ICDSB

• Contemporary Dance


  Emerged in the early 20th century as a rebellion against traditional ballet
• Contemporary dance continues to reflect the current world around us and the modern view of 'anything goes, anything is accepted'
• Akram Khan and Hofesh Shechter


  • Major pioneers of the ICDSB
  • Aim to have their audience questioning unusual topics
  • Aim to have their audience fully emotionally submerged in their pieces
  • Have idiosyncratic styles, aural accompaniment and out of the box physical settings
• Akram Khan


  • Formed his company in 2000
  • Has won an array of awards such as an MBE for services to dance
• Hofesh Shechter


  • Arrived in the UK in 2002 after studying dance and music in Paris
  • Formed his company in 2008
• Both choreographers are influenced by socio-political issues, cultural topics and other choreographers
• Akram Khan's style


  Blends Kathak (North Indian dance) with contemporary
• Akram Khan's collaborations


  • Zero Degrees in 2005 with Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui
  • Dust in 2014 with English National Ballet
  • Sacred Monsters in 2006 with Sylvie Guillem
• Hofesh Shechter's style


  • Fusion of contemporary and middle-eastern folk dance
  • Recognised for the heavy weighted shoulders and round backs
• Hofesh Shechter's collaborations

  • Survivor in 2012 with artist Antony Gormley
  • Grand Finale 2017 with set designer Tom Scutt
• Collaborations diversify the movement content and emphasise the accessibility of dance, encouraging everyone to dance
• Akram Khan's works

  • Offer different perspectives on challenging socio-political issues
  • Dust focuses on women's roles in WW1
  • 2016 Giselle adaptation focuses on factory workers struggling with class inequality
• Hofesh Shechter's works

  • Hugely influenced by political and social problems
  • Aim to highlight these issues to impact the audience strongly
  • Sun shows themes of violence, oppression and inequality
  • Political Mother begins with a shocking scene of a samurai committing Hari-Kiri
• The ICDSB lives up to the meaning of 'contemporary' as the dances depict challenging themes in society
• Akram Khan's Zero Degrees

  Shows the challenges of Khan as a Westerner travelling through Bangladesh, regardless of his parents' origins
• Akram Khan's Desh

  • Centres around his culture being the first full length solo of his
  • Khan was finally learning to accept his roots which he had hidden from in the UK
  • Used the 'death of his father' to show his journey back to Bangladesh
• Aural setting in Akram Khan's works

  Uses Indian bols, music imagery, live Indian singing mixed with the sound of their Kathak footwork
• Aural setting in Akram Khan's Desh

  • Tim Yip created projections to show how Khan interacts with the new environment of his roots
  • Jocelyn Pook captured real recordings from Bangladesh including the sound of children hammering
• Themes in Hofesh Shechter's works

  • Community versus exclusion in 'Sun'
  • Sexism and gender divide in countries
• Aural setting in Hofesh Shechter's works

  Uses bagpipes to symbolise a celebration but suggest that they are hiding the truth behind the music
• Hofesh Shechter's Political Mother


  Juxtaposes two groups he calls 'entertainers' and 'losers' with a clear power imbalance
• Dance Umbrella


  Brings dance over the UK by commissioning works to increase engagement and allow independent dance companies to produce more works
• Sadler's Wells Associate Artist programme

  Gives choreographers studio space, office space, ticket sales and technical expertise to increase revenue and replenish the cycle
• The choreography of the ICDSB is visually, audibly imaginative and inspiring, using the advancements of the 21st century to connote challenging themes through multidisciplinary approaches to dance
• The choreography has been influenced by cultural aspects, societal issues and collaborations
• The ICDSB thrives off experimentation and out of box thinking to challenge audiences worldwide through the characteristics based on the new dance philosophies from the late 1960s
• As the DSB evolves, choreographers must continue to find new movement and ways to perform supported by funding