Onassis
What’s On

DESH

Akram Khan Company

Dates

Prices

10 — 28 €

Location

Onassis Stegi

Time & Date

Day
Time
Venue
Day
Wednesday-Friday & Sunday-Monday
Time
20:30
Venue
Main Stage

Information

Tickets

15, 18, 28 €
Concs 10, 12, 15 €

Language

In English with Greek surtitles

Akram Khan brings a touch of the London Olympics’ fireworks to Athens.

Photo: Richard Haughton

"DESH" means ‘homeland’ in Bengali. In his latest work, the celebrated British dancer and choreographer of Bangladeshi descent undertakes a fairytale journey in search of his identity and his ancestral home. Epic yet homely, Khan’s most personal work to date has been labelled a masterpiece by the critics.

"DESH" is the first solo the award-winning choreographer has ever attempted, and he is alone on stage for 80 minutes in a state of constant metamorphosis as he unravels a mythic narrative that dissolves the limits of time and space. Poetic and humorous, the work connects the mythical with the technological, politics with the family, the personal with the collective.

Working with a team of distinguished collaborators including Tim Yip (who won an Oscar for his work on "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), Khan carries the audience away with him on a personal odyssey through a world both brutal and tender, comic and tragic, mythic and contemporary.

A highly emotional and visually beautiful journey, "DESH" received the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production (2012). It is considered Khan’s finest work to date after a series of impressive collaborations with Sylvie Guillem, Juliette Binoche, Αnish Kapoor and —for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Games, Danny Boyle.

Press Quotes

“Mesmerising”
The Times, UK, 20 September 2011

“A masterpiece, the choreographers greatest show yet”
The Observer, UK, 17 September 2011

“The most urgent, beautiful and confident work of his career”
The Guardian, UK, 16 September 2011

“Akram is the king of contemporary dance, and if he played football, he would be Wayne Rooney.”
BBC News, 8 September 2011

Parallel Events

After performance talk with Akram Khan

7 December 2012
Main Stage | Language: Greek / English

Moderated by:
Nina Alcalay, dance theorist

Screening of the film "The Akram Tree"

8 December 2012
20:30 | Main Stage | Free admission

"The Akram Tree" is a journey through the personal and professional world of the British choreographer and dancer Akram Khan. Watch film extracts here.

Directors: Francesco Cabras and Alberto Molinari
Producers: ADACH/Rola Shamas/Toufic Traboulsi for Independent Productions
Duration: 81 min
Language: English

Credits

  • Direction, Choreography and Performance

    Akram Khan

  • Visual Design

    Tim Yip

  • Music Composition

    Jocelyn Pook

  • Lighting Design

    Michael Hulls

  • Stories imagined by

    Karthika Nair and Akram Khan

  • Written by

    Karthika Nair, PolarBear and Akram Khan

  • Dramaturge

    Ruth Little

  • Creative Acting Director

    Zoë Nathenson

  • Eshita’s Voice

    Sreya Andrisha Gazi

  • Jui’s Voice

    Eesha Desai

  • Visual Animation created by

    Yeast Culture

  • Set Construction

    Sander Loonen (Arp Theatre)

  • Costume Supervisor

    Kimie Nakano

  • Technical Director

    Fabiana Piccioli

  • Sound Designer

    Nicolas Faure

  • Video

    Sander Loonen

  • Stage Managers

    Natan Rosseel, Giles Metcalfe

  • Rehearsal Director

    Jose Agudo

  • Tour Manager

    Mashitah Omar

  • Producer

    Farooq Chaudhry

  • World premiere

    Curve Theatre, Leicester, 15 September 2011

  • Translation into Greek

    Yiannis Kalifatidis

Akram Khan is an Associate Artist of MC2 Grenoble and Sadler’s Wells, London in a special international co-operation

Biography

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