Act 1: 56 minutes

Intermission: 20 minutes

Act 2: 47 minutes

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.

In July 1999 in the foyer of the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, an animated and curiosity-filled conversation took place between the young gifted dancer/choreographer Akram Khan and an ambitious former dancer and just recently graduated arts manager Farooq Chaudhry. That conversation laid the foundation stone for a dynamic collaboration, culminating in the creation of Akram Khan Company one year later.

Inspired by Akram Khan’s early training in the Indian classical dance form kathak, and the hybrid language that organically emerged when Akram’s kathak training encountered contemporary dance in his teens, a vision began to form, fuelled by a desire to learn and create through collaboration with the very best people across all the disciplines in the arts.

The rules were simple: take risks, think big and daring, explore the unfamiliar, avoid compromise and tell stories through dance that are compelling and relevant, with artistic integrity.

In over 22 years, Akram Khan Company is now undisputedly one of the foremost innovative dance companies in the world. The programmes range from kathak and modern solos to artist-to-artist collaborations and ensemble productions. The Company has a major international presence and enjoys busy tours that reach out to many cultures and peoples across the globe. Akram Khan has been the recipient of numerous international dance awards, the most notable being an Olivier Award for his solo production DESH in 2012.

A milestone in the Company’s journey was the creation of a section of the London Olympic Games Opening Ceremony in 2012.

Akram Khan Company enjoys artistic association with Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, Curve in Leicester, and other leading venues and festivals around the world.

Company Productions
Jungle Book reimagined (2022), Chotto Xenos (2020), Outwitting the Devil (2019), XENOS (2018), Until the Lions (2016), Chotto Desh (2015), Kaash (revival, 2014), TOROBAKA (2014), iTMOi (2013), DESH (2011), Vertical Road (2010), Gnosis (2009), In-I (2008), bahok (2008), Sacred Monsters (2006), zero degrees (2005), Variations for Vibes, Strings & Pianos (2006), Third Catalogue (2005), ma (2004), Ronin (2003), Kaash (2002), Polaroid Feet (2001), Related Rocks (2001), Rush (2000), Fix (2000), Loose in Flight (2000)

Jocelyn Pook is this soundtrack’s composer. Winning Olivier and BAFTA awards for her work in theatre and TV, and known for her work on films from Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut to John Smith’s Blight to Björn L. Runge’s The Wife, this new Real World release marks a powerful new chapter in her career.

Pook’s soundtrack carries us from a dramatic ‘Exodus’ to an intimate ‘Mother’s Lullaby’, creating a vivid world through new music. Here are creatures rustling through the trees, moving and connecting, conjured up by the sounds of twitching strings, sighing woodwind and delicate kalimbas. Here are their deep, resonant voices, lamenting alone and rallying together.

Listen to the soundtrack here.