Bengali to rock London Olympics 2012

There are another 144 days to the event, but London seems super-excited to step with Akram Khan, the world renowned choreographer of Bengali origin, at the very prestigious London Olympics festival 2012 to be inaugurated on July 27.

Around 12,000 dancers will take part at the dance presentation directly under the supervision of Khan at the event. In keeping with Shakespeare’s ‘Tempest’ (the central theme of the event honoring the National Health Services scheme) Akram has decided to perform a compact dance-piece at the scheduled show instead of his usual collective lyrical ballads.

Unlike most London-based Bangladeshis, Khan was never satisfied with his family business of managing a restaurant. Instead he took to dancing at a very early age. Talking to media, he said that it was due to his mother’s direct intervention and inspiration that he was started learning Kathak at the tender age of 7.

Today, Akram is regarded as one of the most stylish and successful British choreographers of his time. Referring to his childhood, Khan admits, “I had never been a serious student. I failed so many times in school. I was then trying to develop myself as a dancer and most of my friends used to avoid me.”

But the situation started to change soon after Akram won a prestigious 'Disco competition' in London. He co-founded the ‘Akram Khan Dance Company’ at the turn of the century and over the last decade has choreographed many popular celebrities including French actress Juliette Binoche and the French ballet dancer Sylvie Guillem. He was also invited by popular singer Kylie Minogue in 2006 to choreograph a section of her concert. In his not-so long career, he has even presented a recital with famed Kathak dancer Pandit Birju Maharaj.

Bagging numerous awards for his innovative choreography, Khan is now concentrating on the upcoming Olympic event. Terming this to be one of his rare opportunities through the diverse art forms of sport and dance, Khan does not seem to be in the mood to leave a single stone unturned to fulfill his London Dreams.