Akram Khan, the internationally acclaimed dancer and choreographer of Bangladeshi descent, is going to make his stage debut in Bangladesh with his award-winning dance solo “Desh” (Homeland) on September 18 and 19 at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.
The organisers formally announced the schedule at a press meet yesterday, with the 40-year-old dancer present on the occasion.
Asked about his motivations behind the production, he said: “There was a man from Bangladesh who came to meet me after a show at the Sydney Opera House, a few years ago. He was all praise for my performance, and at one point during our conversation, we discovered that the man was actually a childhood friend of my father’s.”
“He said he had been looking for my father for the past 35 years or so. He broke into tears when I got him connected to my father over phone, and my father also turned emotional after finding out his beloved ‘Billu bhai.’
“The incident prompted me to look deep into the idea of identity and identity crisis. This is how the production came to see the light of day,” he added.
The 80-minute production presents an identity crisis born from the juxtaposition of a collective past and the personal present. It draws multiple tales of land, nation, resistance and convergence into the body and voice of one man trying to find his balance in an unstable world.
In this regard, Akram Khan said: “From the moment we decided to take on the epic and personal journey of creating ‘Desh,’ we always believed that the performance belonged in Bangladesh. So I am thankful for the huge efforts of the British Council and other partners that have joined forces to make this performance happen.”
Filmmaker Nasiruddin Yousuff, Liaquat Ali Lucky, director general of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, and Brendan McSharry, country director of British Council-Bangladesh, were also present at the press conference.
Akram Khan, who was born in London to a family from Dhaka, will take part in a panel discussion today titled “Why are the arts important to developing countries like Bangladesh?” at 6:30pm at the British Council Library, Fuller Road. British Council and Bengal Foundation collaborated to bring the dancer back to the country of his roots.
The dance drama is produced by Akram Khan Company. As the seats within the theatre hall are limited, there will be arrangements for live screening on September 19 at the TSC lawn in Dhaka University as well as at Shilpakala fine arts building.
The show will start at 7pm each on September 18 and 19.
