In a near future world, a family is torn apart as they escape their homeland ravaged by the impact of climate change. Arriving alone in a deserted modern city, and with wild animals claiming the streets as their own, the child soon discovers unlikely allies in this strange new jungle.
In Akram Khan’s new dance-theatre production based on the original story of Rudyard Kipling’s much-loved family classic, Akram and his team reinvent the journey of Mowgli through the eyes of a climate refugee.
Featuring an original score, ten international dancers and state-of-the-art animation and visuals, Jungle Book reimagined is a beautifully compelling and vital piece of storytelling about our intrinsic need to belong and bond with others, and placing the importance of connecting with and respecting our natural world at its heart.
Age suitability: all generations of audiences from 10 upwards
As always, (Khan’s) choreography is beyond compare
- The Scotsman
Jungle Book reimagined brings together a stellar creative team, with script by Tariq Jordan, dramaturgy by Sharon Clark, an original score by Jocelyn Pook, sound design comes from Gareth Fry and lighting by Michael Hulls. Transforming the stage into a magical world, diving into the myths of today, is Miriam Buether with visual stage design, whilst video design and animation comes from YeastCulture.
‘Climate change is and will continue to affect all living creatures on this beautiful planet. So then how do we create a work that uses less sets, so we can travel lighter when touring? Since lockdown, I have come to appreciate technology, in ways that I did not before Covid-19. And that’s simply because it has allowed me to stay connected with my loved ones, my artistic team and the wider world. Without the use of technology, I would have felt truly
alone.
And so I would like to propose an empty stage… which means the absence of a physical set. To do that, I would like to explore through the use of technology, projections and film as the non physical set. We must not forget that most often, great storytelling can be told by the simplest of tools. Our bodies, our voices, and our conviction in that story.’
— Akram Khan
Running time approx 2hrs, incl 15min intermission
2-day get-in
Premiere Louvre Abu Dhabi 2022
Choreography Aditi Mangaldas
Russell Maliphant
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
Lighting Fabiana Piccioli
Michael Hulls
Willy Cessa
Music Shubha Mudgal
Aneesh Pradhan
Andy Cowton
Olga Wojciechowska
An incredible triple bill from award-winning dancer and choreographer Aakash Odedra featuring Echoes, CUT and Constellation. A mesmerising evening of three solos choreographed by acclaimed artists Aditi Mangaldas, Russell Maliphant and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. The works draw on Aakash’s classical background in kathak and bharatanatyam and create a unique fusion of contemporary and South Asian dance. This is the first time these three works have been performed together, offering a rare opportunity to experience an astonishing evening of dance by one of the most talented British South Asian dancers of his generation.
An exceptionally agile dancer who, it appears, has no trouble slipping between styles, effortlessly multilingual
- The New York Times
From the off, Odedra surprises. Instead of wearing the bells on his ankles, and to a plaintive song, he swings them in a circle of light. They flash and glitter as they slice through the beams, thudding as they strike the floor. A cascade of ghungroos dangle in one corner like a glistening waterfall, individual ones snaking across the floor in rivulets of gold.
Jump into a world where words and letters take flight with Aakash Odedra Company’s Little Murmur.
Diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, Aakash Odedra found school very challenging. Defined by his learning difficulties, not his abilities, dance became his means of expression.
Based on his own hugely moving and international award -
winning show Murmur 2.0, Little Murmur is Aakash’s funny, honest and heartfelt conversation about the trials, and the joys, of
living with dyslexia.
Combining visual design and technology with dance and humor, Aakash explores warped and exaggerated realities of living in a world you can struggle to process. Watch bodies and
words fly like flocks of birds, a murmuration, a little murmur.
dancing combines with digital imager to portray the confusion ad alienation his dyslexia caused.
- The Guardian
Murmur is the opposite of opaque, a revelation of a world of wonder inside the mind
In this heady world of symbolism, under the weight of history and identity, Odedra and Hu are electric.
- The Guardian
Premiere Asia TOPA 2020
Co-producing/commissioning partners Asia TOPA, Arts Centre Melbourne; Birmingham Hippodrome; Curve, Leicester; Royal Ballet; Shanghai International Dance Centre, Theatre National de Chaillot.
Supporting partners British Council; Jacob’s Pillow, USA; Peacock Contemporary Dance Company, Kunming; Playking Foundation; Sidney Myer Fund; Victoria Government.
Choreography Aakash Odedra Hu Shenyuan
Dramaturgy Lou Cope
Lighting Yaron Abulafia
Score Nicki Wells
Set Tina Tzoka
Costume K H Lee
Find out more online using the QR code!
AAKASH ODEDRA COMPANY
Billed as a contemporary dance duet, Samsara is so much more than that. Although in this instance, that would be enough – so utterly compelling are the two men performing it – but the stage is also alive with music, an art installation and lighting design so beautiful, it is almost a show in itself.
- The Scotsman
Aakash and Hu are regarded as the finest examples of their specific forms of dance in their native cultures, UK/India and China respectively. Aakash has garnered worldwide attention for his impeccable and virtuosic Kathak performances and Hu has been described by Chinese Dance icon Yang Liping as ‘A gifted Soft Body’.
They have found that despite not sharing a common spoken language, their bodies yearn to share movement, stories and to explore these ineffable frontiers between themselves.
Composer, Nicki Wells is blessed with an unparalleled memory for melody and vocal technique from virtually any culture. She is able to easily leap from folk, French hip-hop, deep gospel, jazz or choral vocals to Indian classical or Arabic inflections as if all were emanating directly from her soul.
She has performed around the world as lead vocalist with award-winning composer Nitin Sawhney.
Touring Information
Day before get-in required
Performance time 60mins
Stage dimensions 12m width, 11m depth
Artists on stage 5
Company on the road 10-11
Varone’s ability to convey depths of emotion through highly charged, physically exciting choreography has made him a rarity among his generation.
- The New York Times
Design Collaborators
Lighting and projection designers Ben Stanton and Lucy Mackinnon will create starkly different performance environments for the two parts. Costumes, which will underscore and embellish the underlying themes and emotions of each section, will be designed by long-time Varone collaborator Liz Prince.
Length
Part 1: 40 minutes Part 2: 30 minutes
Touring
To MY Arms / Restore can be presented as an evening-length program, or each part can be presented individually and combined on a program with other works from our repertory.
Touring personnel: 10-12
Commissioning opportunities are available.
TO MY ARMS / RESTORE
To My Arms / Restore is a two-part work embodying Varone’s decades’ long choreographic fascination between the deeply emotional and the immensely physical. Set to a suite of exquisite operatic arias by Georg Fredric Handel, To My Arms (Part 1), builds a rich and distinct landscape of love and loss within a suite of ten dances, evoking a strange otherworld of intimacy. In stark contrast, Restore (Part 2) is visceral, tactile, and unsparing movement that explodes across the stage, revealing a new and wide-open terrain of physicality. It is driven by the 21st century sound of DJ Nico Bentley’s Handel Remixed, a score that fuses the fundamentals of Handel’s 18th century choral score Dixit Dominus with beats more commonly heard in clubs around the globe; the result of which is a marriage between a score and a dance that is unabashedly glorious. With To My Arms/Restore, Varone’s masterly hand at crafting rich dances of emotional and physical resonances is on full display.
Music
Both parts can be performed with either live or recorded music. Live music options provide opportunities for college and community opera and chamber music groups to participate and perform, enriching the capacity to bring local audiences to the project.
Options for live music are:
Part 1: Chamber ensemble with two or more vocalists.
Part 2: Chamber ensemble with four vocalists, or chamber ensemble with twelve-person (or larger) chorus.
Live music options involve a DJ electronically remixing the score during the performance.
Link to Part 1/To My Arms studio in process-recording:
REPERTORY PROGRAM
Photo: Jose Gato
SOMEWHERE (2019)
Somewhere reimagines Leonard Bernstein’s timeless West Side Story by stripping the orchestral score of its narrative connotations. The result: pure choreographic vibraPncy, brimming with nuance and emotional heft generated by the musical structure.
"Somewhere, is Doug Varone’s ravishing take on the orchestral score to West Side Story, Filled with the most sublime invention, Somewhere seems destined to become a classic work of contemporary dance. The entire work stands as a testament to this choreographer’s prolific creation of movement.” – Santa Barbara Independent
“The beauty of Varone’s version of West Side Story performed in its New York premiere for an audience that surely could sing along to the original by heart, is that he presents the story as if it were a dream sequence. Somewhere is pure dance relieved of storyline and lyrics.”
Length: 30 minutes
Touring Personnel: 10-12
Music: Recorded
Photo: Jose Gato
RISE (1993)
For the 23-24 season, Varone has reconstructed a new production of his master work Rise. In Rise, dancers spill across the stage in swirls of controlled chaos, with composer John Adam’s Fearful Symmetries underlying each step.
“The choreography and staging, combined with Adams’s score, create the kind of visual excitement that’s rare in any dance, much less one where non-stop movement provides the only basis for excitement.”
Critical Dance
"Mr. Varone has a company of daredevils, profoundly human superhumans who dance on a dime -- wheeling, darting and slicing the air at lethal-looking speeds -- and subside into passing moments of gentle, sometimes almost drowsy near-stillness filled with sweetness and affection. "Rise," danced to music by Mr. Adams, communicates all this and suggests how good Mr. Varone is at structuring his choreography." - The New York Times
Length: 30 minutes
Touring Personnel: 10-12
Music: Recorded
About the company
For more than 35 years, Doug Varone and Dancers has built a legacy of award-winning dances. From the smallest gesture to full-throttle bursts of movement, Varone’s work can take your breath away with both its athleticism and its passion. Reaching out well beyond the proscenium arch, this legacy is underscored with the company’s renown residency and outreach programs. On tour, the company has performed in more than 125 cities in 45 states across the U.S. and in Europe, Asia, Canada, and South America. Stages include The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music, San Francisco Performances, London's Queen Elizabeth Hall, Toronto's Harbourfront, Moscow's Stanislavsky Theater, Buenos Aires’ Teatro San Martin, the Venice Biennale, Marble Hall in Tokyo, and the Bates, Jacob's Pillow and American Dance Festivals. Varone, his dancers and designers have been honored with 11 Bessie Awards.
“a winning combination… cartoonishly full of skill, verve and vitality, and tickling your senses of both humour and wonder.” “Three dancers explore the harmony between music and movement in a show that flirts with parody as it unleashes joy” THE GUARDIAN★★★★☆
“A long, powerful solo by Harriet Ellis seems like a climax but is followed by a succession of aftershocks as the three tireless women lunge and high-kick like ecstatic Rockettes, running on three-quarter pointe, then saucily showing their knickers: part ballet class, part vaudeville and utterly irresistible.”
FT London ★★★★☆
“An evening of thrilling music, gorgeous visuals and sumptuous dancing.” theskinny.co.uk ★★★★
Named in the “TOP 10 DANCE SHOWS OF 2019” – THE GUARDIAN
Rosie Kay’s newest work takes ballet and tutus into the 21st Century using dance and science to create an exquisite performance of pleasure, beauty and finesse. Fine-tuning choreography with neuroscientific research, Kayquestions what it is that makes dance beautiful to watch and experience. Delve deeply into a soundtrack of Vivaldi, Purcell, Beethoven and Bach and revel in the vision of three bold female dancers as they discover love, loss, emotion and joy.
Birmingham Hippodrome Associate Rosie Kay worked with neuroscientists in the UK and Denmark’s Center for Music in the Brain to explore how dance can trigger sensations of pleasure and fulfilment in the brain. Fantasia is the result of her desire to make a work of pure joy inspired by music and the body’s response to it. With truly sumptuous costumes that defy expectation, join us on a journey of music, delight and fantasy.
Inspired by Journeyto the West, a major text of China created during the Ming Dynasty, SAMSARA tells the story of how Buddhist philosophy was sought by a monk’s arduous journey through India and finally brought to China.
Sharing cultures and the search for knowledge are age-old and suggest the human need for interdependence for its own advancement. This is as relevant today as it has ever been.
ON AAKASH ODEDRA
‘“Rising” reveals an exceptionally agile dancer who, it appears, has no trouble slipping between styles, effortlessly multilingual.’ New York Times
‘Aakash Odedra transfixes and transports his audience, receiving a deservedly rapturous response.’ Sydney Morning Herald
ON HU SHENYUAN
‘Hu Shenyuan is outstanding… He moves with an eerie suppleness, the delicate, voluptuous coils of his body evoking a rare hot-house beauty.’The Guardian
“ (Hu Shenyuan) moves almost like a ballerina, with beautifully pointed feet and lyrical contortions.” New York Times
Aakash and Hu are regarded as the finest examples of their specific forms of dance in their native cultures, UK/India and China respectively. Aakash has garnered worldwide attention for his impeccable and virtuosic Kathak performances and Hu has been described by Chinese Dance icon Yang Liping as ‘A gifted Soft Body’.
They have found that despite not sharing a common spoken language, their bodies yearn to share movement, stories and to explore these ineffable frontiers between themselves.
Composer, Nicki Wells is blessed with an unparalleled memory for melody and vocal technique from virtually any culture. She is able to easily leap from folk, French hip-hop, deep gospel, jazz or choral vocals to Indian classical or Arabic inflections as if all were emanating directly from her soul.
She has performed around the world as lead vocalist with award-winning composer Nitin Sawhney
Production Credits
Artistic Director: Aakash Odedra
Choreographers and Dance Artists: Aakash Odedra and Hu Shenyuan
Dramaturg: Lou Cope
Composer: Nicki Wells
Lighting Design: Yaron Abulafia
Set: Tina Tzoka
Producer: Anand Bhatt
Numbers on the road: 10
On Stage: 5 (2 dancers/3 musicians)
Rehearsal Director: 1
Sound Technician: 1
LX Technician: 1
Stage/Scenery:1
Company Manager: 1
2 from Shanghai/8 from Europe
Tech Demands: 1 day before get-in, strike on same evening after the show, Detailed tech Spec available in early 2020, indicative tech spec available from Oct 2019
Freight: Up to one large container
More information will be confirmed through 2019 and early 2020
5-7th March 2020 – Asia TOPA, Melbourne, Australia (World Premiere)
Where to see Samsara on tour:
Postponed…
5-7th March 2020 – Asia TOPA, Melbourne, Australia (World Premiere)
13-15th March 2020 – International Dance Center, Shanghai, China
12th June 2020 – Birmingham Hippodrome, UK
23-24th June 2020 – The Lowry, Salford Quays, UK
8-10th October 2020 – Dance Umbrella/Royal Opera House, London, UK
27th-28th October 2020 – Curve Theatre, Leicester, UK
4th-7th November 2020 – Chaillot National Centre De Danse, Paris, France
Inspired by Akram Khan’s award winning final full-length solo XENOS,Chotto Xenos is a captivating dance production that takes young audiences back in time, exploring the often forgotten and untold stories of World War 1 colonial soldiers, in order to shine light on our present and future.
Reimagined by Sue Buckmaster, Artistic Director of Theatre-Rites and creator of the highly successful Chotto Desh, Chotto Xenos weaves together stunning choreography by Akram Khan, lighting design by Guy Hoare, costumes by Kimie Nakano, and tender and evocative visuals by Lucy Cash. Mounted on a set by Ingrid Hu, this family production incorporates Domenico Angarano’s stirring soundscape adapted from the original score, by Vincenzo Lamagna.
Age: Suitable for those age 8 years + and their families
Artistic team & credits
XENOS Artistic Direction and Original Choreography Akram Khan
Chotto Xenos Direction and Adaptation Sue Buckmaster (Theatre-Rites)
Set Design Ingrid Hu
Lighting DesignGuy HoareOriginal Music Domenico Angarano, inspired by Vincenzo Lamagna’s score for XENOS
Sound DesignDomenico Angarano & Phil Wood
Costume DesignKimie Nakano
Film & Projection Design Lucy Cash
Assistant Choreographer Nicola Monaco
Rehearsal Directors Nicolas Ricchini & Amy Butler
Dancer Guilhem Chatir or Kennedy Junior Muntanga
Producer Clare Cody-Richardson
Technical ManagerTina Fagan
Production Manager Richard Fagan
Sound EngineerMatthew Armstrong
Lighting Technician Lars Davidson
Stage ManagerMarek Pomocki
Project & Tour Manager Mashitah Omar & Mai Tassinari
Digital animation & motion graphics Laurie Hill
Props made byLouise Edge from LFX props & special fx
Puppets made byNaomi Oppenheim
Music recorded with Stefano Ancora, Domenico Angarano, James Browne, Nina Harries, Joost Hendrickx, Matt Holborn, Arran Kent, Stefan Knapik, Vincenzo Lamagna, Andrew Maddick, B C Manjunath, Tamar Osborn, Aditya Prakash, Clarice Rarity, Ciro Riccardi
We gratefully acknowledge the artists, collaborators and co-producers who contributed to the original production of XENOS by Akram Khan Company.
Co-produced byDanceEast Ipswich, The Point Eastleigh, Stratford Circus Arts Centre, Théâtre de la Ville – Paris
Created with the support of Capital Group
Chotto Xenosand XENOS are both commissioned by 14-18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Art Commissions, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, and the Department for Digital,Culture, Media and Sport
“As I arrive at the end of my dancing career, I have awakened to a new way of dancing. And that is to dance my ideas through the bodies of others, including older dancers, who carry their histories and complex emotional experiences within them. But what remains unchanged is my passion for exploring old and new myths in the context of our times.”
One of the seeds of inspiration for Outwitting the Devil is Leonardo Da Vinci’s iconic mural of The Last Supper. Thisimage has haunted me since I rst laid eyes on it as a child.
As a young British Bangladeshi boy growing up in South London, I remember seeing The Last Supper on a printed A4 page in my art class. I was told it was one of the most famous paintings in the world, and was asked to draw my own version of it. I now realise that at the time I was uncomfortable and confused by the depiction. I could not see anything of myself in it, or of the culture and religion I grew up in. It was foreign to me. Or perhaps, I was foreignto it. It did not re ect me, or the people in my street – who came from many different cultures – in any way I couldrelate to.
Many years later, I stumbled across another version of The Last Supper, by Australian artist Susan Dorothea White. White’s work was titled The First Supper. The painting portrays 13 women from all regions of the world. The gurein the position of Leonardo’s Christ is an Aboriginal woman, and the only white woman in the painting sits in the same position as Judas, the betrayer.
This radical interpretation astonished me, and gave me permission to free myself from the classical version. And in this new, anti-colonial depiction, I recognised an artist’s journey and challenge to convention which was parallel to my own. Ever since I entered the classical Indian dance world, I have been searching for a way out.... or perhaps more truly, I was searching for a new way in.
– Akram Khan, August 2018
Artistic team & credits Artistic Director/Choreographer Akram Khan
Dramaturg Ruth Little Lighting Designer Aideen Malone Visual Designer Tom Scutt Original Music Score and Sound Design Vincenzo LamagnaCostume Designer Kimie Nakano Writer Jordan Tannahill Rehearsal Director Mavin Khoo
Dancers Ching-Ying Chien, Andrew Pan, Dominique Petit, James Pham, Mythili Prakash, Sam Pratt
Supported by Arts Council England Akram Khan is an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells London and Curve Leicester.
Technical Requirements
Playing Area 12m x 12m
Trim Height 8m
Dimmers
120 minimum
NO RAKE
Akram Khan
Artistic Director/Choreographer
Akram Khan is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists today. In just over 18 years he has createda body of work that has contributed signi cantly to the arts in the UK and abroad. His reputation has been built onthe success of imaginative, highly accessible and relevant productions such as Until the Lions, Kaash, iTMOi (in the mind of igor), DESH, Vertical Road, Gnosis and zero degrees.
An instinctive and natural collaborator, Khan has been a magnet to world-class artists from other cultures anddisciplines. His previous collaborators include the National Ballet of China, actress Juliette Binoche, ballerinaSylvie Guillem, choreographers/dancers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Israel Galván, singer Kylie Minogue, visual artistsAnish 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 DirectorTamara 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.
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 thePerforming Arts) Distinguished Artist Award, the Fred and Adele Astaire Award, the Herald Archangel Award atthe Edinburgh International Festival, the South Bank Sky Arts Award and six 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 an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells, London and Curve, Leicester.
Ruth Little
Dramaturg
Ruth Little is a dance and theatre dramaturg, a teacher and writer. Her work has encompassed national arts organisations, remote rural communities, site-speci c production and large and small-scale exhibitions and expeditions. She lectured in English Literature at the University of Sydney, and was Literary Manager at Out ofJoint, Soho Theatre, the Young Vic and the Royal Court. Ruth was Associate Director at Cape Farewell from 2010- 2016. She is dramaturg with Akram Khan Company (Gnosis, Vertical Road, DESH, iTMOi, Dust, technê, Until the Lions, Giselle) and has worked with Banff Arts Centre, Sadler’s Wells, Barbican, and many others. Winner of 2012 Kenneth Tynan Award for dramaturgy, Ruth has a number of publications including Art, Place, Climate: Situated Ethics, War in the Body, and The Meteorological Body.
Aideen Malone
Lighting Designer
Aideen studied Drama and Theatre at Trinity College Dublin and Goldsmiths College, University of London. She works on a rich variety of projects in theatre, dance, opera, site speci c and installation. She has previously workedwith Akram Khan on Polaroid Feet and Kaash in 2002. In theatre, she has collaborated with National Theatre, BristolOld Vic, Lyric Hammersmith, Manchester Theatre Royal, Clod Ensemble, Young Vic, amongst many others. Aideenalso enjoys working with young people in education, and is currently a tutor at ALRA and St Marys, Twickenham. She is a director of Junction designing lighting sculptures and installations.
Tom Scutt
Visual Designer
Tom is a London-based Designer for the stage and live events. A graduate from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2006, he regularly works at most of London’s major theatres including The National Theatre, The Royal Court, Almeida and Donmar Warehouse. On Broadway, Tom has provided set & costume designs forConstellations, King Charles III and Les Liaisons Dangereuses. His work reaches across live music (Sam Smith/ Apple, MTV VMAs), dance (Hofesh Shechter - Grand Finale) and exhibition design (Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up at London’s V&A Museum). Tom is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, an Associate Artist of the Donmar Warehouse and a resident at Somerset House Studios.
Vincenzo Lamagna
Composer
Vincenzo Lamagna is a musician, composer and producer based in London. His music is known for its visceral,emotive and edgy language that utilises an unconventional hybrid of electro-orchestral sounds. Vincenzo has carved a niche in the alternative contemporary dance world, where he has established himself as a major collaboratorwith some of the most acclaimed choreographers of this generation, Hofesh Shechter and Akram Khan. His mostrecent collaborations include Until the Lions and Akram Khan’s award winning 21st-century adaptation of Gisellefor English National Ballet. His scores are a mercurial combination of acoustic and electronic music, recognisedfor their ferocious industrial undertones, haunted melodies and cinematic soundscapes.
Kimie Nakano
Costume Designer
Kimie Nakano has designed costumes for Northern Ballet, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet, Royal DanishBallet, Companhia National de Bailado, English National Ballet, Van Huynh Company, The Royal Ballet of Flanders,Rambert Dance Company, David Nixon, Didy Veldman, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, José Agudo and Yabin Studio. Kimie’s opera production credits include: The Return of Ulysses by John Fulljames for Royal Opera and Tristan und Isoldeby Carmen Jakobi for Longborough Festival Opera. Her designs for Akram Khan Company include: Vertical Road,Dust (English National Ballet’s Lest We Forget), iTMOi, TOROBAKA, Gnosis, Kaash, The Rashomon Effect (National Youth Dance Company), technê (choreographed for Sylvie Guillem, Life in Progress).
Jordan Tannahill
Writer
Jordan Tannahill has been ‘widely celebrated as one of Canada’s most accomplished young playwrights, lm-makers and all-round multidisciplinary artists’ (Toronto Star). His plays have been produced on major stages internationally and translated into eight languages, while his lms and multimedia performances have beenpresented at festivals including the Toronto Int. Film Festival, the Tribeca Film Festival, and the Venice Biennial. In 2017, his play Late Company transferred to London’s West End. Upcoming: his virtual reality performance Draw Me Close, produced by the National Theatre (UK) and the National Film Board of Canada, will open at the Young
Vic in January 2019.
Mavin Khoo
Rehearsal Director
Mavin Khoo is internationally recognised as a dance artist, teacher, choreographer and artist scholar. His initial training was in Malaysia. He then pursued his training in Bharatanatyam intensively under the legendary dancemaestro Padma Shri Adyar K.Lakshman in India. As a contemporary dance artist, he has worked with WayneMcGregor, Akram Khan, Shobana Jeyasingh and many others. Khoo founded mavinkhooDance in 2003. He was Artistic Director of Ż nMalta Dance Ensemble between 2014 - 2017. He currently maintains his touring work as a mature artist with a focus on solo Bharatanatyam performances and speci cally commissioned contemporary duet works. He also worked as rehearsal director for Akram Khan Company production iTMOi and worked alongside Akram on Giselle (English National Ballet).
Ching-Ying Chien
Dancer
Ching-Ying Chien was born in Taiwan and graduated from the National Taiwan University of Arts. As well ascollaborating and creating work with a number of Taiwanese choreographers including Fang-Yi Sheu, Ching-Ying also worked as a physical model for Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang for his large-scale gunpowder on paper pieceDay and Night. She has worked with Akram Khan Company since 2013 and achieved the ‘Outstanding FemalePerformance (Modern)’ award at the UK National Dance Awards in 2016. In addition to performing on stage,Ching-Ying worked with director Adam Smith to shoot music videos for the likes of Plan B and The Chemical Brothers earlier this year. Most recently she has presented her solo Vulture in London and Taiwan.
Andrew Pan
Dancer
Andrew was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Studying at the Federal Academy of Ballet in Malaysia, he was offered a scholarship to study at the Central School of Ballet in London. During his second year at Central, Andrew guested at Dublin City Ballet, in Giselle dancing the part of ‘Peasant Pas De Deux’. After touring with Notre Dame de Parisfor 3 years, he spent 5 years in the Celine Dion’s show A New Day in Las Vegas. Throughout his career Andrew hasworked with different choreographers and directors, including: Jiri Kylian, Rui Horta, Itzik Galili, Richard Wherlock,Roberto Galvan, Mia Michaels, Karl Schreiner, Christian Spuck, Carlus Pardrissa, Johann Kresnik, Jean Renshaw, Philipp Stölzl.
Dominique Petit
Dancer
Dominique Petit’s career started in New York with Paul Sanasardo. Returning to France to join the Paris OperaTheater Research Group under the direction of Carolyn Carlson for four years, he went on to present his rst solo at Avignon Festival. His choreographic pieces have toured to major dance festivals in Europe, Asia and South America, including his most proli c works, Jade and Les tournesols. Before teaching full-time in the Conservatory of La Roche sur Yon, he spent seven years as a pedagogical coordinator of the CNDC of Angers. Dominique has developed an innovative improvisation technique and is regularly invited to facilitate masterclasses in major French institutions.
James Pham
Dancer
James has been working extensively with Chunky Move - Anouk Van Dijk since 2012. Beside his collaborations with Eastman, Royal Ballet of Flanders, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani, Bayerische Staatsoper and Theater Basel, he has performed in Triumphs and Other Alternatives with Muscle Mouth and World of Wearable Art (2015).He was the lead role in Christophe Coppens’ Le Mandarin Merveilleux at La Monnaie. James received the ‘BestMale Dancer in a Dance or Physical Theatre Work’ 2014 Helpmann Award for his performance in 247 Days, and the Outstanding Performance by a Male Dancer 2014 Australian Dance Award for AORTA. He has been studying Countertechnique intensively since 2012, and became a certi ed teacher in 2014.
Mythili Prakash
Dancer
Classically trained in the Indian dance form Bharatanatyam, Mythili Prakash was born in Los Angeles and grew up training with her mother/dancer Viji Prakash. Performing her solo debut at just eight years old, she has since presented her work world-wide. Mythili’s full length solos include: Stree Katha, Yamuna, Seasons of Love,Chandalika, AIKYA - through the voice of Akka Mahadevi and JWALA-Rising Flame. In 2009, she collaborated with musician Anoushka Shankar in Svatantrya, with writer/director Gowri Ramnarayan in Yashodhara in 2012 and her brother/musician Aditya Prakash in MARA in 2013. Mythili worked with Director Ang Lee in the lm Life of Pi and was featured on NBC’s Superstars of Dance.
Sam Pratt
Dancer
Sam Asa Pratt was born and raised in New York City and graduated from Bard College with degrees in Dance and Philosophy. Sam has performed with Kate Weare Company, David Dorfman Dance, Abraham in Motion,The Francesca Harper Project, and for the past two years has been a full-time company member in Punchdrunk’sNew York production of Sleep No More. Sam is co-founder/director of movement art company Baye & Asa (@bayeandasa) presenting live performance and lm work in NYC.
