Akram Khan Company and MOKO Dance have been awarded one of only six awards for Best Event in the 2015 Get Creative Family Arts Festival, with Chotto Desh, a magical dance theatre production for children aged 7 + years and their families to enjoy together.
The annual Get Creative Family Arts Festival is a national festival offering families an extraordinary range of arts activities to enjoy. Voted for by a panel of expert judges from the arts sector, the Awards recognise the outstanding events that took place within 2015 Festival and the organisations and venues that participated.
Akram Khan Company and MOKO Dance joined over 800 other organisations in delivering events as part of the 2015 festival, which took place between 9 October and 1 November 2015. Around 500,000 family members attended one of the 4,000 festival events across the UK.
Akram Khan’s DESH was an instant hit with audiences and critics alike when it was first presented in 2011. Last year Akram Khan Company with MOKO Dance and director Sue Buckmaster of Theatre-Rites adapted Khan’s much-loved production specifically for children aged 7+ and their families.
Chotto Desh, meaning ‘small homeland’, draws on Khan’s unique quality of crosscultural storytelling, creating a compelling tale of a young man’s dreams and memories from Britain to Bangladesh. Using a unique mix of dance, text, visuals and sound, Chotto Desh celebrates the resilience of the human spirit in the modern world and promises to be a magical, thrilling and poignant dance theatre experience for families to enjoy together.
Chotto Desh was co-commissioned by MOKO Dance, Akram Khan Company, Sadler’s Wells, DanceEast, Théâtre de la Ville Paris, Biennale de la danse de Lyon 2016, Mercat de les Flors Barcelona and Stratford Circus Arts Centre and produced by AKCT.
Supported by Arts Council England, MOKO Dance is a national dance partnership dedicated to opening the eyes of children and their families to the power of dance.
The Get Creative Family Arts Festival celebrates at an awards ceremony on Wednesday 30 March at the Albany in London, recognising the Festival’s most engaging family events as well as highlighting the outstanding organisers amongst the huge variety of particiapting organisations
The Festival is run by the Family Arts Campaign, whose recent evaluation report found that 61% of organisations reported an increase in work shown for families across the country. Since its beginnings in 2013 the Festival has also included over 500 pieces of newly commissioned work specifically for families.
Phil Cave, Director of Engagement and Audiences at Arts Council England said: “Encouraging arts organisations to develop their family offer, and to consider the diverse needs of families in Britain today is really important. We are very pleased to continue to support the Family Arts Campaign, it has been a huge success to date and has reached a wide range of people. The Campaign continues to inspire artists, arts organisations and families to engage in a vast range of arts activities across the country. It provides time for families to get together and create shared memories, and to experience the power of engaging with the arts.”
Planning is already underway for the next Get Creative Family Arts Festival, which will take place throughout October 2016. With extended dates, this year’s festival aims to involve even more families in exceptional programmes of events later this year. Visit the Family Arts Festival website to find out more: familyartsfestival.com.
