AKRAM KHAN COMPANY - UNTIL THE LIONS
North American Touring – 13 Nov – 16 Dec 2017
(This production will not feature Akram Khan)
“Lean, thrilling and beautiful” ***** The Guardian
“breathtaking theatricality” **** The Stage
Until the Lions, the latest work from Akram Khan, is a dream-like tale of identity and revenge, piling up hypnotic images” The Independent, London
“As in many myths, the female characters are often the unsung heroes, the figures of strength and imagination and endurance. It is their unsung stories in particular that still haunt me today.”
Akram Khan
In this partial adaptation of poet Karthika Naïr’s book Until the Lions: Echoes from the Mahabharata, an original reworking of the epic Mahabharata, Khan uses kathak and contemporary dance to tell the tale of Amba, a princess abducted on her wedding day and stripped of her honour, who invokes the gods to seek revenge. Bringing together some of the original team from his acclaimed solo DESH, Khan wants to explore the notion and the physical expression of gender.
ARTISTIC TEAM
Director/Choreographer/Performer Akram Khan
Narrative Concept, Scenario, Text Karthika Naïr
Visual Design Tim Yip
Lighting Design Michael Hulls
Composer Beautiful Noise (Vincenzo Lamagna)
Dramaturg Ruth Little
Assistant Director Sasha Milavic Davies
Assistant Choreographer Jose Agudo
Voice over Kathryn Hunter
Technical Producer Sander Loonen
Producer Farooq Chaudhry
Dancers Akram Khan
Ching-Ying Chien, Christine Joy Ritter
Musicians Sohini Alam, David Azurza Yaron Engler
Vincenzo Lamagna
Co-produced by Roundhouse/Sadler’s Wells London, MC2: Grenoble, La Comète Châlons-‐en-‐ Champagne, Théâtre de la Ville Paris, Danse Danse/TOHU Montréal, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, New Vision Arts Festival Hong Kong, Taipei Performing Arts Center, Movimentos Festwochen Wolfsburg, Brighton Festival 2016, Maison de la Culture d'Amiens, Concertgebouw Brugge, Holland Festival Amsterdam, Romaeuropa Festival, Curve Leicester
Sponsored by COLAS, Supported by Arts Council England
UPCOMING INTERNATIONAL TOUR DATES
3 – 5 Nov 2016: Curve Theatre, Leicester, UK
1 Dec 2016: Concertgebouw, Bruges, Belgium
5 – 17 Dec 2016: La Villette, France (presented by Theatre de la Ville)
20-21 Jan 2017: Les Theatres de la Ville, Luxembourg City, Luxemburg
AWARDS
Akram Khan
•Akram Khan – Critics’ Circle National Dance Award 2012 for Best Male Dancer (DESH), UK; ISPA Distinguished Artist Award, New York 2011
•Dust (English National Ballet’s Lest We Forget) – Critics’ Circle National Dance Award 2014 for Best Modern Choreography, UK
•DESH – Olivier Award 2012 for Best New Dance Production, UK; Bessie Award (New York Dance and Performance Award) 2014 for Outstanding Production
•Vertical Road – Critics' Circle National Dance Award 2011 for Best Modern Choreography, UK; Danza & Danza Award 2010 for Best Performance, Bolzano; The Age Critics Award 2010 for Best New Work, Melbourne Arts Festival
•Gnosis – South Bank Sky Arts Award 2011 in Dance, UK; Herald Archangel Award 2014 at the Edinburgh International Festival