After revisiting traditional Indian dances, sharing the stage with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Juliette Binoche, and creating some of today’s most beautiful solos, the choreographer Akram Khan tackles that most emblematic of romantic ballets: Giselle. He offers a stunning contemporary reinterpretation in which Giselle is portrayed as a modern-day heroine. The characters—migrants, workers, wealthy landlord—played by the virtuoso dancers of English National Ballet, evolve in a timeless world. For them, Khan has developed an ample movement vocabulary, from infinite rounds to eloquent pas de deux. On an imposing set, accompanied by the Orchestre Métropolitain, the performers move us, dazzle us, fascinate us.
Photo © Jean-Louis Fernandez
Born in London in 1974 into a family originally from Bangladesh, Akram Khan began dancing kathak at the age of seven. His first public performance was at age 14 as a dancer in Peter Brook’s legendary Mahabharata. He toured the piece around the world from 1987 to 1989, and also appeared in the 1988 televised version. After studying contemporary dance and working on the X-Group project with Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker in Bru...
Read more about Akram KhanEnglish National Ballet (ENB) has a long and distinguished history. Founded in 1950 as London Festival Ballet by the great English Dancers Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, it has played a major role in the growth and history of ballet in the UK. Princess Diana was patron of ENB and made it the only nonhumanitarian cause she embraced. Her work for the company made possible the opening of the English National Ballet School in ...
Read more about English National BalletGiselle
Direction and Choreography Akram Khan.
Visual and Costume Design Tim Yip.
Composition and Sound Design Vincenzo Lamagna after the original score by Adolphe Adam.
Lighting Design Mark Henderson.
Dramaturgy Ruth Little.
Assistant Choreographer Andrej Petrovic.
Rehearsal Director Mavin Khoo.
Score Orchestration Gavin Sutherland.
Sound Designer Yvonne Gilbert.