London Dance Award Nomination Akram Khan: 'He dances the tales of him and his father, London and Bangladesh, his niece’s teenage rebellion, and more bracingly, the impact of social movement from one patch of the world to the other.'

Juliette Binoche fans may remember her brave jaunt into contemporary dance foray “In-I” (2008) at the National Theatre. This courageous genre leap by the Oscar-winning actress’ met with mixed reviews, but the other half of this daring duo was choreographer/dancer Akram Khan, and there are not a lot of mixed feelings about this man.

The Akram Khan Company has toured the world since “In-I”, garnering exquisite reviews from all corners. Akram’s latest piece, “Desh” received 5 stars from the Independent, the Daily Telegraph and the Guardian. “Desh” refers to Mr. Khan’s home country of Bangladesh, and in it, he is a lone traveller across a plethora of scenes conjured by stage effect, video imagery and corresponding physical reaction alike. The success and magnitude of his work however, owes much to the human pulse beating within it; his own.  He dances the tales of him and his father, London and Bangladesh, his niece’s teenage rebellion, and more bracingly, the impact of social movement from one patch of the world to the other. But the ability to tip-toe from character to character, street scene to pasture, and age to ingénue puts him solidly in the realm of the truly great dancer.