Akram Khan Company (UK)

Akram Khan (UK)

Artistic Director / Choreographer / Dancer

Akram Khan (he/him) 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.Khan’s work is recognised as being profoundly moving, in which his intelligently crafted storytelling is effortlessly intimate and epic. Described by the Financial Times as an artist “who speaks tremendously of tremendous things”, a highlight of his career was the creation of a section of the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony that was received with unanimous acclaim.

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 programme, 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 including the Laurence Olivier Award, the Bessie Award (New York Dance and Performance Award), the prestigious ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts) Distinguished Artist Award, the Fred and Adele Astaire Award, the Herald Archangel Award at the Edinburgh International Festival, the South Bank Sky Arts Award and eight Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. Khan was awarded an MBE for services to dance in 2005. He has recently been announced as the new Chancellor of De Montfort University, and he is also an Honorary Graduate of University of London as well as Roehampton and De Montfort Universities, and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Laban.

Khan is an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London and Curve, Leicester.

Website: akramkhancompany.net
Facebook: facebook.com/AkramKhanCompany

Twitter: twitter.com/akramkhanlive
Instagram: instagram.com/akramkhancompany

The Performace

CHOTTO DESH

Akram Khan Company is delighted to be bringing back its much-loved family-friendly production of Chotto Desh. Adapted by Theatre-Rites’ director, Sue Buckmaster, in 2015 from Akram Khan’s Olivier Award-winning solo and critically acclaimed DESH, this heart-warming story follows a young man trying to find his place in the world. Now, it returns to capture the attention and imagination of a new generation of younger audiences in 2023.

Chotto Desh, meaning ‘small homeland’, draws on Khan’s unique quality of cross-cultural storytelling, creating a compelling tale of a boy’s dreams and memories from Britain to Bangladesh that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit in the modern world. Blending Kathak and contemporary dance with an exquisite mix of spoken text, dreamlike animation, visuals and specially composed music, Chotto Desh is an enchanting and poignant dance-theatre experience for children aged 7+ and their families to enjoy together.

DATE: 4 NOVEMBER 2023
TIME: 20:00
VENUE: Teatro Macedonio Alcalá

DATE: 5 NOVEMBER 2023
TIME: 16:00 / 20:00
VENUE: Teatro Macedonio Alcalá

Buy Tickets:

Chotto Desh, meaning ‘small homeland’, draws on Khan’s unique quality of cross-cultural storytelling, creating a compelling tale of a boy’s dreams and memories from Britain to Bangladesh that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit in the modern world. Blending Kathak and contemporary dance with an exquisite mix of spoken text, dreamlike animation, visuals and specially composed music, Chotto Desh is an enchanting and poignant dance-theatre experience for children aged 7+ and their families to enjoy together.

Video: here

DESH Artistic Direction and Original Choreography: Akram Khan
Chotto Desh Direction and Adaptation Sue Buckmaster (Theatre-Rites)
Music Composition: Jocelyn Pook
Lighting Design: Guy Hoare
Stories imagined by Karthika Naïr and Akram Khan
The grandmother’s fable in Chotto Desh is taken from the book The Honey Hunter
Written by Karthika Naïr, Sue Buckmaster and Akram Khan
Assistant Choreographer: Jose Agudo
Rehearsal Directors Dennis Alamanos, Amy Butler,
Grandmother’s voice Leesa Gazi
Jui’s voice Sreya Andrisha Gazi
Dancers: Jasper Narvaez, Nicolas Ricchini

Original Visual Design: Tim Yip
Original Visual Animation created by YeastCulture
Original Costume Supervisor: Kimie Nakano
Music Engineer: Steve Parr

Painted Head Sequence devised by Damien Jalet with Akram Khan
‘Bleeding Soles’ lyrics written by Leesa Gazi
Singers Melanie Pappenheim, Sohini Alam, Jocelyn Pook (voice/viola/piano), Tanja Tzarovska, Jeremy Schonfield

We gratefully acknowledge the artists who contributed to the original production of DESH by Akram KhanCompany.
Coproduced by the MAC, Belfast

Originally co-commissioned by MOKO Dance, Akram Khan Company, Sadler’s Wells London, DanceEast, Théâtre de la Ville Paris, Mercat de les Flors Barcelona, Biennale de la danse de Lyon 2016 and Stratford Circus Arts Centre.

MASTER WORKSHOPS focusing on Akram Khan’s Technique

DATE: 6 & 7 November
HOUR: 15:00-17:45
COST: 500 MXN

Workshop Studio: Invernadero Danza
Contact: [email protected]

WORKSHOP TEACHERS & PERFORMERS:

Jasper Narvaez

Dancer

Jasper is a Filipino dance artist based in London, UK. He started training at the Philippine High School for the Arts and Ballet Philippines Dance School, later obtaining a Bachelor of Fine Arts with First Class Honours at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He then worked as a performer with the Akram Khan Company, AURA Dance Theatre, Jukstapoz Company and as a guest teacher/artist for Rambert, Henny Jurriëns Studio, Clod Ensemble, English National Ballet and Ballet Philippines among others. He joined Akram Khan Company in 2019 and has since performed and toured with productions Outwitting the Devil, Chotto Xenos and Kaash (Revival).

Nicolas Ricchini

Dancer

Born in the Philippines, Nicolas has worked with Pepe Hevia Danza, Fernando Madagan (Netherlands Dance Theatre) in London, Emma Martin Dance, CLOD Ensemble and Lali Ayguadé Company, among others. Nicolas was also an actor in the Oscar-nominated short movie Timecode by Juanjo Giménez. In 2014, he co- founded Dansart BCN to encourage dance education in Barcelona, and Big Story Performing Arts Services in 2017 to produce and support artists in their career development. Recently, he founded creative venue FREEZONE. Nicolas joined Akram Khan Company in 2012 for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in London, and, in 2015, as a performer for the international touring of Chotto Desh and Chotto Xenos. He is now also a rehearsal director for the Company, and is regularly called upon to teach AKC workshops worldwide.