From AlUla to Sadler’s Wells: Inside Akram Khan and Manal AlDowayan’s ‘Thikra’

“It is in this shared space of remembering that healing grows and we reconnect to something larger than ourselves,” Akram Khan tells me, discussing his latest work, Thikra, made in collaboration with Saudi artist Manal AlDowayan – who represented her country at the Venice Biennale last year. Born out of the vast expanse of AlUla’s desert, the work explores the landscape’s stories, weaving together its topographies, mythologies, and ancestral memories into a performance that has journeyed from Saudi Arabia to Sadler’s Wells, opening in London tomorrow, Tuesday 28 October.  

Thikra is an excavation, a way of listening. “For me, memory isn’t really about specific dates or events,” says AlDowayan. “I’m more interested in the act of remembering, particularly the kind of collective memory that women carry. I think a lot about the feminine archive, the things that never make it into history books but are written onto the body itself. It’s about reviving what’s intangible… that quiet resilience, the stories we share in private, the memory of gathering and working together.”

Khan nods to the same impulse, his language turning toward the land itself. “I approach each creation by finding the entry point so in this instance, it was the desert itself. Standing in AlUla, you realise how small you feel. The land carries a particular kind of silence. And working with Manal, she taught me about its history and introduced me to the beautiful community there. AlUla was a meeting place of worlds, and through Manal’s lens, I wanted to listen to its echoes, to let all of these historical reference points; poetry, its ancestral stories, inform the spirit of Thikra.” That silence, as AlDowayan observes, is never empty. “We realised something profound… AlUla isn’t just a backdrop. It’s a main character… It’s full of whispers. The place itself is remembrance.”

In Thikra, the desert speaks through texture, rhythm and breath. AlDowayan’s scenography carries the marks of the land itself. “The geometric shapes you see are never just decoration; they are architectural vessels for memory. I drew every single one from AlUla as inspiration, from the ancient inscriptions on the rock to the specific lines of the old stone homes.” For Khan, that visual language became a choreography of remembrance. “Working closely with Manal, whose practice is deeply rooted in her Saudi heritage, we drew on her profound understanding of the materials and textures found in AlUla’s landscape – symbols, colours and textile. This element was key in transforming the piece from its site-specific form into the indoor adaptation you see on stage. Early on, Manal also introduced me to a remarkable woman from a Saudi community. She and her family welcomed me warmly, even performing a traditional Saudi folk dance where they use their hair. That moment informed the opening of Thikra.”

“Our colour palette came directly from the land, inspired by the natural local dyes made from the rocks, the plants, and the soil. You see those deep ochres, the dusty umbers, the stark black from volcanic stone, and those soft, sun-bleached whites. To see these colours on the dancers’ bodies is to see the landscape set in motion,” AlDowayan explains. “Then the light interacts with all these earthy textures, carving out the dancers’ forms and casting long shadows, much like the sun does as it moves through AlUla’s canyons. Ultimately, the set, with its repeated and fragmented shapes, is meant to feel both otherworldly and deeply familiar, like a visual language passed down through generations. When these shapes layer across the costumes and the stage, they create a rhythmic, living environment.”

The meeting between Khan and AlDowayan evolved into a shared language. “At the start, we felt the weight of being the first artists to create a contemporary dance in AlUla and the significance of the place itself,” says Khan. “But ultimately, a place means little without its people, and it was the human connection between Manal and me that truly mattered. Working with Manal was a process of deep trust and listening. We came from different worlds and different art forms but when I was invited to work with a visual artist, meeting Manal… her grace, generosity and deep connection to her community were clear from the start. We aligned on so many things. We then began to dream together.”

AlDowayan remembers that first trip vividly. “That curiosity just melted away during our first research trip to AlUla. The connection was instant. I remember inviting him to a local friend’s home, where we shared music and stories with the community, and in those moments, a new language began to emerge, not just between us, but with the land itself. We created a very safe creative space for each other, one rooted in respect and deep listening, and that’s what allowed the soul of the work to truly come forward. What really defined this collaboration was a profound sense of openness and trust. From the very beginning, we built the narrative together, sharing ideas and quite literally shaping each element side by side. It was never a case of one person leading and the other following; it was a true partnership that unfolded over almost two years of creation.”

She continues: “On my early visits to AlUla, I had a profound realisation, my education had completely skipped over the ancient civilisations of this region. So when I was finally standing in front of these historical sites, it was like a door swung open. I was learning that we have these deep roots into human history; I was discovering the traditions, the symbols, and the way of life of those who came before us, all through the architecture and the rock art. For so long, these stories were overlooked, even though they hold this global significance. To now be able to bring them to light, to celebrate them and feel a sense of pride in them, that, to me, is a form of collective healing.”

Her words resonate through the work itself. “Thikra revives a collective women’s memory, the kind kept in our stories, in the songs we sang while working, in the patterns woven into fabric. By gathering these intangible memories and weaving them into a contemporary performance, we are learning from our collective past. And in doing so, we are healing that rupture of forgetting. We are affirming that our cultural heritage isn’t a relic, but a living, breathing source of strength and innovation for our future.”

If Thikra begins in the specificity of AlUla, it ends in a space that belongs to everyone. “The specificity was of course the landscape itself,” says Khan. “AlUla, with its ancestral roots and fascinating history. It was part of the Incense Route and a meeting place for Nabatean tribes, it served as a crossroads of cultures and rituals. But the sense of gathering, the act of remembering, this transcends time and geography. We weren’t trying to create a re-enactment of history but rather to explore a shared emotional space. And we weren’t trying to represent a particular culture but to honour an universal instinct; to remember.”

AlDowayan sees this universality reflected in audience reactions around the world. “I’ve been so moved to see how people around the world are reacting to this performance. Thikra has this unique quality of being deeply local in its details, yet truly global in the emotions it evokes. The fact that it’s a fictional story, not tied to any single point in time or civilisation; it could be none or all of them at once, makes it something people can connect with, regardless of their own background. There’s a real mix at play: cultures, stories, symbols, and rhythms. Of course, the AlUla landscape is a profound influence, along with our collaboration with local musicians, the dance elements, the crafts, and the symbols. But we’ve also woven in essential elements from other cultures around the world, like the traditional Indian dance reimagined through Akram’s performance, sound elements from various traditions, and even textures drawn directly from nature. The goal was to present these traditional elements in an unexpected, contemporary way.”

As Thikra opens in London before touring Europe, both artists see it as a threshold, an ending and a beginning. “As the final AKC [Akram Khan Company] production, this piece holds a sense of closure but also continuity,” says Khan. “What I hope carries forward is the spirit behind the work and the values I’ve held close across all my projects, a deep listening to place, to our ancestors and to the stories often hidden in the shadows.” AlDowayan shares this feeling of continuation. “To me, Thikra doesn’t feel like an isolated project or an exception, but more like a vital evolution in my practice. While the visual language might change, the core themes, collective memory, womanhood, and ancestrality are the very roots I’ve always drawn from. This work was a significant step forward, and that journey will naturally leave its imprint on everything I do next… And of course, I loved working with Akram. I hope we can create something together again.”

Thikra: Night of Remembering receives its UK premiere at Sadler’s Wells Theatre; performances from Tuesday 28 October – Saturday 1 November 2025.  



Feature image: Thikra by Akram Khan and Manal AlDowayan. Photo: Camilla Greenwell