Chotto Xenos

World Première: 21 February 2020, DanceEast, Ipswich, UK.

We’ve teamed up with director Sue Buckmaster to reimagine XENOS into a child-friendly production. Interweaving the themes from the piece, Chotto Xenos probes the necessary questions to younger audiences and their families.

How does war begin? And how does it end? It depends on who is telling the story.

Inspired by our award winning final full-length solo XENOS, Chotto Xenos is a captivating dance production that takes young audiences back in time, exploring the often forgotten and untold stories of World War 1 colonial soldiers, in order to shine light on our present and future.

Reimagined by Sue Buckmaster, Artistic Director of Theatre-Rites and creator of the highly successful Chotto Desh, Chotto Xenos weaves together stunning choreography by Akram Khan, lighting design by Guy Hoare, costumes by Kimie Nakano, and tender and evocative visuals by Lucy Cash. Mounted on a set by Ingrid Hu, this family production incorporates Domenico Angarano’s stirring soundscape inspired by Vincenzo Lamagna‘s score for XENOS.

Chotto Xenos will be performed by either Guilhem Chatir or Kennedy Junior Muntanga and is for anyone over the age of 8.

"Our future peace processes rely on us inspiring a younger generation"

Sue Buckmaster

Choreography

Director

Scenographer

Lighting Designer

Composer

Costume Designer

Film & Projection Design

Mavin Khoo

Rehearsal Director

Nicola Monaco

Rehearsal Director

Guilhem Chatir

Dancer

Kennedy Junior Muntanga

Dancer

XENOS Artistic Direction and Original Choreography Akram Khan
Chotto Xenos Direction and Adaptation Sue Buckmaster (Theatre-Rites)

Set Design Ingrid Hu
Lighting Design Guy Hoare
Original Music Domenico Angarano, inspired by Vincenzo Lamagna’s score for XENOS
Sound Design Domenico Angarano & Phil Wood
Costume Design Kimie Nakano
Film & Projection Design Lucy Cash
Assistant Choreographer Nicola Monaco
Rehearsal Directors Nicolas Ricchini & Amy Butler

Dancer Guilhem Chatir or Kennedy Junior Muntanga

Producer Clare Cody-Richardson
Technical Manager Tina Fagan
Production Manager Richard Fagan
Sound Engineer Matthew Armstrong
Lighting Technician Lars Davidson
Stage Manager Marek Pomocki
Project & Tour Manager Mashitah Omar & Mai Tassinari
Digital animation & motion graphics Laurie Hill
Props made by Louise Edge from LFX props & special fx
Puppets made by Naomi Oppenheim
Music recorded with Stefano Ancora, Domenico Angarano, James Browne, Nina Harries, Joost Hendrickx, Matt Holborn, Arran Kent, Stefan Knapik, Vincenzo Lamagna, Andrew Maddick, B C Manjunath, Tamar Osborn, Aditya Prakash, Clarice Rarity, Ciro Riccardi

In order of their first appearance, the archive images used in the Chotto Xenos projection are copyright of: National Portrait Gallery, London (image 3), ECPAD/collection Mick Micheyl – Jean-Baptiste Tournassoud / Photographe: Jean-Baptiste TOURNASSOUD (images 4, 5 & 6), MOREAU Albert/ECPAD/Défense (image 8), CORDIER/ECPAD/Défense (image 9), IWM (images 12 & 31). All other images are out of copyright.

We gratefully acknowledge the artists, collaborators and co-producers who contributed to the original production of XENOS by Akram Khan Company.

Co-produced by DanceEast Ipswich, The Point Eastleigh, Stratford Circus Arts Centre, Théâtre de la Ville – Paris

Created with the support of Capital Group

Chotto Xenos and XENOS are both commissioned by 14-18 NOW: WW1 Centenary Art Commissions, supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Arts Council England, and the Department for Digital,Culture, Media and Sport

Supported by Arts Council England

Special thanks to Nigel Hinds, Jenny Waldman, Sarah Goodfellow, Liz Robertson, Tania Wilmer, Ashlie Nelson, Sacha Lee, Elizabeth Wolton, Susannah Burke, Brendan Keaney, Helen Dawson, Ole Birkeland, Ruth Little, Emma Bellerby, students and teachers of Canon Barnett Primary School and Elmhurst Primary School, Di’mond Sharma-Joseph, Nathan White.