"More than a display of kathak and flamenco, the new duet featuring these two artists, together for the first time, means the fusion of their innovative visions."

- OMAR KHAN, FOP MAGAZINE

They look, burrow and dig into the rigours of remote traditions, transforming them into expressions of contemporary dance to bring them into line with 21st century perceptions. Not that Israel Galván (Sevilla, 1973) despises traditional flamenco. Nor does Akram Khan (London, 1974) complain about kathak, the traditional dance of India. Quite the opposite. From a deep knowledge of these demanding disciplines, each in his own way has agreed to renew and innovate these traditions and expressions which were previously thought to be set in stone. For them, neither flamenco nor kathak has closed its circle nor exhausted its possibilities. Both have known how to infuse the inheritances which have come down from their parents and ancestors with new wisdom. But they have not wanted to preserve traditions. What they have done is to convert them into a personal experience by breaking them, taking them apart, reshaping them and reinventing them in the form of personal and previously unseen languages of dance. Now, for the first time together onstage, they will try to take their research even further, the one looking at the other on the same level and impact on to each other their own particular theatrical technique. The result of this curious experiment is hard to imagine but without doubt creates anticipation. It has the air of a theatric duel. It brings the promise of the previously unseen. It offers the prospect of two titans in combat, each with their own weapons, merging into a dance which is many dances.

Superficially, they seem very different but that is not, in fact, the case. Dance came to them both through their families. To the Sevillian, from his parents' school, an academy where they taught him flamenco which he lapped up as a child, displaying the promise of a future brilliant dancer. To the Londoner, from his mother, an outstanding kathak teacher, who emigrated to Britain but who knew how to keep alive the culture of her country. Both lived through contrasting realities which changed just by going outside their homes. Galván's environment was the profound, traditional flamenco which exists in certain areas of Seville but he also saw and tasted the outside world where there was literature, cinema, dance and other forms of expression. Akram Khan's home was where the Bangladeshi cultural, culinary and artistic customs were preserved but he could not ignore what he saw through his window and combined the kathak of his home with the vibrant contemporary dance of London.

The distance between two disciplines as diverse as flamenco and kathak is, ironically, what generates the most intrigue and interest around this new partnership; to see flamenco influences in the work of a kathak practitioner and vice versa; to be present for the clash of energy from these two extraordinary performers; to experience the merging of their languages; to witness such an unusual artistic encounter; to enjoy their bodies working together; to feel the contrast between Khan's spiritual gesture and the worldly, earthly devotion of Galván; to discover, ultimately, what results from this marriage of cultures, beliefs and languages.

 

* Extract from a text by the journalist and dance critic, Omar Khan, editor of the specialist magazine, Susy-Q, for the Festival de Otoño a Primavera FOP magazine.

 

Credits

 

World Premiere: 2 June 2014, MC2, Grenoble, France

Spanish Premiere: 27 June 2014, XXXI Festival de Otoño a Primavera, Teatros del Canal, Madrid

Uk Premiere: Autumn 2014, Sadler’s Wells, London

 

Artistic Directors / Choreographers / Performers: Akram Khan & Israel Galván With live musicians on stage

 

Lighting Designer: Michael Hulls

Costume Designer: Kimie Nakano

Production Manager: Fabiana Piccioli

Rehearsal Director: Jose Agudo

 

Producers: Farooq Chaudhry & Bia Oliveira (Khan Chaudhry Productions) and Chema Blanco & Cisco Casado (A Negro Producciones).

 

Co-produced by: MC2 Grenoble, Sadler’s Wells London, Mercat de les Flors Barcelona, Théâtre de la Ville Paris, Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Festival Montpellier Danse 2015, Onassis Cultural Centre – Athens, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay Singapur, Prakriti Foundation, Stadsschouwburg Amsterdam / Flamenco Biennale, Concertgebouw Brugge, HELLERAU – European Center for the Arts Dresden, Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Romaeuropa Festival.

 

Sponsored by: COLAS

 

www.israelgalvan.com and www.akramkhancompany.net

 

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