Vertical Road (Akram Khan)

In 2010 and 2011, Colas on Stage is paving the way with Akram Khan, world renown Bangladeshi-British choreographer, by supporting his latest creation: Vertical Road.

The dancers, who herald from Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East, use their own specific cultural languages to interpret the universal mythical figures that symbolize ascension, from the earth to the heavens. 

The premiere will be held in London on October 5, 2010.  Vertical Road will then be performed at theaters worldwide and Colas companies, both in France and around the world, will organize events in connection with the performance of the piece in their region.   

A veritable melting pot of nations and cultures, the Akram Khan company is a showcase in itself for the values of diversity. 

"Who can personify diversity better than Akram Khan, whose origins are both Bangladeshi and British, and whose work focuses on connecting people from all cultures?

(....) My first encounter with Akram was a defining moment.  As I watched the performance of bahok, a production of Akram Khan Company and the National Ballet of China, I saw how the choreographer was able to scatter all resistance to diversity.  Always on the look out for the best, above and beyond technical expertise and dramatic potential - each dancer is embraced and respected for his or her own body language, trajectory, origins, even the traces left behind by their individual stories." (Hervé Le Bouc)

A documentary entitled ‘Vertical Road - double sens' has been filmed in the field with Colas teams in Morocco and in the dance studios in England to draw a parallel between the construction of a road and the creative process of choreography.

(see Akram Khan's biography [ PDF - 112 Ko - nouvelle fenêtre ]

Photos : Antoine Poupel, Laurent Ziegler, Richard Haughton.