Jungle Book Reimagined sends Mowgli on a modern journey through the climate crisis, in a cautionary tale told through dance
- The Akram Khan Company expands on a theme of the classic short stories by Rudyard Kipling, about the threat that mankind poses to nature
- The show, which is part of the 2022 New Vision Arts Festival, features choreography that replicates the movements of various animals
Thanks to Walt Disney, we are well accustomed to stories with anthropomorphic animal characters that reflect real-world issues and morals. But in 1894, British writer Rudyard Kipling mastered this form of storytelling with The Jungle Book, a collection of short stories about Mowgli, a boy raised by wolves who navigates a dangerous world caught between his adopted family in the wild and the human community.
The work was inspired by ancient Indian fables, and the storyline was based on Kipling’s childhood experiences of growing up in India and later being sent to live in a foster home in England. As a result, The Jungle Book explores subjects such as belonging, friendship, abandonment and self-actualisation.
The universal themes of Kipling’s stories continue to resonate with audiences around the world more than a century after they were first published, helped by various stage and movie adaptations.
Classic tale with contemporary relevance
The latest of these adaptations is Jungle Book Reimagined, a production created by the internationally renowned British dance troupe Akram Khan Company, and which is being presented in Hong Kong as part of the annual New Vision Arts Festival.
The dance company’s two co-founders, producing director Farooq Chaudhry and celebrated dancer/choreographer Akram Khan, first came up with the concept in 2019 during a casual conversation in Avignon, France, where they were attending a festival.
