Akram Khan Appoints Kallaway To Lead International PR and
Sponsorship Programme

- Juliette Binoche - National Ballet Of China -

27 June 2007: Akram Khan, the acclaimed contemporary dancer and one of the world's foremost choreographers has appointed Kallaway to promote and attract sponsorship for his forthcoming collaboration with the National Ballet of China and a new work with Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche.

The collaboration with National Ballet of China will premiere in Beijing in January 2008, and the currently untitled work with Juliette Binoche at the National Theatre, London in September 2008. Both will be in partnership with world leading brands.

Since his earliest beginnings as a dancer, Akram Khan has worked with a range of other artists in innovative and exciting ways. Previous collaborations include work with Kylie Minogue, Antony Gormley, Anish Kapoor, Nitin Sawhney, Hanif Kureishi and Sylvie Guillem. He is an associate artist at Sadler's Wells and was awarded an MBE for services to the UK dance community in 2005.

Akram Khan, 32, trained in kathak, a classical South Asian temple dance, from the age of seven. He expanded into contemporary dance and created his own company (www.akramkhancompany.net) to express his unique hybrid dance language that bridges the worlds of contemporary and classical dance. He engages in artist to artist collaborations with other disciplines to create a new way of story telling which challenges accepted notions of dance.

Kallaway (www.kallaway.co.uk) will work with Khan to ensure he has the profile and backing to enable him to enjoy maximum creative freedom in his forthcoming international work.

Akram Khan said: "Dance is a universal language of movement. I want to engage people from different cultures and backgrounds in my work to bridge the gaps between language, and thought in a way that is compelling, entertaining and thought provoking. Each new collaboration is an adventure with the potential to create a new world with its own language and way of being."

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Further information
www.kallaway.co.uk/akram-khan.htm

Anna Cusden
Kallaway
020 7221 7883
anna.cusden@kallaway.co.uk

Charlene Lim
Akram Khan Company
Company Manager
0207 354 4333
office@akramkhancompany.net

Akram Khan Biography
Akram Khan is the most acclaimed choreographer of his generation working in Britain today. Born in London into a family of Bangladeshi origin in 1974, he began dancing at the age of seven and studied with the great Kathak dancer and teacher Sri Pratap Pawar. He began his stage career at the age of 14, when he was cast in Peter Brook's legendary production of Mahabharata, appearing in the televised version of the play broadcast in 1988.

Following later studies in contemporary dance, he began presenting solo performances of his work in the 1990s, maintaining his commitment to the classical kathak repertoire as well as modern work. Among his best-known solo pieces are: Polaroid Feet (2001), Ronin (2003) and Third Catalogue (2005).

In August 2000, he launched his own company, and among his most notable company works are Kaash (2002) a collaboration with artist Anish Kapoor and composer Nitin Sawhney, ma (2004), for which he received a South Bank Show Award (2005); zero degrees (2005), a collaboration with dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, sculptor Antony Gormley and composer Nitin Sawhney, premiered at Sadler's Wells and was nominated for a Lawrence Olivier Award in 2006.

Sacred Monsters, a major new work featuring ballerina Sylvie Guillem, with additional choreography by Taiwanese choreographer Lin Hwai Min premiered at Sadler's Wells in September 2006. Another of his most recent projects is Variations, a collaboration with London Sinfonietta to celebrate the 70th birthday of Steve Reich, which premiered in Cologne in March 2006, and toured to Europe and America later that year.

Akram Khan was also invited by Kylie Minogue in summer 2006 to choreograph a section of her new Showgirl concert which opened in Australia in November 2006, and toured to the UK (London and Manchester) in January 2007.

Earlier this year Akram was presented with the highly prestigious Excellence in International Dance Award by the International Theatre Institute.

Akram Khan and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui will perform an excerpt from zero degrees as part of Nitin Sawhney and Friends at the Royal Albert Hall on 10 August at 9pm, a highlight of the BBC Proms season. For further information go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2007/whatson/1008.shtml


About Kallaway
Kallaway is an award winning sponsorship and public relations consultancy with a specialisation in arts and culture. Projects range from creating one of the UK's most successful sponsorships, Whitbread Book of The Year; through to the international festival Russian ACT and opening the UK's newest cultural venue, Wellcome Collection.

www.kallaway.co.uk


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