Original version

BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

Private Passions Podcast

Private Passions

Discussion & Talk

Music: Classical

Guests from all walks of life discuss their musical loves and hates

Guests from all walks of life discuss their musical loves and hates, and talk about the influence music has had on their lives

Private Passions: Akram Khan

Akram Khan

13/12/2015

BBC Radio 3 - Private Passions, Akram Khan

Michael Berkeley's guests is dancer and choreographer Akram Khan.

Michael Berkeley's guests is dancer and choreographer Akram Khan. He introduces music by Mussorgsky and Stravinsky, plus performance poetry by Kate Tempest.

Akram Khan is hardly ever still; an international star, he spins around the world with his dance company - just this last month he's been performing in Santa Barbara, Corby, Moscow, Seattle, Spain, Austria... Born in London, the son of a Bangladeshi restaurant owner, Khan was talent-spotted at the age of 13 by director Peter Brook, who cast him in the RSC production of the Mahabharata - which led to his first international tour on stage. Now just into his forties, Akram Khan has won numerous international dance awards, including the Olivier. In 2012 he choreographed and danced in the opening ceremony of the London Olympics. He's collaborated with prima ballerina Sylvie Guillem, with sculptor Anthony Gormley, and worked with the National Ballet of China. And he's choreographed for Kylie Minogue. He says 'The reason I dance - is because of music!' 

In Private Passions, Akram Khan tells Michael Berkeley about his childhood, when his aunties would gather and sing till 3am, and require the exhausted young Akram to accompany them on the tabla drums. He reveals why he decided to become a dancer, not a musician. And he talks frankly about trying to be a good father to his two young children now, and how they have transformed his life. Musical choices include Mussorgsky, Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, performance poetry by Kate Tempest, and a Flamenco protest song from the Spanish Civil War. 

Produced by Elizabeth Burke
A Loftus production for BBC Radio 3.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Private Passions

Akram Khan

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3