XENOS
Akram Khan
Dates
Prices
Location
Time & Date
Information
Tickets
Early bird from 3 JAN to 21 JAN 2018: 21, 25 €
Full price: 7, 15, 25, 30, 36 €
Reduced, Friend & Groups 5-9 people: 12, 20, 24, 29 €
Groups 10+ people: 11, 18, 21, 25 €
Νeighborhood residents: 7 €
People with disabilities & Unemployed: 5 € | Companions: 10 €
Group ticket reservations at groupsales@onassis.org
No performance on 24 February
Duration
1 hour and 10 minutes
Akram Khan in his much anticipated new opus, a solo that will mark his last performances as a dancer in a full-length production. Accompanied on stage by five musicians, he takes us on a journey into his enticing world: kathak, contemporary dance, rousing rhythms and world musical traditions. The world première of Akram Khan’s latest work here, at the Onassis Stegi.
Photo: Nicol Vizioli
The title “XENOS” means ‘stranger’ or ‘foreigner’. Akram and his world-class team of collaborators draw in this new solo work on the archives of the 20th century, unearthing the experience of colonial soldiers in the First World War.
Over 4 million non-white men were mobilised by the European and American armies during the conflict. Around 1.5 million of them were from India, mostly peasant-warriors from North and North-Western India, who fought and died in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In service to the myths of Empire, dislocated from their homelands and cultures, their stories have until recently remained in shadow.
As Akram himself writes: “I will investigate specific questions that confront me more and more every day, like a shadow constantly following me, haunting me, whispering to me… Do we need to tell other people’s stories in case they vanish? Who are the ‘other’ people? Are stories of human journeys told, retold, and told again, so we can eventually learn from our mistakes? Who are ‘we’, a collective or many individuals? What makes us human? Are we still human?”
Akram Khan’s movement language shifts between classical kathak and contemporary dance. "XENOS" takes place on the border between East and West, past and present, mythology and technology, where humanity still stands in wonder and disarray.
Akram has brought together a stellar creative team. Along with dramaturg Ruth Little and acclaimed Canadian playwright Jordan Tannahill, he teams up with German designer Mirella Weingarten, award-winning lighting designer Michael Hulls, costume designer Kimie Nakano, and composer Vincenzo Lamagna. Akram will be joined onstage by five international musicians: percussionist B C Manjunath, vocalist Aditya Prakash, bass player Nina Harries, violinist Andrew Maddick, and saxophonist Tamar Osborn.
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Photo: Jean-Louis Fernandez
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Photo: Jean-Louis Fernandez
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Photo: Jean-Louis Fernandez
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Photo: Jean-Louis Fernandez
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Photo: Jean-Louis Fernandez
Read more
Akram Khan is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists today. In just over 17 years he has created a body of work that has contributed significantly to the arts in the UK and abroad.
He was born in Wimbledon, London, but his family is from Dhaka in Bangladesh. At the age of seven, he started to study the classical form of “kathak”, the South Asian dance, under Sri Pratap Pawar, who would later become his mentor.
At the age of 13, he took part in Peter Brook’s Shakespeare Company production of “Mahabharata”, with which he toured the world between 1987 and 1989. He also appeared in the televised version broadcast in 1988.
His segment of the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics would prove to be another high point in his career, garnering unanimous praise from the public and critics alike.
He has won the Laurence Olivier award, a Bessie Award, the coveted International Society for the Performing Arts Distinguished Artist Award, and a number of other distinctions. He is an Associate Artist at both London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre and Curve in Leicester.
He has collaborated “inter alia” with the actress Juliette Binoche, the ballerina Sylvie Guillem, the dancers and choreographers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Israel Galván, the singer Kylie Minogue, the artists Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley and Tim Yip, the author Hanif Kureishi, and the composers Steve Reich, Nitin Sawhney, Jocelyn Pook and Ben Frost.
The world première of Akram Khan’s latest work at the Onassis Stegi will be an event of international significance and the culmination of many years of successful collaboration between the artist and the Onassis Stegi. This will be Akram Khan’s third appearance at the Onassis Stegi. He has also performed at the Athens Festival and the Kalamata International Dance Festival.Jordan Tannahill is a Canadian playwright, author, and director based in London. He has been described in the press as ‘the hottest name in Canadian theatre’ (“Montreal Gazette”) and ‘the posterchild of a new generation for whom ‘interdisciplinary’ is not a buzzword but a way of life’ (“The Globe and Mail”). He won the Governor General’s Award for Drama in 2014 for Age of Minority and was shortlisted for the prize again in 2016 for Concord Floral.
His films and multimedia performances have been presented at various festivals and galleries such as the Toronto Int. Film Festival, the British Film Institute, and the Tribeca Film Festival. From 2012-2016 he and William Ellis ran the influential artspace Videofag out of their home in Kensington Market. His 2015 book “Theatre of the Unimpressed” sits on the curriculum of theater programs across North America and the UK and first novel, “Liminal”, is forthcoming from House of Anansi Press. Jordan is currently working on a commission for the National Theatre and the film adapation of his play “Botticelli” in the Fire with filmmaker Stephen Dunn. His play “Late Company” transferred from the Finborough Theatre to the West End in August 2017.
Parallel Event
Friday 23 February
After performance talk with Akram Khan
Moderated by Giorgos Mitropoulos, journalist
Biography
Credits
Director, Choreographer, Performer
Akram Khan
Set Designer
Mirella Weingarten
Lighting Designer
Michael Hulls
Costume Designer
Kimie Nakano
Original Music Score and Sound Design
Vincenzo Lamagna
Dramaturg
Ruth Little
Writer Jordan
Tannahill
Rehearsal Director
Mavin Khoo
Dancer
Akram Khan
Musicians
Nina Harries (double bass & vocals), Andrew Maddick (violin), B C Manjunath (percussions & konnakol), Tamar Osborn (baritone saxophone), Aditya Prakash (vocals)
Producer
Farooq Chaudhry
Associate Producer
Lindsey Dear
Technical Director
Richard Fagan
Production Manager
John Valente
Stage Manager
Marek Pomocki
Lighting Engineer
Stéphane Déjours
Sound Engineer
Julien Deloison
Technician
Russell Parker
Project/Tour Manager
Mashitah Omar
Props made by
Louise Edge from LFX props & special fx
The original music score was devised in collaboration with the musicians, and contains extracts from
“Requiem in D minor K. 626” (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart), “Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire” (traditional composition), “Tu Karim” (traditional composition), “Chhap Tilak” (Amir Khusro), “Babul Mora” (Nawab Wajid Ali Shah), “Naiharwa” (Kabir).
Commissioned by
14-18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary
Co-producers
Onassis Stegi, The Grange Festival Hampshire, Sadler’s Wells London, New Vision Arts Festival Hong Kong, Théâtre de la Ville Paris, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, National Arts Centre Ottawa, The 20th China Shanghai International Arts Festival (CSIAF), Centro Cultural de Belém, Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Grec 2018 Festival de Barcelona, HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts Dresden, Edinburgh International Festival, Adelaide Festival, Festival Montpellier Danse 2018, Julidans Amsterdam, Canadian Stage Toronto, Romaeuropa Festival, Torinodanza festival / Teatro Stabile di Torino - Teatro Nazionale, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts New York, University of California Berkeley, Danse Danse Montreal, Curve Leicester.
Sponsored by
COLAS
Supported by
Arts Council England
Special thanks to
Katia Arfara & the Onassis Stegi team, Michael Chance, Michael Moody, Nigel Hinds, Jenny Waldman, Sarah Goodfellow, Hervé Le Bouc, Delphine Lombard, Béatrice Abeille-Robin, Mr. & Mrs. Khan, Yuko Khan, Sayuri & Kenzo Khan, Dannii Evans, Zia Ali, Es Devlin, Zena Edwards, Tim Freke, Ronan Harrington, Daniel Hernandez, Amit Lahav, Jerome Lewis, Confucius MC, Vahakn Matossian, Camilla Power, Ella Saltmarshe, Murray Shanahan, Zahed Sultan, Temujen Gunawandera, Jess Balla, Chris Timpson, Paul Evans, Robin Leonard, Florian Stagliano.
Akram Khan gratefully acknowledges Akram Khan Company staff team
Farooq Chaudhry, Jan Hart, Richard Fagan, Tina Fagan, Mashitah Omar, Clare Cody-Richardson, Céline Gaubert, Christine Maupetit, Amy Sharkey, Hannah Patel, Mai Saroh Tassinari, Nathan White, and all those who contributed to make the production successful.
Akram Khan is an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells London and Curve Leicester.
Produced during residency at The Grange, Hampshire and Onassis Stegi.
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