A lady in a red dress dances fiercely, looking to the side with both her arms raised in the air
Dance

Thikra: Night of Remembering

Akram Khan Company, Akram Khan & Manal Aldowayan
2 performances between Sat 23 & Sun 24 May 2026, 20:00
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The past and present converge in a journey through tradition to honour our ancestors in Akram Khan Company's final touring production

Imagined as an annual gathering, a tribe of women come together for one night only to awaken the spirit of those who came before them. Through ceremony and shared remembrance, they transcend time, uniting the past and present in a profound act of renewal.

Khan draws profound inspiration from diverse cultures that engage in these sacred practices across the globe. With scenography and costume design by award-winning Saudi visual artist Manal AlDowayan, the piece explores the echoes of a colonised past.

Featuring an original score by Aditya Prakash, sound design by Gareth Fry, lighting design by Zeynep Kepekli, dramaturgy by Blue Pieta, with an all-female international cast of Contemporary and Bharatanatyam voices, Thikra weaves a narrative that is at once universal and deeply personal.

Together, these creative voices invite us to reflect on our own heritage and the rituals that have shaped our shared humanity.

Eager to book?

Members Priority Booking: 9am, Thu 19 Feb
Tickets on General Sale: 10am, Thu 26 Feb

Watch the Trailer

Female dancers in grey dress stand with arms above their heads and their legs spread apart, bent at the knees
A girl stands sideways on with her hands raised up and her eyes closed. An older lady has her arm around the girl's neck
Dancers stand in a circle around a woman in a red dress, standing with her arms reach up as if she's about to throw them down in exasperation
A woman dances vigorously with her legs apart and bent. Her arms are outstretched in front of her, her hair whipping across her face with a group of dancers doing the same thing around her
A woman with blonde hair is bent over staring intently in front of her. Her hands are held beside her face and she has stripes painted across her cheeks
A group of female dancers stand in close formation under blue hued lighting, bending over with their arms reaching out
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Production Images

Female dancers in grey dress stand with arms above their heads and their legs spread apart, bent at the knees
A girl stands sideways on with her hands raised up and her eyes closed. An older lady has her arm around the girl's neck
Dancers stand in a circle around a woman in a red dress, standing with her arms reach up as if she's about to throw them down in exasperation
A woman dances vigorously with her legs apart and bent. Her arms are outstretched in front of her, her hair whipping across her face with a group of dancers doing the same thing around her
A woman with blonde hair is bent over staring intently in front of her. Her hands are held beside her face and she has stripes painted across her cheeks
A group of female dancers stand in close formation under blue hued lighting, bending over with their arms reaching out
A black and white photo of Akram Khan, a bald Asian man with short facial hair

Akram Khan

Director/Choreographer

Akram Khan is one of the most celebrated and respected dance artists of today. In 25 years, he has created a body of work that has contributed significantly to the arts in the UK and abroad. His reputation has been built on the success of imaginative, highly accessible and relevant productions such as GIGENIS: the generation of the Earth, Jungle Book Reimagined and Outwitting the Devil

 

A black and white photo of Manal AlDowayan. She has curly black hair, gold hoop earrings and is wearing a floral shirt

Manal AlDowayan

Visual Director / Costume and Scenography

Embracing diverse media, Manal AlDowayan’s work encompasses black and white photography, sculpture, video, sound, neon and large-scale participatory installations. Her artistic practice revolves around themes of invisibility, active forgetting, archives, and collective memory, with a large focus on the status of women and their representation. Manal holds a Master’s Degree in Contemporary Art Practice in Public Spheres from the Royal College of Art, London and her works can be found in the collections of the British Museum, London; Centre Pompidou collection in Paris and the Guggenheim Collection in New York

A black and white photo of Aditya Prakash. He's staring off to the side, has a dark beard, dark hair and a studded earring

Aditya Prakash

Composer & Soundscape Designer

Aditya Prakash, an award-winning singer and composer known for his powerful and expressive voice, is one of the foremost young practitioners of Carnatic music. Aditya’s current focus in composition is pushing boundaries within the classical tradition. In his latest solo album, ISOLASHUN, he explores the weight of privilege and the boundaries of tradition in an entirely new creative form. He is currently composing the music for three evening-length dance productions by Akram Khan as well as touring his own solo gig-theatre production ROOM-i-Nation (Brighton Festival 2025), which explores themes of identity, migration and tradition.

Supported by Dishoom Permit Room

Commissioned by Wadi AlFann, Valley of the Arts, AlUla

Primary Co-producing Partner Bagri Foundation

 

*There is a £3.50 per order charge for all phone and online bookings (not applicable to Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival members)

**Stage timings are subject to change