NAC Dance presents the latest ground-breaking ensemble work, Vertical Road, by the UK’s arresting and inimitable artist, Akram Khan. This NAC Dance co-production will run February 2, 3 and 4, 2012 in the NAC Theatre.

A chorographer with a rare, narrative vision, Khan’s stunning piece, Vertical Road, draws inspiration from the Sufi tradition and the Persian poet and philosopher Rumi. Exploring man’s earthly nature, his rituals and the consequences of human actions, the work becomes a meditation on the journey from gravity to grace - the road between the earthly and the spiritual, the vertical road.
The eight-strong international cast, from across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, examine spirituality and transcendence, creating viscerally gripping and ambitious sequences that are at once beautiful and harrowing - a moving display of the pursuit of truth and enlightenment.

Hailed as a “fantastic feast for the senses,” (Ballet Magazine), Vertical Road is carried by the evocative cross currents of Khan’s long-time collaborator, composer Nitin Sawhney's meditative score. The dancers crawl, crouch, and sway, like warriors from some ancient civilization, to the throbbing, rhythmic soundscape that holds them captive.

Since its inception, founded by Khan and his producer Farooq Chaudhry in 2000, Akram Khan Company has established a worldwide reputation for work that is powerful, relevant, and profoundly moving. A classicist and a modernist, the storytelling in Khan’s work has an uncanny ability to reflect our times, while reinvigorating perceptions of dance, other art forms, and cultures.
“fertile dance that touches the soul and lingers in the imagination.”
Eamonn Kelly, THE AUSTRALIAN, Oct 2010

“Khan’s journey of reconnection is a harrowing, beautiful puzzle”
Judith Mackrell, THE GUARDIAN, Sept 2010

Vertical Road
Artistic Director and Choreographer   Akram Khan
Composer       Nitin Sawhney
Lighting Designer     Jesper Kongshaug
Costume Designer     Kimie Nakano
Producer       Farooq Chaudhry
Technical Director      Fabiana Piccioli
Set conceived by      Akram Khan, Kimie Nakano,
Jesper Kongshaug
Material devised and performed by  Eulalia Ayguade Farro, Konstandina Efthymiadou, Salah El Brogy, Ahmed Khemis, Yen-Ching Lin, Andrej Petrovic, Elias Lazaridis, Sung Hoon Kim
Co-produced by
ADACH (Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage), Curve Theatre Leicester, Sadler’s Wells London, Theatre de la Ville Paris, Canada’s National Arts Centre Ottawa, Mercat de les Flors Barcelona

Akram Khan Company is sponsored by COLAS 

Duration: 70 minutes, no intermission

Workshop with Akram Khan Company

Saturday February 4, 2012 - 12:00 to 2:00 pm

This contemporary dance master class is open to professional and pre-professional level students and dancers (aged 16 and up).

• Location: Rehearsal Hall B, National Arts Centre, 53 Elgin Street, Ottawa (Enter by Stage Door)
• Cost  $15, in cash payable on site
• You must REGISTER in advance, as space is limited, or at soutter@magma.ca 613-947-7000 ext 588 – Renata Soutter, Dance Outreach Coordinator
Akram Khan Company’s Vertical Road performs in the NAC Theatre, Thursday through Saturday, February 2 to 4, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $37.67, $46.28 and $50.58 for adults and $20.34, $24.64 and $26.79 for students (upon presentation of a valid student ID card).
Groups of 10 or more save 15% to 20% off regular ticket prices; to reserve your seats, call 613-947-7000, ext. 634, or e-mail grp@nac-cna.ca.
Tickets are available for purchase:
• In person at the NAC Box Office
• At all Ticketmaster outlets
• By telephone from Ticketmaster, 1-888-991-2787 (ARTS)
• Online through the Ticketmaster link on the NAC’s website (www.nac-cna.ca)
• A service charge applies on all purchases made through Ticketmaster
This production is eligible for the Trinity Live Rush program. Full-time students aged 13-29 with a valid Live Rush membership may buy up to two tickets per performance at the discounted price of only $12 per ticket. Live Rush tickets are available from 10 a.m. on the day before the performance until 6 p.m. on the day of the performance. This includes all available seats, including the best seats in the house. Check out liverush.ca for information on the Trinity Live Rush program.

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For more information, please call:
Eleri Evans
Marketing and Communications Officer, Dance
National Arts Centre
613-947-7000 ext. 379; e-mail: eleri.evans@nac-cna.ca
or visit the NAC website at www.nac-cna.ca