Akram Khan (1974–). British dancer, choreographer and director

Akram Khan was born in London in 1974 and was exposed to Kathak, a classical south Asian style of dance, from the age of seven. As a young adult, Khan studied contemporary dance at Leicester’s De Montfort University, continuing on to the Northern School of Contemporary Dance before working with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker in Belgium. He presented a series of solo performances in Britain in the late 1990s before a meeting with Farooq Chaudhry sparked the idea for a dance company to be established the following year. Khan and Chaudhry, who currently works as executive producer for Khan’s company, aimed to make work that investigated the unfamiliar and avoided compromise, blending Khan’s experience of both Kathak and contemporary dance styles. This foundation was used as a departure point to collaborate with the very best artists across a variety of disciplines.

Vibrant collaborations have been a hallmark of Khan’s output, beginning at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2002 with visual artist Anish Kapoor to produce Kaash. Work with French actress Juliette Binoche, ballerina Sylvie Guillem, choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, singer Kylie Minogue and a commission to choreograph a section of the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics all received critical acclaim. Khan has built a relationship with English National Ballet after the creation of Dust in 2014, continuing with his own interpretation of the Romantic ballet Giselle that has toured internationally. Khan is an associate artist of Sadler’s Wells and created Creature, inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Georg Büchner’s Woyzeck with English National Ballet in 2021.