Dancing the Multicultural Conversation? Critical Responses to Akram Khan's Work in the Context of Pluralist Poetics

摘要

Akram Khan, born in London of Bangladeshi heritage, is acknowledged by the UK press to be one of the British dance scene's biggest stars. His choreography combines classical Indian Kathak with Western contemporary dance techniques, and Khan has become well known for his high-profile collaborations, two of which form the focus of this article: Zero Degrees (2005) and Sacred Monsters (2006). Both works explore complex identity politics and cross-cultural encounters through dance and speech, employing a range of strategies to encourage empathy between performers and audience, including simultaneous spoken narratives and movement synchrony. This article begins by exploring the rich critical context for intercultural performance in dance studies and then goes on to question the simplifications of some dance critics in their appreciation of Khan's “rich melting pot” on the one hand and criticism of his “pretentious introspection” on the other. I argue that the nuances of Khan's own conceptions of multiculturalism are perceptible only when we consider his words alongside his endlessly nuanced physical explorations of both cultural collision and synchrony.