Khans Influences

• Peter Brook

  • Born in London 1925
  • English theatre and film director
  • Created a multi-national company of actors, dancers and musicians
  • Turned the Indian poem ‘Mahabharata’ into a stage play and TV series
  • He spotted Khan in 1984 whilst performing with the ‘Academy of Indian Dance’
  • Khan was cast in this play ‘Mahabharata’ and TV series- always admired Brook’s work
• Jonathan Burrows

  • Studied at the Royal Ballet School
  • Senior British choreographer
  • Helped Khan to understand how to mix Kathak with contemporary dance
  • Khan worked with him after graduating and won a place on the ‘X-group’ project
  • ‘Both Sitting Duet’ links to Zero Degrees
• Theatre and Film

  • The media heavily influenced Khan and uses this in his works
  • Superhero films
  • Michael Jackson’s Thriller
  • Cinema

  Khan was inspired by lots of white characters such as superheroes. He wanted to see a greater representation of black characters.

  He had his first professional role at age 10 when he toured the adventures of Mowgli.
• Dance styles he experienced

  • Kathak
  • Classical Ballet
  • Graham
  • Cunningham
  • Release-based techniques and Contact Improvisation
  • Physical Theatre