British-Bangladeshi choreographer and performer Akram Khan challenges the seeming contradiction between static sculptures and moving dancers. The power of the statue, he says, lies in how its immobility prompts movement in the observer while, conversely, the moving body can make the viewer still. He’s been exploring this theme since he began creating his unique fusion of contemporary and South Asian classical dance traditions in 2000. Speaking from London, where he co-founded the Akram Khan Company, he addresses our tendency today to privilege information over wisdom, the connection between dance and our ancient past and the invaluable reactions of children.

Your 2010 work, Vertical Road, which was inspired by traditions in Sufi Islam and the poetry of Rumi, meditates on the difficult...