National première
Gauthier Dance//Dance Company
Theaterhaus Stuttgart (DEU)
/ Akram Khan
direction and choreography: Akram Khan
performers: Bruna Andrade, Tuti Cedeño, Andrew Cummings, Anneleen Dedroog, Karlijn Dedroog, Barbara Melo Freire, Stefano Gallelli, Shai Ottolenghi, Luca Pannacci, Garazi Perez Oloriz, Arnau Redorta Ortiz, Izabela Szylinska, Sidney Elizabeth Turtschi, Giovanni Visone, Shawn Wu, Shori Yamamoto
arranger, soundscape designer: Aditya Prakash
music extracts composed by: Jocelyn Pook, Ben Frost & Aditya Prakash
costume design: Gudrun Schretzmeier
lighting design: Mario Daszenies
creative associate & lead repetiteur: Mavin Khoo
rehearsal director: Angela Towler
repetiteurs: Joy Alpuerto Ritter, Jasper Narvaez
production: Theaterhaus Stuttgart
duration: 70 minutes
photo credit: Jeanette Bak
A choreographer unearths his own bones, shakes them vigorously, and rearranges them: Akram Khan’s latest creation for Gauthier Dance brings together excerpts from five of his works in a new contemporary context—Jungle Book Reimagined (2022), Mud of Sorrow (2012), Desh (2011), iTMOi (2013), and Insurgents (2024).
The title alludes to the Famadihana ceremony, held in Madagascar in memory of the dead, also known as the ‘Festival of Bones’. In this tradition, the deceased are exhumed and wrapped in new silk cloths in their honour, after which people dance with them.
At the beginning of the millennium, Akram Khan took the London dance scene by storm with works such as Kaash and Ma, quickly earning invitations to international dance festivals. A Brit of Bangladeshi heritage, his arrival marked the beginning of a new era of intercultural exchange in European dance.
