Press Release: Akram Khan Company presents Carnival of Shadows at Sadler's Wells, 23 Nov - 4 Dec 2021

[Jan McNulty]

 

 

Akram Khan Company 
Carnival of Shadows: the beginning of a third decade of storytelling  

Sadler’s Wells, EC1R 4TN   

23 November - 4 December 2021 

Tickets: £15 - £75 

Ticket Office: 020 7863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com   

  

“This is a work of defining greatness, and a fitting farewell to a stage career that has illuminated British dance” The Observer on XENOS 

 

 

 

 One of the most celebrated and highly regarded dance companies today, AkramKhan Company presents a programme of works to mark the Company’s third decade of storytelling in Akram Khan’s 16^th year as a Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist. Carnival of Shadows includes the UK premiere of his latest work, Outwitting the Devil; Khan’s final UK performances of his award-winning solo, XENOS; and a dance theatre production adapted for young audiences inspired by XENOS; Chotto Xenos, in the Lilian Baylis Studio. 

 

Opening the programme and presenting from Tuesday 23 - Saturday 27 November at Sadler’s Wells Theatre is Akram Khan Company’s newest ensemble piece, Outwitting the Devil (2019). Combining classical and contemporary influences, Khan explores our oldest rituals in the context of our ever-changing planet. The work is inspired by the newly discovered fragment of the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the world’s earliest surviving great works of literature. In a landscape of broken tablets and fallen idols, its six characters trade their remaining wealth and stories, seeking to make whole the fragments of ancient knowledge lost and forgotten over time.  

Khan brings together an ensemble of six international artists alongside regular collaborators: dramaturg Ruth Little, composer Vincenzo Lamagna, rehearsal director Mavin Khoo, costume designer Kimie Nakano, writer Jordan Tannahill, plus visual designer Tom Scutt and lighting designer Aideen Malone. 

 

 In 2019, Khan received the Laurence Olivier award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance for his performance of XENOS. This year, he returns to Sadler’s Wells Theatre from Tuesday 30 November - Saturday 4 December to present his last ever UK performances of this critically acclaimed full-length solo. In the production, he reveals the beauty and horror of the human condition in his portrait of an Indian dancer whose skilled body becomes an instrument of war. XENOS, or ’foreigner’ in Greek, takes place on the border between East and West, past and present, mythology and technology, where humanity still stands in wonder and disarray. 

Khan is joined on stage by five international musicians: Nina Harries, B C Majunath, Tamar Osborn, Aditya Prakash and Fra Rustumji. XENOS’ creative team includes Khan’s regular collaborators, plus lighting designer and Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Michael Hulls and set designer, Mirella Weingarten. 

 

 

 

 Chotto Xenos, explores the often forgotten and untold stories of World War 1 colonial soldiers. Director of the acclaimed Chotto Desh (2015), Sue Buckmaster reimagined XENOS as a child-friendly production in 2020. The work interweaves themes from Khan’s original piece to shine a light on our present and future. Chotto Xenos incorporates composer Domenico Angarano’s stirring original music - inspired by Vincenzo Lamagna’s score in XENOS - and presents at the Lilian Baylis Studio on Thursday 2 & Friday 3 December.  Suitable for ages 7+.

The Chotto Xenos creative team is set designer Ingrid Hu, lighting designer Guy Hoare, projection designer Lucy Cash and costume designer Kimie Nakano. 

Akram Khan, Artistic Director and Choreographer, said: “As we enter our third decade of storytelling, I can't help but take this moment to reflect - the past 20 years have been of an epic undertaking with the Akram Khan Company Executive Producer Farooq Chaudhry and our incredible team. We chose to seek out artists from across the world and gather not just their remarkable expertise and talent, but their different insights into the fundamental questions of why we dance, and how can we bring stories that may have been forgotten, erased, or hiding in the shadows to the frontline of our rapidly changing global arena. The beguiling thing about this very moment, is that I feel that the last two decades have been about finding my voice. And now that that voice is more present in the global community, it feels so exciting to start using it and discover its range into the next decade - starting with Carnival of Shadows. This is not an ending - it's a celebration of our work thus far, a chance to cement our future vision, and a heartfelt thank you to my dancing home for the last 16 years; Sadler’s Wells” 

 

Alistair Spalding, Chief Executive and Artistic Director of Sadler’s Wells, said: “In 2005, Akram came on board as a Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist, and we are really proud to have been a part of his journey in establishing himself as one of the most respected dance artists of today. His work has been central to Sadler’s Wells’ artistic mission over the past 16 years. It gives us great pleasure to be able to present this programme of works from Akram Khan Company this year, and we lookforward to supporting the Company throughout its third decade of storytelling, too.” 

 

XENOS also presents at The Lowry, Manchester on Wednesday 29 & Thursday 30 September. 

 

Audio described performances 
Outwitting the Devil - Wednesday 24 November at 7:30pm 
XENOS - Wednesday 1 December at 7:30pm 
Chotto Xenos - Thursday 2 December at 7pm 

 

Relaxed performance 
Chotto Xenos - Friday 3 December at 11am 

 
NOTES TO EDITORS 
 

About Akram Khan  
Akram Khan is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists today. In the last 20 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 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 choreography is the embodiment of shared exploration across multiple disciplines and cultures. 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 and 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 and its Artistic Director Tamara Rojo. 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.  
 

In recent years, Khan has moved into television, specifically documentaries. He has created 3 documentaries with Swan Films for Channel 4, the Sky Arts documentary series Why Do We Dance, and an episode of the Netflix series MOVE. 
 

Khan has been the recipient of numerous awards throughout his career including two Laurence Olivier Awards, 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 nine Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. Khan was awarded an MBE for services to dance in 2005. 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 also the Sky Arts Ambassador for Dance. 
 

Khan is an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells, and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London and Curve, Leicester. 
 
About Akram Khan Company 
Co-founded in 2000 by award-winning choreographer Akram Khan and producer Farooq Chaudhry, Akram Khan Company has established itself as one of the foremost innovative dance companies, performing to sell-out audiences in leading festivals and venues around the world. Embracing Khan’s artistic vision that both respects and challenges tradition and modernity, the Company has become renowned for its intercultural, interdisciplinary collaborations, and has developed a significant range of works from classical kathak and modern solos to artist-to-artist duets and ensemble productions. A milestone in the Company’s journey was the creation of a section of the London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in 2012. 
 

The Company has been showered with prestigious honours including an Olivier Award for DESH and a record-breaking nine Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. Akram Khan Company enjoys artistic association with Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, Curve in Leicester, and other leading venues and festivals around the world. 

 

About Sadler’s Wells 
Sadler's Wells is a world-leading dance organisation. We make and share dance that inspires us all. Our acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, Bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap. 

 

We commission, produce and present more dance than any other organisation in the world. Since 2005, we have helped to bring close to 200 new dance works to the stage, embracing both the popular and the unknown.  Each year, over half a million people visit our three London theatres. Many more attend our touring productions nationally and internationally or explore our digital platforms, including Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage.  

 

In 2023 we’re opening a fourth London venue in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, to sit alongside our Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Lilian Baylis Studio and Peacock Theatre. Sadler’s Wells’ new space will house a 550-seat mid-scale theatre, as well as facilities for a choreographic centre and a hip hop theatre academy.  

Supporting artists is at the heart of our work. We have associate artists and companies, which nurture some of the most exciting talent working in dance today. We host the National Youth Dance Company, which draws together some of the brightest young dancers from across the country. Sadler’s Wells Breakin' Convention runs professional development programmes to champion and develop the world’s best hip hop artists, as well as producing, programming and touring groundbreaking hip hop performances.  

 

Around 30,000 people take part in our learning and engagement programmes every year. We support schools local to our theatres in Islington and Stratford, designing experiences for children and young people to watch, explore and critically engage with the arts. We also run Company of Elders, a resident performance company of dancers aged over 60 who rehearse with renowned artists to make new work for public performances locally, nationally and internationally. 

 

Sadler’s Wells is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.  
 
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