Akram Khan Company

Direction artistique et chorégraphie Akram Khan.
Assistant chorégraphie Mavin Khoo.
Textes Tariq Jordan.
Conseil artistique Sharon Clark.
Composition musicale Jocelyn Pook.
Son Gareth Fry.
Lumière Michael Hulls.
Scénographie Miriam Buether.
Direction de l’animation Adam Smith (YeastCulture).
Production et réalisation vidéo Nick Hillel (YeastCulture).
Artistes / Animateurs rotoscopie Naaman Azhari, Natasza Cetner, Edson R Bazzarin.
Conseillers / Consultants Andy Serkis, John Cassey.
Direction des répétitions Nicky Henshall, Andrew Pan, Angela Towler (en tournée).

Interprètes Maya Balam Meyong, Tom Davis-Dunn, Harry Theadora Foster, Filippo Franzese, Bianca Mikahil, Max Revell, Matthew Sandiford, Pui Yung Shum, Elpida Skourou, Holly Vallis, Jan Mikaela Villanueva et Luke Watson.

Assistant·e·s animation Nisha Alberti, Geo Barnett, Miguel Maella Black, Michelle Cramer, Jack Hale, Zuzanna Odolczyk, Sofja Umarik.

Voix Tian-Lan Chaudhry, Joy Elias-Rilwan, Pushkala Gopal, Dana Haqjoo, Nicky Henshall, Su-Man Hsu, Kathryn Hunter, Emmanuel Imani, Divya Kasturi, Jeffery Kissoon, Mavin Khoo, Yasmin Paige, Max Revell, Christopher Simpson, Pui Yung Shum, Holly Vallis, Jan Mikaela Villanueva, Luke Watson, étudiatns de 3e année de la Rambert School (Twickenham, Royaume-Uni).

Directeur de la production Farooq Chaudhry.
Directrice générale Isabel Tamen.
Cheffe de projet Mashitah Omar.
Directeur technique Zeynep Kepekli.
Responsable technique Michael Cunningham.
Directeur de production et accessoiriste de tournée Marek Pomocki.
Éclairagiste Stephane Dejours.
Ingénieur de son Philip Wood.
Technicien vidéo et projectionniste Matthew Armstrong.
Régisseur Samuel Collier.

Coproduit par Curve Leicester, Attiki Cultural Society – Greece, Birmingham Hippodrome, Edinburgh International Festival, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay Singapore, Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance – Chicago, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts – New York, Maison de la Danse / Pôle européen de création – Lyon, National Arts Centre – Canada, New Vision Arts Festival – Hong Kong, Orsolina28, Pfalzbau Bühnen – Theater im Pfalzbau Ludwigshafen, Romaeuropa Festival, Stanford Live / Stanford University, Teatros del Canal – Madrid, théâtre de Caen, Théâtre de la Ville – Paris.

L'adaptation technique du spectacle a bénéficié de l'aimable soutien des Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg.

Avec le soutien de Garfield Weston Foundation, Genesis Foundation et Angela Bernstein CBE.

Soutenu par Arts Council England.

Un grand merci à Thomasin Gülgeç, Lucia Chocarro, Vanessa Vince-Pang, Fukiko Takase, Tina + Richard Fagan, Sue Buckmaster, The Coronet Theatre, University of Roehampton, M. + Mme Khan, Yuko Khan, Sayuri, Kenzo & Ayana Khan, Amanda Britton, Darren Ellis, Sharon Watson, Ann David, Anda Winters, Ella Roberts, Anna CY Chan, les étudiants de Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts qui ont participé à des répétitions, les étudiants de 3e année (2021-2022) de la Northern School of Contemporary Dance et de la Rambert School, qui ont travaillé sur la résidence de R&D.

Musique de Jocelyn Pook © Copyright 2022 Chester Music Limited.

Musique enregistrée par Tanja Tzarovska, Melanie Pappenheim, Sushma Soma, Sohini Alam, Voya Zivkovic (chant); Jocelyn Pook (piano, alto, voix et clavier); Mulele Matondo (guitare et sanza); Belinda Sykes (chalemie et gralla).

Enregistrement et arrangement Steve Parr.

“How Dare You?” Greta Thunberg, l’enregistrement est la propriété des Nations Unies.
“Blah, blah, blah” discours de Greta Thunberg.

ACT I

Sea levels are rising; waters dominate land; and humans scramble for their survival in search of higher ground. A young child finds herself separated from her family and ends up in a flooded city, deserted by its human inhabitants. Monuments have been uprooted and rearranged, and animals of all shapes and sizes have congregated here and formed an uneasy alliance as they try to live with this new unreliable climate. They have claimed this cityscape as their own – marking their territories in libraries, supermarkets, governmental buildings, and even places of worship. The child is discovered by the wolf pack led by Raksha and Rama. Raksha wants to keep the child, but Rama insists that humans bring danger, and they must destroy it. Raksha protects Mowgli and presents her to an animal council, led by Akela, a dog, and with the watchful eyes in the sky of Chil, the kite. The animals speak of a mysterious hunter, a human who has been cast out by his own kind. The hunter has returned to these lands and keeps the animals in constant fear. After much deliberation, the child is accepted by the council and the naming process begins. Mowgli is set to work straight away; she must prove her worth and help the animals in their search for food. Maybe human instincts are just what they need. Mowgli finds herself in the company of Bagheera, a kidnapped albino panther who grew up in a palace, and Baloo, an escaped dancing bear. However, on their quest for food, Mowgli is taken by the Bandar-log; lab monkeys who have had all kinds of experiments done on them. Through cunning, the Bandar-log outwit Baloo and Bagheera and steal Mowgli. Bagheera and Baloo must now find an animal capable of striking fear into the Bandar-log. After all, they are not animals of the tree world. They seek out Kaa, a rock python, who has escaped from captivity but still lives with the traumas of a lifetime stuck behind a glass viewing screen.

ACT II

Mowgli is taken to the Bandar-log’s lair, a ransacked governmental building. The Bandar-log are no strangers to humankind; they come from testing laboratories and regurgitate commercial jingles and political rants they heard from their cages. They listened, copied, and aped the humans, but now they want to become them. Mowgli is the missing piece of the puzzle. A human child to teach them how to fully become human. With the help of Kaa, Baloo and Bagheera rescue Mowgli from the hands of the Bandar-log just at the moment she is about to help them create fire: the most feared possession of mankind. Animals can’t control this. Mankind can. When Mowgli is saved, the trio returns to the council where Hathi, the leader of the elephants, tells them of their ancient tale, back to the time when the jungles they once knew were created. But when the hunter finally breaches their territory, and shoots down Chil, the animals know that this spells the beginning of the end of the peace they have forged together. Mowgli, remembering her mother’s words throughout her journey, decides to stand up and fight for her newfound friends and seeks out the hunter and end his savagery.

Good evening, everyone,

We’re delighted to welcome you to an evening dedicated to Akram Khan, one of the most remarkable choreographers of our time, an outstanding creator with an artistic career as impressive as it is varied.

Akram Khan has had a long love affair with Danse Danse: this is the seventh time we have presented his work. And each time he surprises us with new and relevant artistic ideas that spring from the contemporary issues that shape our world. The time he devotes to his creative process and his ability to constantly reinvent himself imbue each of his works with a unique essence.

We first discovered him in Montréal in 2006, watched him perform alongside Juliette Binoche in 2009, and shared an extraordinary experience on the circular stage of La Tohu in 2017. Tonight, we’ll experience the story of Mowgli in fully projected sets populated by animated animals.

Jungle Book reimagined reframes the story of the wolf child through the eyes of a young climate refugee. It reminds us that we humans do not own the Earth. The values expressed in this work are also reflected in the company’s commitment to mounting eco-responsible tours.

Let’s discover this thought-provoking universe together!

And now, let the performance begin!

Pierre Des Marais — Artistic and Executive Director of Danse Danse

Territorial Acknowledgement

Team

Artistic and Executive Director Pierre Des Marais Director, Accounting and Administration Kim Hoang, CPA Production Manager Hervé Holdrinet Director, Marketing and Communications Hélène Nadeau Advisor, Marketing and Communications Julia Giehler Manager, Content Marketing Mélanie Boisliveau Communications Officer Jérôme Gagnon Media Relations Sheila Skaiem - 514 572.8687 Social Media Ariane Laget Manager, Digital Marketing Anthony Cavigny Manager, Inclusion and Accessibility Claire Oliver Manager, School Services Lola Jegu Manager, Special Projects and Assistant to the Executive Director Evelyne Fournier Manager, Philanthropy and Partnerships Mihaela Machiodache Manager, Customer Relations, Ticketing and Administration Marie Laporte Stage Technicians Le Regroupement des techniciens de scène du Québec.

Board of Directors

PRESIDENT Emmanuelle Poupart, Partner – McCarthy Tétrault LLP. VICE PRESIDENT Michèle Meier, MBA, ASC, Head of Communications and Marketing - Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. TREASURER Thierry Pejot-Charrost, CPA, Vice-President, Internal Audit and Risk Management – Transat A.T. Inc. ADMINISTRATORS Anik Bissonnette, Artistic Director - École supérieure de Ballet du Québec, Chantal Bouvier, President and CEO - Le Cercle des présidents du Québec. Julie-Anne Côté, Consultant in museology. Pierre Des Marais, Artistic and Executive Director – Danse Danse. Karla Étienne, Executive Director, Canadian Dance Assembly. Jonathan Lachapelle, CFA, Vice-President, Investissements – Fednav Holdings Inc. Sébastien Leblond, Co-founder, President & CEO - Capital RainMKRS Inc. Lucy Riddell, Vice Chair - R. Howard Webster Foundation. Nathalie Seïde, MBA, Pl. Fin, Senior Advisor, Integration and Marketing Implementation - Desjardins.

I am thrilled to be presenting Jungle Book reimagined at Danse Danse in Montreal.

The Jungle Book’s story has always been close to me. As a young boy, I played the role of Mowgli in an Indian dance production, and was struck by the three profound lessons the experience left me with: the commonality between species, the binding interdependence between humans, animals and nature, and finally, our need for family, to belong.

We are now living in unprecedented and uncertain times, not only for our species but for all species on this planet. And the root cause is because we have forgotten our connection to our home, our planet. We all inhabit it, we all take from it, and we all build on it, but we have forgotten to return our respect for it.

And so I feel compelled to share the story – lovingly known as The Jungle Book – through the lens of today’s children, my children, our children, in order to re-learn what we, as a species, have so conveniently forgotten. This production traces the original story by Rudyard Kipling, but this particular version is very much my own interpretation of the original, told through the powerful magic of dance, music and theatre.

Climate change is and will continue to affect all living creatures on this planet. So then how do we create a work that uses less sets and travels lighter when touring? For Jungle Book reimagined, the stage is nearly empty – there is no traditional physical set. To achieve this, I explored the use of technology, projections and film to create non-physical sets. But ultimately, we must not forget that most often, great storytelling can be told by the simplest of tools. Our bodies, our voices, and our conviction in the stories we tell.

And so, I sincerely hope that you enjoy watching this story as much as we have enjoyed telling it.

Akram Khan — Choreographer and Artistic Director of Akram Khan Company