Jungle book Reimagined is a dance show by the award winning choreographer Akram Khan. This reimagining of the Kipling classic is not only told by the medium of dance but also by some gorgeous animation by Adam Smith, Nick Hillel and a team of animators. Projection technology is used superbly to bring the animation to life in a spectacular way, which I thoroughly enjoyed as it was visually stunning. The show also features an original score by Jocelyn Pook which is just gorgeous and really helps to set the atmosphere of the show. It also has a surprising amount of dialog, in the form of a pre recorded voice over.
The story is by Toriq Jordan and tells of a dystopian world where a climate catastrophe has taken place causing the sea levels to rise and leaving humans no choice but to seek higher ground. The deserted cities being taken over by the animals which were one in captivity in zoos, circuses and laboratories.
A young girl travelling on a raft with her family falls in to the water and washes up on the shore, there she is found by wolves, Raksha one of the pack leaders want to keep her and raise her as their own but others in the pack disagree so they present the girl to the newly formed animal council. The council decide that the girl can stay and name her Mowgli, Bagheera a albino panther is assigned as her protector along with Baloo a former dancing bear. Whilst searching for food with Bagheera and Baloo Mowgli is kidnaped by the bandar-log a group of escaped laboratory monkeys. The bandar-log want Mowgli to teach them how to become human and tell them how to create fire. In order to save Mowgli from the bandar-log Bagheera and Baloo seek out the help of the rock python Kaa.
All the Dancers in the show including the main characters all wore the same costume meaning the only was to distinguish the characters was via the movements they used to represent their animal. The dancers were able to contort their bodies to represent the bodily characteristics and movements of monkeys, wolves, a panther and a bear. Holly Vallis as Bagheera really stood out for me as she moved around on all fours so gracefully and with an animal like realness. The way Tom Davis-Dunn lumbered around the stage as the dancing bear Baloo was also very well done.
I thought this was a visually stunning piece of theatre with wonderful choreography and gorgeous animation however I think at times there was so much going on that I wasn't focused on the amazing dancers and more on the visuals. Saying that I really enjoyed this show and found it thoroughly entertaining as did the rest of the audience as the cast got a well deserved standing ovation.
Photo Credit - Ambra Vernuccio
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*Our tickets for this show were kindly gifted in exchange for an honest review
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