Thikra: Night of Remembering

With its wide open skies and its traces and echoes of age-old rituals, the Saudi Arabian oasis town of AlUla was the inspiration for Akram Khan’s latest work “Thikra: Night of Remembering”. Dancers from two different traditions – classical Indian Bharatanatyam and contemporary dance – are on stage together. Akram Khan’s intention is not to examine the differences between the two styles or to outline an encounter between East and West. Together with the dancers, he explores a new kind of movement in which the traditions and rituals of both Bharatanatyam and contemporary dance are viewed from a new, pioneering creative perspective. The show contains both contemplative and dynamic passages, danced to original music by Indian-American composer Aditya Prakash. Khan created the production in collaboration with Saudi Arabian visual artist Manal AlDowayan, who designed both the costumes and the visual scenography of the piece. In her own artistic practise, she explores the status and visibility of women, but she is also interested in phenomena of memory and forgetting: themes that are central to “Thikra: Night of Remembering”.

Akram Khan, who studied both contemporary dance and traditional Indian Kathak, has been a fixture of the international dance scene for more than 25 years. His work is significantly informed by his creative curiosity and his enjoyment of collaborating with other artists. He has worked with dance greats like Sylvie Guillem and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, with musicians like Florence and the Machine and Kylie Minogue, and with composers like Steve Reich, Nitin Sawhney and Ben Frost. For “Thikra: Night of Remembering”, he has once again assembled an extraordinary ensemble of international artists: The team and dancers hail from a total of 11 different nations. In this piece, the British-based choreographer is interested in the diversity of female perspectives from across the globe because, as he says, “…my most personal expressions are lost if they do not have universalism.”

“Thikra: Night of Remembering” is the final touring production by the Akram Khan Company. After 25 years, this global tour marks the company’s final chapter and pays tribute to its extraordinary artistic legacy.