Monday 24 & Tuesday 25 May then touring
Choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Akram Khan, Russell Maliphant and Aakash Odedra
Rising is the solo show that launched the extraordinary performer and choreographer Aakash Odedra onto the dance scene. On 24 and 25 May, it will be one of the first live works on the main stage at Curve, Leicester where Odedra is an Associate Artist. After that, the show tours to Oxford and Poole.
First performed in 2011, Rising notably featured solo works by three of contemporary dance’s biggest stars – Akram Khan, Russell Maliphant and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui – alongside work by Odedra himself. As critic Judith Mackrell said at the time, it was “the dance equivalent of a red-carpet event”.
Each of the choreographers used Odedra’s background in the classical techniques of Kathak and Bharatanatyam to explore process, aesthetics and a new way of looking at the solo dancer. The result was an exceptional contemporary programme which won Odedra his second Bessie nomination for Outstanding Performer and a Dora Award (Canada) for Best Male Performance.
Odedra’s virtuoso Nritta is an exposition of dance in its simplest form, focusing on the essence and pure energy of Kathak. Odedra explores rhythm and mathematics. The constant return to the start of the 16-beat time cycle in his score acts as a metaphor for mind, body and soul coming into alignment.
Akram Khan’s starting point for In The Shadow of Man was the way the Kathak masters used animals as inspiration. Whole repertoires were based on the qualities, movements and rhythms of certain creatures. In his journey with Odedra, Khan imagined an animal spirit residing deep within the dancer’s body. The score is by Golden Globe-winning composer Jocelyn Pook.
In Cut, Russell Maliphant draws elements of Odedra’s classical south Asian techniques into a contained world with its own logic, flow and form, where lighting cuts, shapes and highlights the movement. Maliphant worked alongside his long-term creative collaborators, lighting designer Michael Hulls and composer Andy Cowton.
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Constellation is driven by his fascination with the elements, perspective and illusion. His choreography brings patterns of sound and light together to create a system where things are kept both suspended and perpetually moving. Right at the centre is Odedra as an astral body who generates his own rhythms and luminosity.
Listings information follows, for high-res images contact Martha Oakes PR.
Press contacts: Martha Oakes or Sue Lancashire on martha@marthaoakespr.co.uk or sue@marthaoakespr.co.uk
“the dance equivalent of a red-carpet event”
Listings
Monday 24 & Tuesday 25 May, 7.30pm
Curve
Rutland Street
Leicester LE1 1SB
Booking: curveonline.co.uk / 0116 242 3595
£10 – £20
Thursday 1 July, 7.30pm
Oxford Playhouse
Beaumont Street
Oxford OX1 2LW
Booking: oxfordplayhouse.com / 01865 305 305
£8 – £20
Wednesday 7 July, 7.30pm
Lighthouse
Poole’s Centre For The Arts
21 Kingland Road
Poole
Dorset BH15 1UG
Booking: lighthousepoole.co.uk / 01202 280000
Notes to editors
1. Aakash Odedra Company is an award-winning international dance company inspired by South Asian and contemporary dance, based in Leicester (UK). We exist to create high quality artistic programmes that capture the zeitgeist, educating, empowering and engaging diverse, multi-lingual audiences and participants. We deliver creative experiences for audiences and participants locally and internationally; diversity is integral to all our work.
2. Born in Birmingham and living in Leicester, Aakash Odedra is a globally recognised dancer and choreographer. His work forms the heart of Aakash Odedra Company. Our studios are based in Belgrave, in the heart of Leicester’s international communities. We deliver programmes that widen participation with early years, older people and those facing additional disadvantage including social barriers and disabilities. Working with Shiamak International and Moving Together we deliver an extensive programme of recreational and educational dance classes to people across the Midlands and London. Aakash Odedra is an Associate Artist at Curve Leicester and Birmingham Hippodrome. Aakash Odedra Company is a National Partner Organisation of Sadler’s Wells and one of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisations. In 2021 we will celebrate our 10th anniversary.
3. Arts Council England is the national development agency for creativity and culture. By 2030 we want England to be a country in which the creativity of each of us is valued and given the chance to flourish, and where every one of us has access to a remarkable range of high-quality cultural experiences. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help deliver this vision. Following the Covid-19 crisis, the Arts Council has developed a £160 million emergency response package, with nearly 90% coming from the National Lottery, for organisations and individuals needing support. www.artscouncil.org.uk.
4. Rising was commissioned by AKCT (London), Akademi (London), Curve (Leicester), DanceXchange (Birmingham), Eastman (Antwerp), The Hat Factory (Luton), Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Dance (Leicester), New Art Exchange (Nottingham), Sampad (Birmingham), Southbank Centre (London), South East Dance (Brighton), The Place (London) and funded by Arts Council England.
5. Twitter, Facebook and Weibo: @aakashodedra
Instagram and YouTube: @aakashodedracompany