Details:

Luxembourg's Grand Théâtre will be showcasing two performances of "Xenos" Akram Khan Company on 17 and 18 October 2019 at 20:00.

The relationship between the Grand Théâtre and Akram Khan (winner of the Olivier Award for outstanding achievement in dance in 2019 for his solo performance in Xenos), has been one of the most consistent and successful over the past decade. For his final performance as a solo dancer, Akram Khan returns to Luxembourg with a new full-length piece and a stellar creative team. Along with dramaturg Ruth Little and acclaimed Canadian playwright Jordan Tannahill, he teams up with set designer Mirella Weingarten, award-winning lighting designer Michael Hulls, costume designer Kimie Nakano and composer Vincenzo Lamagna.

Shifting between classical kathak and contemporary dance, Khan and his team draw on the archives of the 20th century, unearthing the experience of colonial soldiers in the First World War. Over four million non-white men were mobilised by the European and American armies during the conflict. Around 1.5 million of them were from India, mostly peasant-warriors from the north and north-west, who fought and died in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In service to the myths of an Empire, dislocated from their homelands and cultures, their stories have until recently remained untold.

The text for "Xenos" by Canadian playwright Jordan Tannahill gives voice to the shell-shocked dream of a colonial Indian soldier in no-man’s land. Many of the sepoys who died in conflict were buried abroad, while for those who returned home, often mutilated and traumatised, another form of erasure followed, as their stories were interred in archives following the rise of Indian nationalism and the rejection of colonial rule. Separated from their own histories, homelands, and countrymen, they became xenoi, “strangers”.

Akram Khan will be joined on stage by five world-class international musicians: percussionist B. C. Manjunath, vocalist Aditya Prakash, bassist Nina Harries, violinist Clarice Rarity, and saxophonist Tamar Osborn.

Duration: 65 minutes (plus intermission). 

Tickets cost €15/€20/€25 for adults and €8 for young people.

Venue: Grande Salle, Grand Théâtre

Organiser: Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg

Price: See above

Reservations: http://www.theatres.lu/SAISON+2019_2020/Danse/_11+AKRAM+KHAN+COMPANY/_11+AKRAM+KHAN+COMPANY-p-20004404.html