Download Juliette Binoche and Akram Khan launch In-I in Abu Dhabi

Juliette Binoche and Akram Khan launch In-I in Abu Dhabi
-First Ever Chance to see Contemporary Dance in Abu Dhabi-Acclaimed Collaboration at the Emirates Palace for two days onlyOscar-winning French actress Juliette Binoche and internationally acclaimed
contemporary dancer & choreographer Akram Khan have joined forces as codirectors and performers to create a major new work of dance- theatre. Turner prizewinning artist Anish Kapoor joins the team as set designer and composer Philip
Sheppard creates an original score.
Tickets on sale from Time Out Tickets www.timeouttickets.com
Telephone: Free phone within UAE 800 4669. International: +971 4 2108567
Participating in this performance is a challenging and intense experience, for both the
artists and their audience: Binoche and Khan produce a hybrid between dance and
drama - both of them wrote texts for the piece - and take us on an emotional journey
tracing the themes of longing, love, disappointment, anger and forgiveness between
a man and a woman.
This performance takes both artists in new directions: Juliette Binoche is learning to
dance having never danced on stage before and choreographer and dancer Akram
Khan acts for the first time since his childhood role in Peter Brook’s Mahabharata.
Throughout their careers, they have both sought out surprising and challenging
collaborations. Akram Khan has always taken an inter-disciplinary approach to dance
and his collaborators range from the French prima ballerina Sylvie Guillem to pop
star Kylie Minogue to writers, artists and musicians including Hanif Kureishi, Antony
Gormley and Nitin Sawhney. Similarly, Juliette Binoche has made artistically
challenging choices with directors such as Michael Haneke (Hidden) and Louis Malle
(David Hare’s screenplay Damage), and has starred in award-winning films including
The English Patient and Chocolat.
Juliette Binoche says: “With Akram, I felt that we could confront and share new
desires, hopes and visions through our respective arts by inventing a common
language. I never know what I’m capable of before I do it. I secretly hope that faith
will take over. Any artistic expression is a means to an opening which doesn’t belong
to anyone but links us to each other in a mysterious and necessary way.”
Akram Khan says: “Throughout my career, I have sought out unexpected
collaborations with other artists to explore ideas and themes that are important to
me.The project with Juliette has pushed me in unexpected directions and has been
one of the most challenging experiences of my life.”
Abdulla Salim Al Amri, Director of Arts and Culture, Abu Dhabi Authority for
Culture and Heritage says: “For ADACH, this event is a further reinforcement of our
commitment to the Art of Performance, classical, or in this case, avant-garde and
contemporary. In-I embodies a unique Dance, Theatre and Music mix, a live
experience which will affect those who watch it. We are delighted to be able to
welcome to the capital two of the world’s most acclaimed artists, one from the realm
of Film, the other from the realm of Dance, coming together on stage for the first time
in a modern creative dialogue. Juliette Binoche is famous for her brave and sensitive
rendition of every character she has portrayed on screen, a dazzling talent which has
earned her among many awards, an Oscar; and Akram Khan is an eloquent and
daring choreographer who pushes the boundaries of performance, thoroughly
deserving of a stellar reputation in the UK and abroad. Most importantly, his fusion of
an Eastern, Asian dance heritage with Western contemporary forms resonates with
our very own wish to bridge cultures through the Arts. Anish Kapoor’s stunning
scenic imagery and Philip Sheppard’s music are fitting testament to the fact that this
is more than just a performance, rather a modern work of art.”
END
For further press information please contact:
Kallaway:
William Kallaway
+44 20 7221 7883
[email protected]
Katie Jackson
+44 20 7221 7883
[email protected]
For information related to ADACH please contact:
Ms Saeeda al Ameri
+971 2 6319196
[email protected]
IN-I Credits
Co-directed and performed by Juliette Binoche & Akram Khan
Set Designer Anish Kapoor
Composer Philip Sheppard
Lighting Designer Michael Hulls
Costume Designer Kei Ito
Dramaturge Guy Cools
Rehearsal Director/Dance Coach (Juliette Binoche) Su-Man Hsu
Producer Farooq Chaudhry
Associate Producer/Tour Manager Bia Oliveira
Technical Director Fabiana Piccioli
Sound Designer Nicolas Faure
Technical Coordinator Sander Loonen
Technician Natan Rosseel
Juliette Binoche’s Assistant/ Production Co-ordinator Laurent Gorse
Co-producers Hermès Foundation | National Theatre, London | Théâtre de la Ville,
Paris | Grand Théâtre de Luxembourg | Romaeuropa Festival, Rome | La Monnaie,
Brussels | Sydney Opera House, Sydney | Curve, Leicester
Supported by Arts Council England | The Bell Cohen Charitable Foundation |
Théâtre de l’Ouest Parisien – Boulogne Billancourt | CULTURESFRANCE
Global tour sponsored by Société Générale and Hermès Foundation
Produced by Khan Chaudhry Productions & Jubilation Productions
Managed by Akram Khan Company
PR and Sponsorship Kallaway www.kallaway.co.uk
Juliette Binoche's make-up by Lancôme International, hair by l'Oréal International.
Early research supported by Jerwood Studio at Sadler's Wells.
Length: 60 minutes, no interval.
Biographies
Juliette Binoche
Oscar-winning actress Juliette Binoche is one of the most celebrated actresses in
France, where she is referred to affectionately as “La Binoche”. Born in Paris to a
sculptor/theatre director and an actress, she studied at the National School of
Dramatic Art of Paris and after graduation became a stage actress, occasionally
taking small parts in French feature films. She first earned recognition in 1985 in
Jean-Luc Godard’s controversial Hail Mary (Je vous salue, Marie). Her position as a
French film star was further confirmed by her acclaimed performance in André
Téchiné’s Rendez-Vous.
Her international breakthrough came in 1988 when she played Tereza in Philip
Kaufman’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which was followed by another
widely acclaimed lead role in Les Amants du Pont Neuf directed by Léos Carax in
1991. Another film which brought her to a wider audience was Louis Malle’s Damage
in 1992. This was followed by the lead role in Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colours:
Blue. Juliette Binoche returned to the screen in 1995 with The Horseman on the Roof
(Le Hussard sur Le Toit). She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1996 for
her role in Anthony Minghella’s The English Patient. In 2000 she starred in the hit film
Chocolat, a role she prepared for by learning to make chocolate at a popular Paris
sweet shop. The film was a huge success and she was nominated for Best Actress
awards across the globe. She followed this with Code Unknown (Code Inconnu),
Michael Haneke’s film about intersecting lives, and worked with the same director in
2005 on Hidden (Caché). Other recent films include Abel Ferrara’s Mary opposite
Matthew Modine and Forest Whitaker (2005); Anthony Minghella’s Breaking and
Entering opposite Jude Law (2006), and Hou Hsao Hsien’s Flight of the Red Balloon
(Le Voyage du Ballon Rouge). Her most recently completed film is Summer Hours
(L’Heure d’été) directed by Olivier Assayas.
Juliette Binoche lives in France with her two children.
Akram Khan
Akram Khan is one of the most acclaimed choreographers of his generation working
in Britain today. Born in London into a family of Bangladeshi origin in 1974, he began
dancing at the age of seven and studied with the great Kathak dancer and teacher
Sri Pratap Pawar. He began his stage career at the age of 14, when he was cast in
Peter Brook’s legendary production of Mahabharata, appearing in the televised
version of the play broadcast in 1988. Following later studies in contemporary dance,
he began presenting solo performances of his work in the 1990s, maintaining his
commitment to the classical kathak repertoire as well as modern work. Among his
best-known solo pieces are: Polaroid Feet (2001), Ronin (2003) and Third Catalogue
(2005). In August 2000, he launched his own company, and among his most notable
company works are Kaash (2002) a collaboration with artist Anish Kapoor and
composer Nitin Sawhney, ma (2004), for which he received a South Bank Show
Award (2005); zero degrees (2005), a collaboration with dancer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui,
sculptor Antony Gormley and composer Nitin Sawhney, premiered at Sadler’s Wells
and was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award in 2006. zero degrees won Best
Choreography in a Ballet or Dance Work and Akram won the award for Best Male
Dancer in the prestigious annual Helpmann Awards held in Sydney,Australia on
Monday 6 August 2007. Sacred Monsters, a major work featuring ballerina Sylvie
Guillem, with additional choreography by Taiwanese choreographer Lin Hwai Min
premiered at Sadler’s Wells in September 2006.Another of his most recent projects is
Variations, a collaboration with London Sinfonietta to celebrate the 70th birthday of
Steve Reich, which premiered in Cologne in March 2006, and toured to Europe and
America later that year. Akram Khan was also invited by Kylie Minogue in summer
2006 to choreograph a section of her Showgirl concert, which opened in Australia in
November 2006, and toured to the UK (London and Manchester) in January 2007. A
new work, bahok, a unique collaboration with the National Ballet of China and
choreographed by Akram Khan, toured worldwide through 2008 with great
success. Akram Khan is married and lives in London.
Anish Kapoor
Anish Kapoor was born in Bombay in 1954 and has lived in London since the early
70’s when he studied at Hornsey College of Art and Chelsea School of Art Design.
Over the past twenty years Anish Kapoor has exhibited extensively in London and all
over the world. His solo shows have included venues such as Kunsthalle Basel,Tate
Gallery and Hayward Gallery in London, Reina Sofia in Madrid and CAPC in
Bordeaux. He has also participated internationally in many group shows including the
Whitechapel Art Gallery,The Royal Academy and Serpentine Gallery in London,
Documenta IX in Kassel, Moderna Museet in Stockholm and Jeu de Paume and
Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. Anish Kapoor was awarded the ‘Premio Duemila
at the Venice Biennale in 1990, the Turner Prize Award in 1991 and was awarded an
Honorary Fellowship at the London Institute in 1997. He is represented by the Lisson
Gallery, London, Barbara Gladstone Gallery, New York and Galleria Massimo Minini,
Italy.
Philip Sheppard
Philip Sheppard trained in Cello and Composition at the Royal Academy of Music,
during which time he specialised in contemporary music. He worked closely with
Hans Werner Henze, Sir Michael Tippett and Luciano Berio during this time as a
founder member of The Kreutzer String Quartet. He collaborated with pianist
Abdullah Ibrahim, who encouraged him to move away from a conventional musical
environment, and pursue his composition. He went on to pioneer electro-acoustic
improvisation joining the Smith Quartet and appearing regularly with the London
Sinfonietta. After completing a Fellowship, he was made a Professor at the Royal
Academy of Music where he is now a Senior Lecturer. His early solo albums, ‘The
Glass Cathedral’ and ‘The Diver in the Crypt’, featured new compositions devised for
site-specific performances. The albums received rave reviews on release and are
regularly played on Radio 3.The tracks feature a specially commissioned electric
cello that has become a cornerstone of many of Philip’s compositions. The albums
attracted the attention of Scott Walker, who invited him to play at his Southbank
Centre Meltdown Festival. They collaborated again on Pulp’s album ‘We Love Life’
with Jarvis Cocker and after that on Walker’s critically acclaimed album ‘The Drift’.
He has also arranged songs for Jarvis Cocker’s solo album ‘Jarvis’, David Bowie and
Suzanne Vega. His first orchestral soundtrack was commissioned for the
documentary feature, ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’, which won major awards at the
Boulder, Florida, Indianapolis and Sedona film festivals, as well as the Audience
Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Philip has been commissioned to write and
produce the music for the Olympic Handover Ceremony, at this years’ Beijing
Olympics. This marks the point when the Olympic flag passes to London in
preparation for the 2012 games. Philip has also been commissioned to arrange and
direct the British National Anthem for these events. In 2006, Philip was
commissioned to write ‘Sacred Monsters’ for Akram and Sylvie Guillem. He toured
with the production until the Summer of 2007, his final performance being at the
Herod Atticus Theatre in the shadow of the Parthenon.
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