Akram Khan Company Chotto Desh SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2018 • 2PM Jackson Hall, UC Davis
Sponsored by
Additional support provided by UC Davis Global Affairs in support of the University’s Global Education for All inititaive
Question & Answer Session Following the performance, moderated by Ruth Rosenberg, Director of Arts Education and Artist Engagement
The artists and fellow audience members appreciate silence during the performance. Please be sure that you have switched off cellular devices. Videotaping, photographing and audio recording are strictly forbidden.
CHOTTO DESH World Premiere: October 23, 2015, DanceEast, Ipswich, UK London Premiere: October 30, 2015, Sadler’s Wells, London Akram Khan’s DESH was an instant hit with audiences and critics alike when it was first presented in 2011. Now, Akram Khan Company, and Theatre-Rites Director Sue Buckmaster have adapted Khan’s much-loved production for children aged 7 and up and their families.
Chotto Desh, meaning “small homeland”, draws on Khan’s unique quality of crosscultural storytelling, creating a compelling tale of a young man’s dreams and memories from Britain to Bangladesh. Using a magical mix of dance, text, visuals and sound, Chotto Desh celebrates the resilience of the human spirit in the modern world and promises to be a magical, thrilling and poignant dance theatre experience for families to enjoy together.
CREDITS DESH Artistic Direction and Original Choreography Akram Khan Chotto Desh Direction and Adaptation Sue Buckmaster (Theatre-Rites) Music Composition Jocelyn Pook Lighting Design Guy Hoare Stories imagined by Karthika Naïr and Akram Khan The grandmother’s fable in Chotto Desh is taken from the book The Honey Hunter Written by Karthika Naïr, Sue Buckmaster and Akram Khan Assistant Choreographer Jose Agudo Rehearsal Director Amy Butler Grandmother’s voice Leesa Gazi Jui’s voice Sreya Andrisha Gazi Dancers Nicolas Ricchini, Dennis Alamanos (matinee) Producer Claire Cunningham on behalf of AKCT Exclusive North American representation 2Luck Concepts – John Luckacovic & Eleanor Oldham Original Visual Design Tim Yip Original Visual Animation created by Yeast Culture Original Costume Supervisor Kimie Nakano
Sound Designer Alex Stein Music Engineer Steve Parr Costume Reconstruction Advisor Martina Trottmann Sound and AV Engineer Matthew Armstrong Technical Coordinator Hector Murray Stage Manager Jessica Rice Painted Head Sequence devised by Damien Jalet with Akram Khan ‘Bleeding Soles’ lyrics written by Leesa Gazi Singers Melanie Pappenheim, Sohini Alam, Jocelyn Pook (voice/viola/piano), Tanja Tzarovska, Jeremy Schonfield
We gratefully acknowledge the artists who contributed to the original production of DESH by Akram Khan Company. Co-commissioned by MOKO Dance, Akram Khan Company, Sadler’s Wells London, DanceEast, Théâtre de la Ville Paris, Mercat de les Flors Barcelona, Biennale de la danse de Lyon 2016 and Stratford Circus Arts Centre. Supported by
Q&A Session Moderator Ruth Rosenberg Ruth Rosenberg directs the Mondavi Center’s arts education and engagement programs, including the School Matinee Series, residency activities by touring artists, pre-performance talks and Q&A sessions with the artists, the Mondavi Center’s partnership with the Esparto Unified School District, and student engagement initiatives for UC Davis students. Rosenberg started her career as a dancer. She was artistic director of the Sacramento-based Ruth Rosenberg Dance Ensemble from 1990 to 2001, and performed with Sacramento Ballet, Capitol City Ballet and Ed Mock & Dancers of San Francisco. She is featured in the 2017 documentary Unstoppable Feat, The Dances of Ed Mock.
2 | mondaviarts.org
AKRAM KHAN COMPANY
JOCELYN POOK
In July 1999 in the foyer of the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, an animated and curiosity-filled conversation took place between the young gifted dancer/choreographer Akram Khan and an ambitious former dancer, and recently graduated arts manager, Farooq Chaudhry. That conversation laid the foundation stone for a dynamic collaboration, culminating in the creation of Akram Khan Company one year later.
COMPOSER Jocelyn Pook is an award-winning composer who writes music for film, television, theatre, dance, the concert platform, and her own album projects. Often remembered for her film score to Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, other notable film scores include The Merchant of Venice, Brick Lane and L’Emploi Du Temps. She won her second British Composer Award in 2012 for her soundtrack to DESH, which accompanies Akram Khan’s dance production of the same name. This year, Pook won the BAFTA for Best Original Score for her TV film version of the stage play King Charles III written by Mike Bartlett.
Inspired by Akram Khan’s early training in the Indian classical dance form kathak, and the hybrid language that organically emerged when Akram’s kathak training encountered contemporary dance in his teens, a vision began to form, and it was fueled by a desire to learn and create through collaboration with the very best people across all the disciplines in the arts. The rules were simple: take risks, think big and daring, explore the unfamiliar, avoid compromise and tell stories through dance that are compelling and relevant, with artistic integrity. In just over 18 years Akram Khan Company is now undisputedly one of the foremost innovative dance companies in the world. The programs range from kathak and modern solos to artist-toartist collaborations and ensemble productions. The company has a major international presence and enjoys busy tours that reach out to many cultures and peoples across the globe. Akram Khan is an associate artist at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London and Curve Theatre in Leicester.
GUY HOARE LIGHTING DESIGNER Guy Hoare designs lighting for dance, theatre and opera. Dance credits include Arthur Pita’s Metamorphosis and Mark Bruce’s Dracula (South Bank Award 2012 and 2014); also pieces for Rafael Bonachela, Mayuri Boonham, Christopher Bruce, Theo Clinkard, Laila Diallo, Shobana Jeyasingh, Henri Oguike, Seeta Patel and Ben Wright. Theatre credits include National Theatre, Young Vic, Old Vic, Donmar Warehouse, Royal Court and Almeida in London; also transfers to the West End and New York. Opera credits include English Touring Opera’s King Priam and Paul Bunyan (Olivier Award 2014); also works for Royal Opera House, English National Opera and Bregenz Festival. Hoare is an associate artist at Wilton’s Music Hall.
KARTHIKA NAÏR
AKRAM KHAN ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER Akram Khan is one of the most celebrated dance artists today, building his reputation on the success of imaginative, highly accessible and profoundly moving productions such as 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 cultures and disciplines such as the National Ballet of China, actress Juliette Binoche, ballerina Sylvie Guillem, choreographers/dancers Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Israel Galván, singer Kylie Minogue, visual artists Anish Kapoor, Antony Gormley and Tim Yip, and composers Steve Reich, Nitin Sawhney, Jocelyn Pook and Ben Frost. 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.
SUE BUCKMASTER DIRECTOR Sue Buckmaster is the artistic director of Theatre-Rites and has many years of experience as a director and puppetry specialist working with a wide variety of companies including the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and the Young Vic. In 2018 she was awarded an honorary doctorate for her outstanding contribution to theatre. For Theatre-Rites Buckmaster has created 25 theatre and site-specific productions whose commissioners include Sadler’s Wells, Manchester International Festival and Salzburg Festival. In 2018 she reimagined Theatre-Rites’ critically acclaimed The Welcoming Party for the Ruhrtriennale Festival, codirecting a walkabout experience for Kew Gardens and developing a production for 3- to 6-year-olds to tour in 2019.
WRITER Karthika Naïr is the author of several books, including The Honey Hunter (illustrated by Joëlle Jolivet), which later became the grandmother’s fable in Chotto Desh. Until the Lions: Echoes from the Mahabharata, her reimagining of the Mahabharata in multiple voices, won the prestigious 2015 Tata Literature Live! Award for Book of the Year (Fiction). She was also the principal scriptwriter of DESH (2011), Akram Khan’s dance solo, and Until the Lions, Khan’s adaptation of one of the chapters of her book. Also, a dance enabler, Naïr’s closest associations have been with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet as producer of shows like Babel (words) and as co-founder of Cherkaoui’s company, Eastman.
JOSE AGUDO ASSISTANT CHOREOGRAPHER Jose Agudo started his career in Andalusia where he began performing as a flamenco dancer. Slowly the world of contemporary dance became more visible as he worked throughout Europe. As a rehearsal director and assistant choreographer Agudo has worked on several creations for Akram Khan Company, including DESH, iTMOi, TOROBAKA, Until the Lions, Chotto Desh, the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony and Sylvie Guillem’s farewell tour Life in Progress. Agudo’s independent choreographic commissions include Phoenix Dance Theatre, ZfinMalta, ACE dance and music, Cape Dance Company and Norrdans. Aguda is currently touring his sell-out production SILK ROAD, a stunning triple bill of flamenco, kathak and contemporary dance.
3 | mondaviarts.org
AMY BUTLER
KIMIE NAKANO
REHEARSAL DIRECTOR Amy Butler is senior dance artist and rehearsal director for Stopgap Dance Company. Most recently she performed the role of movement director for the iDance project funded by Erasmus. Her current performance roles include the internationally acclaimed The Enormous Room, Seafarers, Bill and Bobby and the film Artificial Things directed by Sophie Fiennes and premiered at the Sheffield Film Festival. Since 2014 she has been developing an Inclusive Yoga practice and is in the process of curating a video resource and writing an academic paper on the process.
COSTUME DESIGNER Kimie Nakano has designed costumes for Northern Ballet, Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Companhia National de Bailado, English National Ballet, Van Huynh Company, The Royal Ballet of Flanders, Rambert Dance Company, David Nixon, Didy Veldman, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, José Agudo and Yabin Studio. Nakano’s opera production credits include The Return of Ulysses by John Fulljames for Royal Opera and Tristan und Isolde by Carmen Jakobi for Longborough Festival Opera. Her designs for Akram Khan Company include Vertical Road, Dust (English National Ballet’s Lest We Forget), iTMOi, TOROBAKA, Gnosis, Kaash, The Rashomon Effect (National Youth Dance Company) and techne ̂ (choreographed for Sylvie Guillem, Life in Progress).
NICOLAS RICCHINI DANCER Born in the Philippines in 1988, Nicolas Ricchini has worked with Pepe Hevia Danza, Fernando Madagan (Netherlands Dance Theatre) in London, Emma Martin Dance, CLOD Ensemble and Lali Ayguadé Company among others. Ricchini was also an actor in the Academy Award–nominated short film Timecode by Juanjo Giménez. In 2014, he co-founded Dansart BCN to inspire dance education in Barcelona, and Big Story Performing Arts Services in 2017 to produce and support artists in their career development. Ricchini joined Akram Khan Company in 2012 for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in London and in 2015 as a performer for international touring of the production Chotto Desh.
DENNIS ALAMANOS DANCER (matinee) Dionysios Alamanos first learned how to move from nature and animals. He began practicing martial arts at a young age and later trained in Hip-Hop. He studied at the State School of Dance in Athens and after graduating, he collaborated with Hellenic Dance Company (No more fairytales - Anton Lachky, Vertical Road Akram Khan Company) and Cocoon Dance Company. Dionysios is currently touring with Chotto Desh and also choreographs work with Danae Dimitriadi that has been presented in Rotterdam and they most recently premiered their second piece ATMA in Bulgaria.
TIM YIP VISUAL DESIGNER A renowned artist, Tim Yip has multidisciplinary works in costume and art direction, and visual and contemporary art. For his work in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Yip won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction and the British Academy Film Award for Best Costume Designer in 2001. In 2010, Yip created the visual design for Akram Khan Company’s Olivier award– winning production DESH and worked alongside Khan for his award-winning reimagining of the romantic classic Giselle for English National Ballet. Yip holds a degree in photpgraphy from Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
JESSICA RICE STAGE MANAGER Jessica Rice graduated from Northbrook College Sussex in 2008, and has since worked as stage crew, venue manager and dresser, as well as in various stage management roles. Recent productions for which she has provided stage management include The Shadow Factory and Women in Power for Nuffield Southampton Theatres, William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play for Reduced Shakespeare Company, Archipelago for Lighthouse, Poole Centre for the Arts and Romeo and Juliet for the National Youth Theatre of Wales. She has been working with Akram Khan Company for Chotto Desh since November 2017.
HECTOR MURRAY LIGHTING ENGINEER Hector Murray is an award-winning lighting designer based in the UK with experience in theatre, dance and opera. He trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London when he began touring internationally with Akram Khan Company as the technical coordinator. Last year Murray received the ETC Award from the Association of Lighting Designers for excellence in lighting design. Recent design credits include Left My Desk (New Diorama), The Crucible (Jacksons Lane), Constellations (The Vaults), The Witches (Putney Arts Theatre) and Little Foot (Southwark Playhouse).
MATTHEW ARMSTRONG SOUND ENGINEER After graduating in theatre production from Bath Spa University, Matthew Armstrong specialized in sound, lighting and audio visual as an engineer, designer and operator. He started working as a freelancer in live and corporate events and has worked with several production companies including Fineline Lighting, Showbitz, Technical Hire and JH-AV. Armstrong has also collaborated with UK festivals such as Boomtown Festival in Winchester and the Shambala Festival in Northamptonshire. In the field of theatre and dance, he has worked on several wellknown productions for Birmingham Royal Ballet and has worked with Akram Khan Company’s Chotto Desh since January 2017.
4 | mondaviarts.org