    |
                |
   |
  |
:: program | |||
| "Charismatic innovator", "a master of alternating between velocity and tranquillity" and "shooting star of the British dance scene" are just some of the words that have been used to describe Akram Khan. Khan, whose parents immigrated from India to England, performed with his company at KÖRPERSTIMMEN in Berlin two years ago, when audiences reacted enthusiastically to the intelligence, fast pace, and intensity of his work. Like no other artist, Khan manages to fuse contemporary dance with Kathak, a classical Indian dance tradition. "Ronin" is the second piece of a trilogy incorporating Kathak and motifs from Hindu mythology. The piece is based on the exploits of Arjuna, a warlike character from the Hindu epic Mahabharata. The choreography explores the inner turmoil and conflict between morality and immorality and justice and injustice when the warrior Arjuna and the god Krishna face off in the great battle of Mahabharata. Four musicians accompany Akram Khan live on stage - three in the classical Indian tradition plus acclaimed cellist Philipp Shepard. |
German premiere Admission: 13/10 euros Dance: Akram Khan Lighting: Aideen Malone Choreography: Gauri Sharma Tripati & Akram Khan Musicians: Faheem Mazhar (Voice), Partha Sarathi Mukherjee (Tabla), Philipp Shepard (Cello), and Baluji Shrivastav (Sitar) With support from the Arts Council of England and The British Council Berlin. www.dansoffice.co.uk |
|||
 |
||||
|
Photo: Roy Peters |
||||
| Akram Khan trained in the over-500-year-old technique of Kathak and subsequently studied contemporary dance. His artistic career included working periods at P.A.R.T.S., Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker's school for contemporary dance in Brussels. The 28-year-old London native has gained considerable international acclaim; he has been awarded numerous prizes and was invited to be choreographer-in-residence at the venerable Royal Festival Hall in London. Recently he became the first non-musician to be awarded the status of associate artist at the Royal Festival Hall. "It is like watching the afternoon of the Big Bang, with Khan’s choreography as the fallout. He and his four dancers occupy the stage like a collective force field, fracturing and reforming their tight little groupings, wheeling across the stage like sheet lightning." (The Guardian, 5/2002) "It’s easy to be in awe of Khan’s skin-flaying bursts of speed, but his stillnesses are near miraculous." (The Independent on Sunday, 19 May, 2002) "This is the kind of movement that tugs at the heart and stays twitching long after the endless applause has finished. There is no doubt about it - Akram Khan is a star." (The Stage, 23 May, 2002) |
||||
 |
||||
|
Photo: Allan Parker |
||||
| :: program |
     |