A key project for Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, Memories of the Future, is a unique collaboration between Akram Khan Company (AKC) and Dance United Yorkshire (DUY). The highly anticipated premiere for this special project will take place at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford on 5 July.
Directed by AKC and DUY’s Artistic Directors, Akram Khan and Helen Linsell, this hour-long performance is in the process of being choreographed by the two invited emerging choreographers, Elliott Augustine (from Huddersfield) and Tallulah Shannon (from Sheffield). Augustine joined the Creative team in December 2024 and brings his longstanding connections to the region, where he serves as the Bradford Ambassador in partnership with New Adventures and the Alhambra Theatre. Also on the Creative team, long-time AKC composer Vincenzo Lamagna is now joined by award-winning costume designer Ryan Dawson Laight, with lighting design by Zeynep Kepekli.
Memories of the Future has invited over 70 participants, ages 8 to 79, from six community groups within Dance United Yorkshire. Performers come from Bradford’s priority engagement areas, building on DUY’s work to continue transforming the lives of marginalised and hard-to-reach communities through dance. Overseen by Augustine and Shannon, along with DUY’s pastoral care, the six groups rehearse weekly in Bradford, with full-group sessions held quarterly in preparation for the performance on 5 July.
The production is inspired by the themes of Akram Khan Company’s Jungle Book reimagined and explores the universal quest for belonging. Through different perspectives, it reflects the struggles and transformations we face in finding our place in the world and how that place can evolve with age. It challenges the idea that we must conform while redefining what it truly means to belong.
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