From 5–10 August 2019, 42 dancers met us in a far away countryside to immerse themselves in what turned out to be an incredibly moving experience.

Each day was filled not only with the transmission of Akram’s movement and philosophy but the practice of opening ourselves up to discuss and deliberate on highly complex themes that are intrinsic to our work. The programme this year was born from the learnings of our first Summer Intensive, and what ensued in this week being at Orsolina 28, was the building of a beautiful commune where everyone lived, dined and danced together.

Much like our first Intensive, this 6-day programme was designed to be a fully-immersive training and sharing experience. Under the direction of our highly experienced senior team – Mavin Khoo, Nicola Monaco, Andrej Petrovic and Joy Alpuerto Ritter – the participants had a unique opportunity to challenge their own practice, to submerge into the creative processes of Company repertoire, to broaden their artistic horizon and to experience studio work with Akram himself.

Offering a total immersion in nature, this second edition of AKC Summer Intensive brought our programme to a very special communal, ashram-like dance experience, where both participants and AKC team stayed on site, sharing meals and living together.