Mixing several classical Indian dance styles, a powerful and diverse musical line up to accompany – this is a heartfelt and powerful response to a world at war…
IN WHAT is a UK premiere tonight (November 20), acclaimed choreographer and dancer Akram Khan returns for a rare appearance on the stage.
Retired from solo work, Khan will appear with six other acclaimed dancers and a musical line-up that could easily draw an audience on its own.
‘Gigenis’ is created by Khan, one of the country’s most celebrated dancers – he composed a piece and performed at the 2012 London Olympic Games – and is globally renowned.
Khan’s ‘Gigenis’ is a return to the roots of his practice as a classically trained Kathak (North Indian) dancer and a meditation on what is happening to our world – and seen and inspired by one of the many tales contained within the ancient Indian epic, ‘The Mahabharata’ with this one – about two sons, their mother and one son killing the other.
Khan plays one of the sons, while his good friend and close dance collaborator Mavin Khoo is the other son.
The piece brings together acclaimed practitioners from other forms of dance, including Srikalayani Adkoli, a product of Nrityagram Dance Village, near Bengaluru; Kapila Venu, a Kutiyattam artist – a dance theatre that developed in Kerala; while Renjith Babu often mixes Bharatanatyam with yoga and martial arts; and Vijna Vasudevan is Babu’s partner and they often perform as a couple.
Mythili Prakash is another one of the dancers this evening and is an icon in her own right. She specialises in Bharatanatyam, a classical dance form that developed in South India and spoke to www.asianculturevulture.com about ‘Gigenis’.
“‘Gigenis’ explores life, love, and loss through the lens of a female character,” Prakash explained, “who experiences war and the loss of her husband in that war and later her son.
“While the original starting point was a character from the Indian epic, ‘The Mahabharata‘, the inspiration is life.”
It is a celebration of its possibilities – but also scarred and sometimes overshadowed by the pall of violence that continues to exist in our world, she intimated.
“If only ‘war’ belonged to the world of the past, and to our epic mythologies. And yet we live our normal lives, while children are being slaughtered and lives are being taken in the most violent and inhumane ways.”
She said the piece was a reaction to that pain and the desire to not just be “bystanders”.
‘Gigenis’ is a lament and a feeling that we have lost our bearings as human beings, she suggested further to acv and the piece explores themes familiar to those who have seen Khan’s work before.
Responding to an acv question about the climate crisis and the natural world being put out of order by human behaviour, Prakash responded: “A family that is torn apart, where a mother is forced to chose between children, where brother fights brother, is simply an extension of the ‘division’ that plagues humanity,” she posed. “At this point the humanitarian crisis has become so deeply integrated that it impossible to distinguish conflicting lines.”
‘Gigenis – regeneration of the earth’, to give its full title, had its world premiere in France in September and is a piece that had its origins in a festival Khan and good friend and dance colleague Mavin Khoo had considered – after combining Indian classical dance with Indian classical music in the UK Darbar Festival a few years back.
The musicians are well-known to Indian classical music enthusiasts and there are also more contemporary artists in the line-up too.
Tonight’s musicians are BC Manjunath (percussions mridangam – barrel-shaped drum), Rajeev Kalamandalam (percussions mizhavu – copper drum), Hariraam Lam (violin), Nina Harries (double bass), Sohini Alam (vocals), Chitra Poornima Sathish (vocals), Rohith Jayaraman (vocals).
The show is set for an international tour after its run at Sadler’s Wells, including France and the US. (See link below).
Prakash’s latest ambitious work, ‘She’s Auspicious‘ is the first Indian classically inspired show earmarked for the new venue, Sadler’s Wells East, Stratford on the Olympic Park from February 28. It will only be the second production at the venue.
All images ©MaximeDosProductionsSarfati
Listing
Gigenis at Sadler’s Wells Theatre from tonight (November 20) until Sunday (November 24) Post show talks tomorrow and on the final evening – Roseberry Avenue, London EC1R 4TN
https://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/akram-khan-gigenis/#book
60 minutes
Tour details
https://www.akramkhancompany.net/productions/gigenis/
