Akram Khan Company: Jungle Book reimagined

Dance House Helsinki, Erkko Hall
Thu 22.8.2024 18:00
Fri 23.8.2024 18:00
Sat 24.8.2024 13:00
Sat 24.8.2024 18:00
Duration: 2h, interval

In a near future world, a family is torn apart as they escape their homeland ravaged by the impact of climate change. Arriving alone in a deserted modern city, and with wild animals claiming the streets as their own, the child soon discovers unlikely allies in this strange new jungle.

In Akram Khan’s new dance-theatre production based on the original story of Rudyard Kipling’s much-loved classic, Akram and his team reinvent the journey of Mowgli through the eyes of a climate refugee. 

Featuring an original score, ten international dancers and state-of-the-art animation and visuals, Jungle Book reimagined is a beautifully compelling and vital piece of storytelling about our intrinsic need to belong and bond with others, and placing the importance of connecting with and respecting our natural world at its heart.

Jungle Book reimagined is a work of collaboration with AKC and the following creatives: Tariq Jordan – Writer, Sharon Clark – Dramaturgical Advisor, Jocelyn Pook – Composer, Gareth Fry – Sound Designer, Michael Hulls – Lighting Designer, Miriam Buether – Visual Stage Designer, and Video Design/Animation from YeastCulture, who use visual technology to transform the stage into a magical world diving into the myths of today.

Age suitability: all generations of audiences from 10 upwards

Artist discussion 22.8. after the performance. The discussion will be chaired by Marko Ahtisaari, Artistic Director of the Festival.

ACT I

Sea levels are rising; waters dominate land; and humans scramble for their survival in search for higher ground. A young child finds herself separated from her family and ends up in a flooded city, deserted by its human inhabitants. Monuments have been uprooted and rearranged, and animals of all shapes and sizes have congregated here and formed an uneasy alliance as they try to live with this new unreliable climate. They have claimed this cityscape as their own – marking their territories in libraries, supermarkets, governmental buildings, and even places of worship.

The child is discovered by the wolf pack led by Raksha and Rama. Raksha wants to keep the child, but Rama insists that humans bring danger, and they must destroy it. Raksha protects Mowgli and presents her to an animal council, led by Akela, a dog, and with the watchful eyes in the sky of Chil, the kite. The animals speak of a mysterious hunter, a human who has been cast out by his own kind. The hunter has returned to these lands and keeps the animals in constant fear. After much deliberation, the child is accepted by the council and the naming process begins: Mowgli. Mowgli is set to work straight away; she must prove her worth and help the animals in their search for food. Maybe human instincts are just what they need.

Mowgli finds herself in the company of Bagheera, a kidnapped albino panther who grew up in a palace, and Baloo, an escaped dancing bear. However, on their quest for food, Mowgli is taken by the Bandar-log; lab monkeys who have had all kinds of experiments done on them. Through cunning, the Bandar-log outwit Baloo and Bagheera and steal Mowgli. Bagheera and Baloo must now find an animal capable of striking fear into the Bandar-log. After all, they are not animals of the tree world. They seek out Kaa, a rock python, who has escaped from captivity but still lives with the traumas of a lifetime stuck behind a glass viewing screen.

ACT II

Mowgli is taken to the Bandar-log’s lair, a ransacked governmental building. The Bandar-log are no strangers to humankind; they come from testing laboratories and regurgitate commercial jingles and political rants they heard from their cages. They listened, copied, and aped the humans, but now they want to become them. Mowgli is the missing piece of the puzzle. A human child to teach them how to fully become human.

With the help of Kaa, Baloo and Bagheera rescue Mowgli from the hands of the Bandar-log just at the moment she is about to help them create fire: the most feared possession of mankind. Animals can’t control this. Mankind can.

When Mowgli is saved, the trio return to the council where Hathi, the leader of the elephants, tells them of their ancient tale, back to the time when the jungles they once knew were created.

But when the hunter finally breaches their territory, and shoots down Chil, the animals know that this spells the beginning of the end of the peace they have forged together. Mowgli, remembering her mother’s words throughout her journey, decides to stand up and fight for her newfound friends and seeks out the hunter and end his savagery.

Director/Choreographer Akram Khan

Creative Associate/Coach Mavin Khoo
Writer Tariq Jordan
Dramaturgical Advisor Sharon Clark
Composer Jocelyn Pook
Sound Designer Gareth Fry
Lighting Designer Michael Hulls
Visual Stage Designer Miriam Buether
Art Direction and Director of Animation Adam Smith (YeastCulture)
Producer/Director of Video Design Nick Hillel (YeastCulture)
Rotoscope Artists/Animators Naaman Azhari, Natasza Cetner, Edson R Bazzarin

Rehearsal Directors Nicky Henshall, Andrew Pan, Angela Towler, Charlotte Pook

Dancers Maya Balam Meyong, Bea Bidault, Ferghas Clavey, Harry Theadora Foster, Filippo Franzese, Jasper Narvaez, Max Revell, Matthew Sandiford, Elpida Skourou ja Lani Yamanaka

Producing Director Farooq Chaudhry
Executive Director Isabel Tamen
Project Manager Mashitah Omar

Co-produced by Curve Leicester, Attiki Cultural Society – Greece, Birmingham Hippodrome, Edinburgh International Festival, Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay Singapore, Festspielhaus St. Pölten, Internationaal Theater Amsterdam, Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance – Chicago, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts – New York, Maison de la Danse / Pôle européen de création – Lyon, National Arts Centre – Canada, New Vision Arts Festival – Hong Kong, Orsolina28, Pfalzbau Bühnen – Theater im Pfalzbau Ludwigshafen, Romaeuropa Festival, Stanford Live / Stanford University, Teatros del Canal – Madrid, théâtre de Caen, Théâtre de la Ville – Paris.

The technical adaptation of Jungle Book reimagined is kindly supported by Les Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg.

With the support of Garfield Weston Foundation, Genesis Foundation and Angela Bernstein CBE

Supported by Arts Council England

Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation