Turning of Bones

Seismograph of the soul: Akram Khan's reputation as a formative pacemaker of our time is no coincidence. There are few choreographers with such a keen sense of the human psyche. Few, too, who plumb hidden depths as thoroughly as he does. Especially as Akram Khan - and this is what makes his work so special - always locates dance in very specific contexts. Be it the First World War in XENOS, the Babylonian Gilgamesh epic in Outwitting the Devil, premiered at the COLOURS Festival 2019, or most recently the maltreated nature in the climate crisis with Jungle Book reimagined.

British choreographer and company director Akram Khan has now collaborated with Gauthier Dance for the first time - a very intensive creation that spanned almost three seasons. The title of the program Turning of Bones not only alludes to a ritual of remembrance practiced mainly in Madagascar - Famadihana, in which people retrieve the shrouded remains of their ancestors from their graves in order to reconnect with their ancestors and their heritage. They refresh the names on the shrouds, carry the bones above their heads and dance with them. Famadihana could indeed also describe the approach to this production, in which Akram Khan immerses himself in the history of his own works.

The source material was five productions that have become classics, which he created for himself as a dancer or for the Akram Khan Company. They share a message: blindness and arrogance cause people to make the same mistakes throughout history. For Turning of Bones, Khan drew on Vertical Road from 2010, the group piece iTMOi (In the Mind of Igor), created in 2013 for the 100th anniversary of Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps, and Jungle Book reimagined. Also included is the striking "Head Dance" from DESH about his father's homeland, Bangladesh, and the poignant piece Mud of Sorrow, digitally premiered during the pandemic winter of 2021. All of these elements are further developed and tailored to the new overall structure of Turning of Bones.

On the one hand, the original music by Aditya Prakash creates the emotional bracket. Above all, however, a narrative framework connects the scenes to form a new whole. It is the story of two lovers who are tragically confronted with the theme of sacrifice and being sacrificed.

In contrast to the elaborate stage designs and settings of the original versions, Akram Khan is aiming for a completely different, more abstract mood for this evening, which focuses on dance and pure emotion. This uncompromising, absolutely challenging approach not only meets a congenial company at Gauthier Dance. The rehearsal conditions were also ideal. This was ensured not least by a two-week residency at the wonderful Orsolina 28 Art Foundation in Moncalvo (Piedmont) immediately before the premiere.