women for which he collaborated with writer Hanif Kureishi. He remained an associate artist at the Southbank Centre until April 2005, the first non-musician to be afforded this status, and is currently an associate artist at Sadler's Wells Theatre. In 2005, he was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2005 New Year Honours for his services to dance.

In 2008, he co-starred with Juliette Binoche in a dance-drama piece called in-i at the Royal National Theatre, London.

In summer 2006, Khan was invited by Kylie Minogue to choreograph a section of her Showgirl concert. Khan appeared as a huge projection behind the singer as she performed. The songs were set in an Indian temple scenario, inspired by a trip Minogue made to Sri Lanka. He has made pieces for the Ballet Boyz and Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan.

Khan and his dance company performed at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony. Live music was provided by Emeli Sandé singing 'Abide With Me'.

The Manchester International Festival announced a co-production of Giselle between themselves English National Ballet and Sadler's Wells Theatre that was directed by Khan and performed at the Palace Theatre, Manchester in September 2016. The critically acclaimed production has now gone on tour to Bristol Hippodrome, the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton and Sadler's Wells Theatre, London later in the year.

"Since its formation, Akram Khan Company has become undisputedly one of the foremost innovative dance companies in the world. Khan has become a global icon for his use of collaboration, ensemble production, and especially his unique mix of Kathak and contemporary movement. Akram Khan Company is an associate artist at Sadler’s Wells Theatre and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London and Curve Theatre in Leicester."

Akram Khan Company Works:

• Chotto Xenos

Premier: 21 February 2020

The work is a child-friendly reimagining of Xenos, discussed later, set to ask young audiences questions such as, "How does war begin? How does it end? How does the answer change depending on who is telling the story?” It looks at the untold stories of soldiers in WWI.

• Outwitting the Devil

Premier:  13–14 July 2019

"Inspired by the newly discovered fragment of the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Outwitting the Devil is about ritual and remembering. In a landscape of broken tablets and fallen idols, its six characters trade what remains, seeking to make whole the fragments of ancient knowledge lost over time".

• Xenos

Xenos premiered 21 February 2018. This is Khan's final solo as a dancer, and it looks at the mind of a shell-shocked WWI soldier. "XENOS reveals the beauty and horror of the human condition in its portrait of an Indian dancer whose skilled body becomes an instrument of war".

• Kadamati

The choreography was originally commissioned by the Mayor of London for Big Dance 2016. Kadamati is performed in an outdoor venue by hundreds of dancers. The work looks at the interconnectedness of humanity through ideas of identity, migration, and hope. The term Kadamati means clay in Bangali, connecting to ideas of the 'body as part of a unified movement.'.

• Portraits in Otherness

Portraits in Otherness initiates a new chapter in Akram Khan Company's history as it seeks to transfer ... its legacy to a new generation of dance artists. This innovative platform consists of a series of solo works created by: Dickson Mbi, Maya Jilan Dong, Joy Alpuerto Ritter and Ching-Ying Chien.

• Until the Lions

Premier: 12 January 2016

Adapted from poet Karthika Naïr's award-winning book Until the Lions: Echoes from the Mahabharata, an original reworking of the epic Mahabharata. Until the Lions tells the story of Amba, a princess abducted on her wedding day ... who invokes the gods to seek revenge.

• Kaash

Kaash premiered in 2002 and is the Akram Khan Company's first evening length work. It was restaged and performed again in 2016, taking another look at the original ideas of, "Hindu Gods, black holes, Indian time cycles, tablas, creation and destruction."

• Itmoi

This work looks at Stravinski's legacy in classical music and how he used patterns to evoke emotions. Khan took this idea and furthered it, adding layers such as 'the human condition, a rupture in the mind, or a death in the body.' The work premiered in 2013.

• Vertical Road

Premiere: 16 September 2010

Vertical Road examines 'the journey from gravity to grace.' The work calls upon the Sufi tradition and the Persian philosopher/poet Rumi. It looks at rising from dirt to a place in the heavens, accomplished through the different forms of life on Earth.

• Confluence

Premier: 2009

Confluence fuses Sawhney's music with Khan's blend of classical kathak and contemporary technique. Exploring how the independent stories of these two kindred spirits converged, Confluence offers the opportunity to re-visit their collaborative work together (Kaash, zero degrees and bahok). It explores the nature and fabric of creativity itself.

• Bahok

Premier: 25 January 2008

Bahok looks at cross-cultural communication as it exists in a globalized world. The work asks how we will share our experiences, memories, dreams, and aspirations that inspire migration with those who speak different languages of the tongue and of the body.

• Variations for Vibes, Strings, and Pianos

Premier: March 2006

Variations for Vibes, Strings, and Pianos comes from Khan's connection to Steive Reich's music, as well as his collaboration with a South African choreographer/dancer and a South Korean dancer. The process serves as a melting pot for exchanging movement and developing a new movement vocabulary. The work deals with the concept of 'corners' within the self, the space, and their personal stories.

• Third Catalogue

This is the third and final part of a connected series, with the main solos from his previous works, Polaroid Feet and Ronin. There is also a new solo choreographed by Kumudini Lakhia. The trilogy is based on Hindu mythological gods.

• Ardhanarishwara
• Ronin
• Chakravyuh
• Ma

Premier: May 2006

Ma tells the story of motherly love, through the story of a woman who desperately wants but cannot have children.

• Ronin

Premier: April 2003

Ronin tells the story of the great warrior Arjuna in the epic Mahabharata. Krishna, gives spiritual enlightenment to the reluctant warrior Arjun, to do his duty in battle. Through this dialogue Arjun realises that the true battle is for his own soul.

• Related Rocks

Premier: 9 December 2001

Related Rocks was commissioned by the London Sinfonietta this quintet created to the score "Related Rocks" by Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg.

• Polaroid Feet
• Rush

Premier: 5 October 2000

Rush is an abstract piece looking at the state of 'freefall' experienced by parachutists.

Duets:

• Torobaka

Premier: June 2014

Torobaka is a collaboration between Khan and Spanish Flamenco dancer Israel Galván. It looks at how Kathak, Flamenco, and all dance forms relates to "the origins of voice and gesture, before they began to produce meaning".

• In-I

Premier: September 2008

In–I is a collaboration with actress Juliette Binoche. The two collaborate to create a work of dance-theater.

• Sacred Monsters

Sacred Monsters is a collaboration with ballerina Sylvie Guillem. The work premiered in 2006 and the title comes from a 19th-century French term used for theater stars who were idolized. Sacred Monsters looks at the intersection of classical dance, celebrity, and humanity at its core.

• Zero Degrees

Premier: 8 July 2005

Zero Degrees is a collaboration between Khan and Sidi Larbi, and is about their respective desire for a reference point, a '0' at the core of life, the middle point found through examining polar opposites.

Solos:

• Toro

Toro is derived from the duet Torobaka. Collaborator Israel Galván suffered an injury just before a scheduled tour with Khan, so Khan reworked the piece into a solo. The solo has become a sort of challenge between Khan and the musicians on stage, each masters in their respective crafts.

• Desh

Premier: 15 September 2011

Desh is an evening length contemporary solo with personal connection to Khan. It explores his British-Bangladeshi identity, as well as multiple tales of land, nation, resistance and convergence into the body and voice of one man trying to find his balance in an unstable world.

• Gnosis

Premier: 26 April 2010

Gnosis pursues the idea of the 'knowledge within', it is an exploration of the inner and outer battles of characters, the human and the godly. It is inspired by the Hindu story of Gandhari, the wife of a blind king who blinds herself to share his experiences.

• Fix

Premier: 11 March 2000

Fix draws its energy from Sufism, whirling dervishes and the search for an innovative, chemical fusion of sound, light and movement.

• Loose in Flight

Premier: 11 March 2000

Loose in Flight is one of Khan's earlier works. It is a film that explores the relationship between classical kathak and contemporary dance as it exists in Khan's body.