Cult choreographer Akrams Khan has included Latvia in the calendar of his world tour for the first time

Has he also thought about classical ballet? Yes. At the age of 19, he watched Baryshnikov and Nureyev’s recordings, went to his first barre lesson full of hope, ready to conquer hearts…

“It turned out the other way around,” now Akram Khan laughs. “That’s how my ballet career ended.” And the career path of a ballet master began. First, he studied the possibilities of his own body and created solo numbers just for himself. Later, he founded the contemporary dance collective «Akram Khan Company» – changing its composition from project to project, choosing the best, most talented ones from thousands of applicants. At the beginning of this century, Han already had all the possible British critics’ awards, he had become the brightest asset of the contemporary culture of Misty Albion. The Queen presented him with the Order of the British Empire.

The great French ballerina Sylvie Guillaume approached Akram with a request to create something for her – “as a result, I came to an understanding of classical ballet and the classical body in it”.

He continued to dance on his own, danced wonderfully – and only in 2019, at the age of 45, he announced that he would no longer take on leading roles. He already has the Laurence Olivier Award and the «Benois de la Danse», but there are no higher level award dances at Olympus at all…

Akram Khan’s army of admirers is huge. Some have enthusiastically followed him since the first performances. Others have seen and loved his choreographic version of “Žižele” for life. Some go even further, proclaiming Akram Khan as the dancing guru, the Teacher of the new spirituality. The ballet “The Jungle Book: Rewritten” is like a balm for the souls of all of them. It is not only an impressive example of contemporary art. It is a new vision, revising the canons of history. It is a manifesto. However, if you manage to encourage the choreographer to be frank, Akram Khan will admit that he started to think of his “Jungle Book”, also remembering himself, a ten-year-old dancer; loving Kipling and Disney cartoons; thinking about his children, with whom he is interested in discussing everything that happens in the modern world.

It is a great luck that the Latvian audience gets to know the work of the famous choreographer, starting with this ballet, because the whole family can go to this show together – and it should definitely be done! “The Jungle Book: Rewritten”, already performed and warmly welcomed on the most famous stages of the world, will visit the stage of the Great Hall of Daile Theater on April 10, 11 and 12.