Akram Khan was London-based Akram Khan is a leading British dancer and choreographer talking about his new work in bbc

Akram Kham was born in Balham of Bangladesh origin. He is one of the most innovative dancers working in Britain and, indeed, the World. Khan’s mother encouraged him to start dancing at the age of seven and from a young age he was trained in the Kathak style (the classical style of north India). His mother had been passionate about dance while she was growing up in Bangladesh but had to learn in secret, because her father would not approve. When she moved to London she was determined her own children shouldn’t be similarly deprived. Khan was sent to study with the great dancer and teacher Sri Pratap Pawar. Kham’s first big break came at the age of 14 when he which was cast for Peter Brook’s production of Ma habharata. Shortly after completing this show Pratap Pawar invited Khan to become his disciple. Later when Khan went on to study modern dance, teachers were frustrated by traces of this style creeping into his work. However Khan used this to his benefit and created his own style of dance, which was a mixture of the two.He went on to graduate from the Northern College of Contemporary Dance with the highest marks ever awarded. Since college, Khan has toured several new works, choreographed a film for Channel 4, and been appointed choreographer in residence at the South Bank Centre. In 1999 he won the Jerwood Foundation Choreography Award. Apart from being Choreographer in Residence of DanceEast (2000-2002), the National Dance Agency for Suffolk and Eastern Region, he is a recipient of a Lisa Ullmann Travelling Scholarship Grant 2000. He is presently touring with his company’s first full-length evening work, having teamed up with sculptor Anish Kapoor and composer Nitin Sawhney. to read The Guardian’s glowing review of this performance.

http://www.akramkhancompany.net/