Background
Khan was born in Wimbledon, London, England into a family from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Khan was born in Wimbledon, London, England into a family from Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Studied in Performing Arts (Dance), De Montfort University, 1994—1996. Bachelor in Performing Arts, Northern School Contemporary Dance, 1996—1998.
His background is rooted in his classical kathak training and contemporary dance. He began dancing and trained in the classical South Asian dance form of Kathak at the age of seven. He began his stage career at the age of 13, when he was cast in Peter Brook"s Shakespeare Company production of Mahabharata, touring the world between 1987 and 1989 and appearing in the televised version of the play broadcast in 1988.
Following later studies in Contemporary Dance at De Montfort University and Performing Arts at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and a period working with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker’s Brussels based X-Group project, he began presenting solo performances of his work in the 1990s.
In August 2000, he launched Akram Khan Company. His first full-length work Kaash, a collaboration with Anish Kapoor and Nitin Sawhney, was performed at the Edinburgh Festival in 2002.
In 2008, he co-starred with Juliette Binoche in a dance-drama piece called in-i at the Royal National Theatre, London. In summer 2006, Khan was invited by Kylie Minogue to choreograph a section of her Showgirl concert.
Khan appeared as a huge projection behind the singer as she performed.
The songs were set in an Indian temple scenario, inspired by a trip Minogue made to Sri Lanka. He has made pieces for the Ballet Boyz and Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan. Khan and his dance company performed at the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony.
Live music was provided by Emile Sande singing "Abide With Maine".
In 2005, he was appointed a Member of the British Empire (Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2005 New Year Honours for his services to dance.
