Programme Description

Akram Khan has become one of the most talked about and prodigious young choreographers on the global stage. He started out dancing like Michael Jackson before discovering and studying traditional Indian Kathak. He now blends classical Asian styles with contemporary dance in an effortless fusion. His latest show is called "Ma" and is largely inspired by the fragile relationship between farmers and the land, and by the stories of Arundhati Roy. On Night Waves, Akram Khan describes his love of movement, and how he brings together performers from around the world to create such a dynamic mixture of dance, story telling and music.

Mary Allen is joined by the cultural analyst Martin Raymond and the architect Will Alsop to discuss the developing practice of branding our towns and cities. As a major new forum discusses the problems and potential for the massive area of redevelopment East of London - The Thames Gateway - Night Waves looks at how both traditional cities and invigorated regions attempt to re-define and describe themselves through branding.

Also, a new murder mystery set deep in the Hungarian countryside - we review the award winning film Hukkle. And the latest in NightWaves series of images from Magnum photographers - Mary Allen talks to Susan Meiselas about a disturbing image taken on a bus journey in El Salvador during the war 25 years ago.

Night Waves, live at 9.30pm on BBC Radio 3.


Presenter: MaryAllen
Producer: AnthonyDenselow



Additional Information:
1) Hukkle (12A) opens in Cambridge on 25 November and in London on 3 Dec
2) Ma by Akram Khan runs at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, from 30 Nov to 5 Dec
3) Magnum Stories is published by Phaidon