Katara and British Council to Present 'Vertical Road' Show

Doha, February 23 (QNA) - 'Vertical Road' a choreography on the journey from gravity to grace by British contemporary dance company Akram Khan opens here February 27 at the Drama Theatre in Katara Cultural Village. Citizens and residents of Qatar have the opportunity to watch this show on Monday and Tuesday here for the first time ever due to the partnership between Katara and The British Council. 'Vertical Road' has recently received the Critics' Circle National Dance Award for 2011 as the best modern choreography. Akram Khan Company has also been awarded with several prestigious honours including The Age Critics Award for Best New Work (Vertical Road) at the 2010 Melbourne Festival and the Helpmann Award for Best Choreography in Dance Work (zero degrees) at the 2007 Sydney Festival. The British dance company has assembled a cast of very special performers from across Asia, Europe and the Arab World, including two dancers from Egypt and Algeria, Salah El Brogy and Ahmed Khemis. With a specially commissioned score by long-term collaborator composer, Nitin Sawhney, Vertical Road contemplates the universal role of stories of angels as found in different cultures, faiths and mythologies as intermediaries between the human and the sacred. British Council Qatar Director Simon Winetroube said, "The Vertical Road performance in Qatar is part of the British Council's New Work New Audiences Arts project which allows audiences in the Middle East and the UK to experience the power of Arts in developing cultural understanding, trust and dialogue. We were delighted when Vertical Road was chosen as the first preference by our partners, Katara