Akram Khan Company

Jungle Book reimagined

US PREMIERE

Thursday-Saturday, October 26-28, 2023 at 7:30PM & 4PM

Tickets start at $40.

This program is 2 hours 10 min with one intermission. 

No late seating.

From one of the world’s most influential choreographers, Akram Khan’s Jungle Book reimagined is a new, multimedia dance theatre work based on the much-loved story by Rudyard Kipling. 

Both mesmerizing and haunting, this new spin on an old classic reinvents the journey of young Mowgli. Looking through the eyes of this iconic character as a refugee caught in a world devastated by the impact of climate change, the bold movement, startling animation, and video and sound design bring a new sense of urgency to Akram Khan’s reinterpretation. Jungle Book reimagined speaks to all generations as a step to remind, to re-learn, and to reimagine a new world together.

With a new sense of urgency, Khan has reinterpreted this known story from another perspective, through the lens of today’s youth – those who will inherit our world and become our future storytellers.

“striking theatrical effects, ingenious use of state-of-the-art multimedia and inventive choreography performed by a dazzling ensemble of dancers.” - South China Morning Post (Hong Kong)

Embedded in the roots of Jungle Book is the deep threat that mankind poses to nature. Khan tells the story of a child who will help us to listen again, not to our voices but to the voices of the natural world that we, the modern world, try to silence. Jungle Book reimagined uses visual technology to turn the stage into a magical world that dives into the myths of today and speaks to all generations as a step to remind, to relearn, and to reimagine a new world together.

“We are now living in unprecedented and uncertain times, not only for our species but for all species on this planet. And the root cause of this conundrum is because we have forgotten our connection to our home, our planet. We all inhabit it, we all take from it, and we all build on it, but we have forgotten to return our respect for it.”  – Akram Khan


Read the review of the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival showing of Jungle Book reimagined here. 

BroadStage gratefully acknowledges Jungle Book reimagined marketing partner, The Music Center.

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“a wondrously conceived production, and a marvellous visual feast.”

- The Quinntessential Review

To watch the video with audio descriptions click here. 

A stellar creative has worked on the reimagining, with a script written by Tariq Jordan, dramaturgy by Sharon Clark, to an original score by Jocelyn Pook. Sound design comes from Gareth Fry, lighting by Michael Hulls, visual stage design by Miriam Buether, video design and animation by YeastCulture, the visual technology turns the stage into a magical world that dives into the myths of today.

 

Jungle Book reimagined is performed by ten dancers:

Tom Davis-Dunn

Harry Theadora Foster

Maya Balam Meyong

Bianca Mikahil

Max Revell

Matthew Sandiford

Pui Yung Shum

Holly Vallis

Jan Mikaela Villanueva

Luke Watson

Akram Khan (he/him) is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists of today. In just over 22 years he has created a body of work that has contributed significantly to the arts in the UK and abroad. His reputation has been built on the success of imaginative, highly accessible and relevant productions such as Jungle Book reimagined, Outwitting the Devil, XENOS, Until the Lions, Kaash, iTMOi (in the mind of igor), DESH, Vertical Road, Gnosis and zero degrees.

As an instinctive and natural collaborator, Khan has been a magnet to world-class artists from other cultures and disciplines. His previous collaborators include the National Ballet of China, actress Juliette Binoche, ballerina Sylvie Guillem, choreographers/dancers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Israel Galván, singer Kylie Minogue, indie rock band Florence and the Machine, visual artists Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley and Tim Yip, writer Hanif Kureishi and composers Steve Reich, Nitin Sawhney, Jocelyn Pook and Ben Frost.

Khan’s work is recognised as being profoundly moving, in which his intelligently crafted storytelling is effortlessly intimate and epic. Described by the Financial Times as an artist “who speaks tremendously of tremendous things”, a highlight of his career was the creation of a section of the London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony that was received with unanimous acclaim.

As a choreographer, Khan has developed a close collaboration with English National Ballet. He created the short piece Dust, part of the Lest We Forget programme, which led to an invitation to create his own critically acclaimed version of the iconic romantic ballet Giselle. Creature is Khan’s latest work for English National Ballet.

Khan has been the recipient of numerous awards throughout his career including the Laurence Olivier Award, the Bessie Award (New York Dance and Performance Award), the prestigious ISPA (International Society for the Performing Arts) Distinguished Artist Award, the Fred and Adele Astaire Award, the Herald Archangel Award at the Edinburgh International Festival, the South Bank Sky Arts Award and eight Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. Khan was awarded an MBE for services to dance in 2005. He has recently been announced as the new Chancellor of De Montfort University, and he is also an Honorary Graduate of University of London as well as Roehampton and De Montfort Universities, and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Laban.

Khan is an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London and Curve, Leicester.

Theatre Sponsor:

Laurie and Bill Benenson

This performance is presented with support from Center Dance Arts at The Los Angeles Music Center.

 

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