Thikra: Night of Remembering

INTRODUCTION

Born in London to Bangladeshi parents, Akram Khan has become one of the world's most renowned dance artists. Thikra: Night of Remembering is the final touring production by Akram Khan Company and over the past 25 years, Khan has had a profound impact on the UK and international arts communities. The Financial Times described him 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.

The word “Thikra” originates from Arabic, meaning “memory,” “recollection,” “longing for the past,” and “remembrance.” Through contemporary dance, the performance evokes a timeless concept: the past carries the future. Imagined as a ritual night, it brings the living together to reconnect with the wisdom of those who came before them. On this night, the present and the past are intertwined, as the dancers collectively evoke profound themes concerning ancestral memory, spiritual healing, and “forgetting” oneself.

Thikra: Night of Remembering blends Bharatanatyam and contemporary dance. Through Khan’s choreographic lens, it fosters a dialogue between the tradition and ritual qualities inherent in Bharatanatyam dancers and the expressive language of contemporary dance. The collective voice of an all-female cast transcends the boundaries of the two distinct styles, shifting the focus to the “experience” itself.

The piece marks the final work by Akram Khan Company in its current form. In its wake, Akram Khan and co-founder Farooq Chaudhry will embark on new creative directions together, bringing a close to their remarkable collaboration spanning a quarter of a century. The work therefore carries a profound sense of both farewell and legacy, making it all the more precious.

© Camilla Greenwell

Akram Khan

Director/ Choreographer

Akram Khan is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists of today. In over 25 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 Thikra: Night of Remembering, GIGENIS: the generation of the Earth, Jungle Book reimagined, Outwitting the Devil, XENOS, Until the Lions, Kaash, iTMOi, 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.

Khan has also built close collaborations with leading ballet institutions, including English National Ballet, for which he created Dust, his acclaimed reimagining of Giselle, followed by Creature, and more recently The Royal Danish Ballet on Lady Macbeth.

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 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 ten Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards for his Company (AKC). Khan was awarded an MBE for services to dance in 2005. In 2022, he was announced as the new Chancellor of  De Montfort University, and he is also an Honorary Graduate of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, University of London as well as Roehampton and De Montfort Universities, and an Honorary Fellow of Trinity Laban and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Khan is an Associate Artist of Sadler’s Wells and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, London as well as Curve.

Manal AlDowayan

(Akram Khan &Manal AlDowayan)

Visual Director / Costume and Scenography

Embracing diverse media, Manal AlDowayan’s work encompasses black and white photography, sculpture, video, sound, neon and large-scale participatory installations. Her artistic practice revolves around themes of invisibility, active forgetting, archives, and collective memory, with a large focus on the status of women and their representation. In the past 20 years of her career she has been awarded several commissions that produced engaging work that both question the status of society and at the same time it tells its stories.

Manal holds a Master’s Degree in Contemporary Art Practice in Public Spheres from the Royal College of Art, London and her works can be found in the collections of the British Museum, London; Centre Pompidou collection in Paris, Guggenheim Collection in New York and Abu Dhabi, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark and Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Doha. In 2024, AlDowayan represented Saudi Arabia at the 60th Venice Biennale.

Aditya Prakash

Composer & Soundscape Designer

Aditya Prakash, an award-winning singer and composer known for his powerful and expressive voice, is one of the foremost young practitioners of Carnatic music. At 16, Aditya became one of the youngest musicians ever to tour and perform with sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. He has collaborated with a diverse range of artists, including sitarist Anoushka Shankar, Jazz pianist Tigran Hamasyan, electronic experimental artist Karsh Kale, and the acclaimed dancer and choreographer Akram Khan. He is mentored by two prolific Carnatic artists: T.M. Krishna and R.K. Shriramkumar. Aditya’s current focus in composition is pushing boundaries within the classical tradition. In his latest solo album, ISOLASHUN, he explores the weight of privilege and the boundaries of tradition in an entirely new creative form. He is currently composing the music for three evening-length dance productions by Akram Khan as well as touring his own solo gig-theatre production ROOM-i-Nation, which explores themes of identity, migration and tradition.

ABOUT THE COMPANY

Akram Khan Company

In 25 years, Akram Khan Company is now undisputedly one of the foremost innovative dance companies in the world. The programmes range from kathak and modern solos to artist-to-artist 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 has been the recipient of numerous international dance awards, the most notable being an Olivier Award for his solo production DESH in 2012.

A milestone in the Company’s journey was the creation of a section of the London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in 2012.

Akram Khan Company enjoys artistic association with Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, Curve in Leicester, and other leading venues and festivals around the world.

CREATIVE TEAM

Director & Choreographer Akram Khan

Visual Director / Costume & Scenography Manal AlDowayan

Narrative Concept Manal AlDowayan & Akram Khan

Associate Artistic Director & Coach Mavin Khoo

Music Composer & Soundscape Designer Aditya Prakash

Sound Designer Gareth Fry

Lighting Designer Zeynep Kepekli

Associate Lighting Designer Imogen Clarke

Dramaturge Blue Pieta

Rehearsal Directors Angela Towler

Commissioned by Wadi AlFann, Valley of the Arts, AlUla

Primary Co-producing Partner Bagri Foundation

Indoor adaptation co-produced by Berliner Festspiele, Brown Arts Institute at Brown University, Montpellier Danse Festival, Pina Bausch Zentrum, Sadler’s Wells, Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg, Théâtre de la Ville Paris

Supported by Arts Council England