GIGENIS transcends tradition at the same time that it honours it. It is a manual for picking up the pieces of our own dismantled world and putting them together again

I will start by saying that I have already purchased my ticket to see the show a second time. I will also add that, for me, that never happens.

Perhaps one of the most truthful pieces on any London stage today, GIGENIS: The Generation of the Earth is a testament to the importance of artistic tradition, particularly in its immense power to resonate deeply in our contemporary consciousness. Legendary choreographer, director, and dancer Akram Khan gifts us a piece of extraordinary texture – an epic tapestry woven from the strengths of a kaleidoscope of artists, all trained in different threads of classical Indian dance, theatre, and music.

The story is mythic in its proportions. Loosely based on the Mahabharata, it follows a woman (Kapila Venu) in the midst of war and profound grief. Seemingly in order to work through that grief, she backpedals to the beginning of her life and reflects on the way she saw the world as a daughter, then as a wife, then as a mother, then (back to her present self) a woman who has lost both a husband and a son to the violence of war. 

Each of these chapters is brought vividly to life in breathtaking vignettes of highly specific genres of Indian classical dance – from Bharatanatyam to Odissi to Kathak. These solos, however, quickly blend back into the greater ensemble of artistic greatness onstage. Held by a score devised and played by live musicians (led by Music Orchestrator Jyotsna Prakash), a fully immersive soundscape (designed by David Price), and impeccable lighting (by Zeynep Kepekli), it is impossible to feel far removed from this mother’s journey through a crumbling world. When she is faced with loss after loss, it is impossible not to grieve alongside her.

I know very little about Indian classical dance or musical tradition. What Khan and the company of GIGENIS have achieved is a ringing, heart-rending endorsement that digging deeply back into tradition, generally and across cultures, can teach us something quite profound about how to go about rebuilding our own endangered world. And, conversely, how reimagining our relationship to the Earth can help us fortify traditions that could be lost, traditions that could hold many answers, if we don’t make space for them on a global stage.

Khan himself appears in the piece as the warring, power-hungry son and brother – his first return to the stage in nearly half a decade and his first time creating an ensemble piece for Indian classical dance. Harnessing a background in contemporary training and twenty years in classical ballet, Khan also brings a childhood upbringing in kathak and Bengali folk dance. In his words, “I would say for 20 years I avoided the Indian classical dance world because I felt they never accepted me. I think deep down I was hurt. But I also understand […] that my style is not pure – and when I see the dancers in GIGENIS I can see the forms in all their purity.” 

Khan’s sentiment is perhaps what resounds most throughout the piece – the idea that purity is achieved through “impurity”, that beauty and harmony are fashioned by assembling together many parts that make up a whole. GIGENIS transcends tradition at the same time that it honours it. It is a manual for picking up the pieces of our own dismantled world and putting them together again.

Review by Grace Wallis