Episode details

Radio 3,10 May 2012,15 mins

Series Here's Looking at Me

Akram Khan

The Essay

Available for over a year

Akram Khan agreed to be the subject of a portrait for the National Portrait Gallery. But how is an artist chosen? And what are the difficulties of depicting a man who says 'there's no division between Akram Khan the dancer and Akram Khan the man'? A normal 'sitting' would make no sense. So we follow Khan's story of capturing movement - how the traditional expressions of Kathak dance were interpreted by Fakhr in a contemporary way and made into a nine-panel sepia portrait which captured the dancer in action. The result is a portrait that is both deeply rooted in tradition and yet vivid describes Khan in various moods and attitudes.

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