Sylvie Guillem, Akram Khan

First performed in 2006, Sacred Monsters is the hugely acclaimed collaboration between Sadler’s Wells Associate Artists Sylvie Guillem and Akram Khan. Together, the pair explore the dynamics and language of two great classical dance forms, kathak and ballet, to produce a “five-star display of speed, precision and power” (The Guardian).

Used in France in the 19th century as a nickname for theatre’s biggest stars, Sacred Monsters is a term that marks the birth of contemporary stardom, in which the icons of the arts and sports worlds are given divine status by their audience and the media. The pressure of living up to these expectations leaves no room for failure, self-expression or emotion. The divine status becomes inhuman, monstrous.

Sacred Monsters is a landmark piece featuring additional choreography by Gauri Sharma Tripathi and Lin Hwai-min, Artistic Director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, and music created by Philip Sheppard.