‘Akram and I have always been fascinated by the Arab culture. It feels close to what we do.’ - Farooq Chaudhry, Producer

Multi award-winning choreographer and dancer Akram Khan toured his contemporary ensemble work, Vertical Road, with the support of the British Council in Lebanon and Palestine during April and May 2011. Inspired by his work in the Middle East, Khan has assembled a multicultural cast of exciting performers from across Asia, Europe and the Arab World - including Algeria and Egypt.

With a specially commissioned score by long-term collaborator composer Nitin Sawhney, Vertical Road draws inspiration from the Sufi tradition and the Persian poet and philosopher Rumi. Exploring man’s earthly nature, his rituals and the consequences of human actions, Vertical Road becomes a meditation on the journey from gravity to grace.

Read a blog from the performance in Palestine and watch a short film about the tour

Following its highly successful world tour, the British Council has supported the presentation of Vertical Road in:

Lebanon on 26 - 27 April at Beirut International Platform of Dance (BIPOD), Al-Madina theatre. For more information check our British Council Lebanon website

Palestine on 5 May as part of a dance festival at Ramallah Cultural Palace. For more information check our British Council Palestinian Territories website

The tour included performances of Vertical Road, post show discussions and talks inspired by the content and artistic process of the work as well as workshops in collaboration with theatre professionals and artists from the region.

The Vertical Road regional tour and associated activities are supported as part of the British Council’s New Work New Audiences arts project, which allows audiences in the region and the UK to experience the power of Arts in developing cultural understanding, trust and dialogue.

Background

Founded in August 2000 by Choreographer Akram Khan and Producer Farooq Chaudhry, Akram Khan Company has established itself as one of the foremost innovative dance companies in the world. The company is renowned for its intercultural, interdisciplinary collaborations and for challenging conventional ideas of traditional dance forms.

Akram Khan was trained in contemporary dance as well as in classical dance style called Kathak and brought an experimental approach to his choreography that quickly marked him out as a highly distinctive choreographer with an international appeal.