smokin' dancers

photos courtesy akram khan company

how is that dancers can smoke? chain smoke? last night, i spotted choreographer akram khan outside sadler's wells smoking a cigarette, a 20-pack of marlboros tucked into his front shirt pocket. with 10 minutes before curtains up.

without him, his latest collaboration - "bahok," featuring his dance company and members of the national ballet of china - lacked visible star presence. but maybe that was the point: "bahok" asks, in physical terms, who we are, where we are from, and where we are going in this globalized, frenetic, aggressive, seemingly disconnected and constantly faltering world.

see a clip here.