Category: Aakash Odedra Company

AAKASH ODEDRA COMPANY

Samsara

Feb-Mar 2022/ summer festivals 21 & 22

 Inspired by Journey to the West, a major text of China created during the Ming Dynasty, SAMSARA tells the story of how Buddhist philosophy was sought by a monk’s arduous journey through India and finally brought to China. 

Sharing cultures and the search for knowledge are age-old and suggest the human need for interdependence for its own advancement. This is as relevant today as it has ever been.

ON AAKASH ODEDRA

• ‘“Rising” reveals an exceptionally agile dancer who, it appears, has no trouble slipping between styles, effortlessly multilingual.’ New York Times
• ‘Aakash Odedra transfixes and transports his audience, receiving a deservedly rapturous response.’ Sydney Morning Herald

ON HU SHENYUAN

• ‘Hu Shenyuan is outstanding… He moves with an eerie suppleness, the delicate, voluptuous coils of his body evoking a rare hot-house beauty.’  The Guardian
• “ (Hu Shenyuan) moves almost like a ballerina, with beautifully pointed feet and lyrical contortions.” New York Times

Aakash and Hu are regarded as the finest examples of their specific forms of dance in their native cultures, UK/India and China respectively. Aakash has garnered worldwide attention for his impeccable and virtuosic Kathak performances and Hu has been described by Chinese Dance icon Yang Liping as ‘A gifted Soft Body’. 

They have found that despite not sharing a common spoken language, their bodies yearn to share movement, stories and to explore these ineffable frontiers between themselves.

Composer, Nicki Wells is blessed with an unparalleled memory for melody and vocal technique from virtually any culture. She is able to easily leap from folk, French hip-hop, deep gospel, jazz or choral vocals to Indian classical or Arabic inflections as if all were emanating directly from her soul. 

She has performed around the world as lead vocalist with award-winning composer Nitin Sawhney

Production Credits

Artistic Director: Aakash Odedra

Choreographers and Dance Artists: Aakash Odedra and Hu Shenyuan

Dramaturg: Lou Cope

Composer: Nicki Wells

Lighting Design: Yaron Abulafia

Set: Tina Tzoka

Producer: Anand Bhatt

Numbers on the road: 10

On Stage: 5 (2 dancers/3 musicians)

Rehearsal Director: 1

Sound Technician: 1

LX Technician: 1

Stage/Scenery:1

Company Manager: 1

2 from Shanghai/8 from Europe

Tech Demands: 1 day before get-in, strike on same evening after the show, Detailed tech Spec available in early 2020, indicative tech spec available from Oct 2019

Freight: Up to one large container

More information will be confirmed through 2019 and early 2020

5-7^th March 2020 – Asia TOPA, Melbourne, Australia (World Premiere)

Where to see Samsara on tour:

Postponed…

5-7^th March 2020 – Asia TOPA, Melbourne, Australia (World Premiere)

13-15^th March 2020 – International Dance Center, Shanghai, China

12th June 2020 – Birmingham Hippodrome, UK

23-24^th June 2020 – The Lowry, Salford Quays, UK

8-10^th October 2020 – Dance Umbrella/Royal Opera House, London, UK

27^th-28^th October 2020 – Curve Theatre, Leicester, UK

4^th-7^th November 2020 – Chaillot National Centre De Danse, Paris, France

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xGspJbCgYQ

Aakash Odedra Company

RISING

NORTH AMERICAN TOURING 11 April – 5 May, 2018

“British Indian dancer Aakash Odedra is simply breathtaking.” Paula Citron, Globe and Mail, Toronto

Aakash Odedra is a nominee for a 2016 “Bessie” in the category of “Outstanding Performer” for RISING at the Skirball Center in New York.

The first production of Aakash Odedra Company, RISING, is an astonishing hit. It is an evening of work performed by Aakash, featuring solos created by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Akram Khan and Russel Maliphant and features lighting by Michael Hulls and Michael Cessa.

All use Aakash’s background in Kathak and Bharatanatyam to create  a  new  flavor of contemporary dance. Aakash also presents a contemporary Kathak with his own choreography. The production has won numerous awards including   the ‘Danza e Danza Award’ (Italy), Best Male Performance ‘Dora Award’ (Canada), ‘Audience Award’ at Dance Week (Croatia) and ‘Most Original Exploration of One Segment of Theatrical Language’ at the Novi-Sad Festival (Serbia).

BIOGRAPHY

Aakash was born in Birmingham and trained in the classical Indian dance styles of Kathak (Nilima Devi, Leicester and Asha Joglekar, India) and Bharat Natyam (Chitraleka Bolar, Birmingham and Chhaya Kantaveh, India). His early development in the United Kingdom saw support from Sampad (including support in a development bursary) and Akademi (through a major choreographic bursary).

In 2009, Aakash performed a solo choreographed by Kumudini Lakhia titled Maati Re at the Svapngata Festival at Sadler’s Wells curated by Akram Khan. Khan followed this with a period of mentorship, allowing Aakash to develop contemporary movement. He took part in the European Network of Performing Arts’ 2010 ChoreoLab in Serbia through Dance Umbrella. Also in 2010, he performed a duet with Sanjukta Sinha choreographed by Kumudini Lakhia titled Tatha. He incorporates that training in a unique synthesis with contemporary dance, both in his choreography and his creations with other choreographers.

Aakash Odedra founded his Company in 2011 as a vehicle for commissioning solos and for him to develop his own choreographic work. His debut full length solo Rising featured new short works created on him by Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Russell Maliphant. As choreographer, he was commissioned to create a piece for “James  Brown: Get on the Good Foot” (Apollo Theater, New York ) and the Opera God’s Little Soldier (Theater Freiburg), The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the closing of the London Cultural Olympiad. 

Nritta (Kathak) – Choreographed by Aakash Odedra

Music arranged by Aakash Odedra

In The Shadow Of Man – choreographed by Akram Khan

Lighting by Michael Hulls

Music by Jocelyn Pook

Rehearsal Directors Jose Agudo and Lewis Major

CUT – choreographed by Russell Maliphant

Lighting by Michael Hulls

Music by Andy Cowton

Rehearsal Director Lewis Major

Constellation – choreographed by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

Lighting by Willy Cessa

Music by Olga Wojciechowska

Rehearsal Directors Paul Zivkovich and Lewis Major

ADDITIONAL ACTIVIES:

Kathak workshops

Contemporary dance workshops