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Even a first-time viewer of Kathak, a northern Indian classic dance, would consider Akram Khan a virtuoso.
That was the consensus of Chinese contemporary dancers and critics on Wednesday after they attended Akram Khan's demonstration/lecture in Beijing Modern Dance Co's (BMDC) rehearsal room.
Khan is one of the world's most-sought-after dance choreographers.
Khan's dances, as he noted after the demonstration, are filled with "energy, language, mathematics and rhythm."
Kathak dances are intricate. Khan must use all the joints and muscles in his feet to perform the routines -- choreographic rhythms that thrill audiences.
Khan's torso is strong, yet highly elastic -- allowing him to perform graceful arches, dips and spirals. His arms are broad.
Khan wowed the audience with his moves, and stories about the Kathak style. They asked a lot of questions and honored him with a long ovation.
"Khan inspires people to blend traditional art, or culture, into contemporary work, and to create his/her own style," Willy Tsao, artistic director with the BMDC, said.
Beijingers can enjoy Khan's performances today and tomorrow night in the Cultural Palace of Nationalities.
Khan's first China tour continues September 19-21 in Shanghai; Guangzhou, October 1-2; and Chongqing, October 5-6.
Khan, widely regarded as one of the United Kingdom's best new modern dancers, never planned to become a dancer.
But he has done well. The 28-year-old has numerous awards to support his reputation.
Dancer's Growth
Khan grew up as an ordinary child in Balham, London and was prodded by his mother to attend, at age 7, his first private dance class.
Khan had a fondness for Kathak, one of India's seven representative dance styles, because his grandparents had emigrated from Bangladesh.
Khan at 14 was spotted by a talent scout. The youth won an audition to perform in Peter Brook's production "Ma habharata."
Khan eventually became a disciple of Pratap Pawar. They formed a tight bond, similar to a father-son relationship.
Pawar helped prepare Khan for his first solo performance, which was held at the Commonwealth Institute. Khan was 18. Pawar, it turns out, nudged Khan into a professional dancing career.
Khan's mother, ironically, was nervous about his success, and tried to persuade him to attend university. Khan agreed -- and enrolled in dance studies.
The course focused on modern dance, a genre that was foreign to Khan. He grew frustrated.
The Kathak style was like a bad habit as Khan tried to study modern Western dance. Khan was unable to dance without showing his Kathak influence, to the chagrin of his teachers.
And his exposure to modern dance began to influence his Kathak dancing, which annoyed Pawar.
Khan was curious about his subsequent internal conflict.
"I wanted to investigate what it was that was annoying other people and frustrating me," he said.
Khan began experimenting with Kathak's routines, blending the turns and gestures of his feet with the full-bodied Western routines.
He had invented his own dance style by his final year, after he had transferred to the Northern College of Contemporary Dance. He received the highest marks ever awarded by the school.
Khan is a big, graceful dancer capable of both stillness and speed. The stage becomes his personal domain, regardless of whether he is performing classical or modern dances.
Such choreography has enhanced the third-generation Asian's reputation as one of the world's young artists who adds vitality and cross-cultural expression to dance. Khan in 1999 won the Jerwood Foundation Choreography Award.
He was awarded in 2000 the Outstanding Newcomer to Dance Award by the Critics Circle Dance Section and Time Out Live.
Khan last year was invited to be choreographer-in-residence at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The appointment was for two years.
Khan is a star. Yet, it hasn't gone to his head.
"So long as I can challenge my creativity and have quality in my work, it makes no difference whether I am the most-sought-after performing artist or not," he said.
Khan in 2000 began developing Kathak -- originally a solo dance -- into a group dance while in Belgium conducting research. He met four talented dancers and in August 2000 formed his dance company.
"I got together with them because I wanted to create a research and development base for new dancers who wish to participate in my exploration and work," Khan said.
"I also wanted to introduce, and to let audiences around the world experience, that Kathak and contemporary dances create new, exciting language."
New Creation
Khan's reputation as an innovative choreographer was elevated earlier this year when he performed "Kaash," a collaboration with award-winning sculptor Anish Kapoor and composer Nitin Sawhney.
Khan and his dancers will perform "Kaash" during their China tour.
"The work has a multidimensional beauty and knife-edge focus that make it one of the most hypnotic dance experiences," suggests dance critic Ou Jianping.
"Kaash," which means "if," is based on the story of Indian God Shiva, the creator and destroyer.
"Kathak means 'to tell the story,' so I tell the story of Shiva," Khan said.
Khan defines his dance as "contemporary dance informed by Kathak."
Khan uses Kathak vocabulary and gestures to symbolize special things -- such as gods, mountains and rivers.
Khan in "Kaash" recreates Shiva's powers of creation, destruction and preservation.
"It's something that has always fascinated me, this endless cycle of destruction, regeneration and preservation," Khan said.
"It's like a glass ball which is smashed, and then smashed again. You're creating something out of the pieces even when you're destroying it."
There is a black hole in "Kaash," which symbolizes a mysterious circle that draws everything inwards. Khan asked the sculptor to create an illusion of infinite space, yet restriction.
"We agreed the set would be a crucial part of the choreography, like another dancer," Khan said.
"We didn't want a piece of sculpture just sitting, or hanging, there."
The dancers do not wear a lot of make-up or glamorous costumes because dance is about displaying bodies.
"Whenever I choreograph a new work, I keep in mind purity, simplicity and honesty. I do not like eye-catching make-up or costumes always seen in classic Indian dances," Khan said.
It does not matter whether people from different cultural backgrounds understand "Kaash," he said.
"I just hope they appreciate it, and that each person receives a different story and feeling from my work," Khan said.
(China Daily September 13, 2002)
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