Thikra: Night of Remembering, Sadler’s Wells – A fittingly spellbinding farewell from Akram Khan

Akram Khan’s new Thikra: Night of Remembering is a ritual of memory – and a chance to say farewell, given it is the major choreographer’s final show for his own company. Thikra is a handsome finale, showing off Khan’s gift for spellbinding movement.

Since founding his company in 2000, Khan has used it to explore both his classical Indian and contemporary dance backgrounds, building an international profile and collaborating with artists from Anish Kapoor to Sylvie Guillem. In recent years, he has become a go-to choreographer for ballet, with award-winning productions including his Giselle for English National Ballet. (He has also developed family-friendly works – the delightful Chotto Desh is at Sadler’s Wells East this month.) Khan has decided to change how he works, however, ending his company – at least in its current form.

Thikra suggests some of the directions he might go in: it was developed and first performed in the Saudi Arabian city of AlUla, danced outdoors in the desert night. Created in collaboration with visual artist Manal AlDowayan, the production shows a gathering of women revisiting their past in order to move forward.

Revised for indoor performance, AlDowayan’s simple set evokes the stones and sand of the desert, while her draped costumes have the formality of robes. The score by Aditya Prakash draws on Saudi Arabian music, particularly in the driving rhythms, plus snatches of songs from a range of cultures. Azusa Seyama Proville is the matriarch leading the gathering, appearing high on a rock with an elaborate mask.

Putting her mask aside, Proville summons up Ching-Ying Chien, a spirit of memory. There’s a lovely contrast between the matriarch’s grand, authoritative poses and the curling, ethereal lines of Chien’s dancing. Two sisters, played by Samantha Hines and Nikita Goile, hover around them, helping to conjure up memory and becoming possessed by it.

In places, Khan’s storytelling could be clearer: there’s some urgent pointing as the lead figures try to explain things to one another. But as the movement takes over, it’s fiercely convincing. In one scene, a tranced dancer arches her back and rises from the floor as if pulled up by the breastbone, seemingly compelled by forces outside her body. Back to back, Chien and Goile sway forwards and backwards until they appear like a single entity.

Around them, a company of 10 women flow through weighted, collective steps. Many of the cast are from an Indian classical background. Khan makes gorgeous use of the wide stances and flexed feet of Bharatanatyam, adding fluid contemporary kicks and rippling arm movements. Putting on straw masks, the corps evoke an invading, occupying army, surrounding and assimilating the other women. Dropping their masks, they walk away with a swaying, classical Indian stride. The style tells its own stories.

With that variety, and the urgent drive of its steps, Thikra makes a characteristic end note for this stage of Khan’s career – and a promising indicator for what comes next.

On at Sadler’s Wells until 1 November; tickets here