Mehek Live was a new engagement project built around the creation and performance of Aakash Odedra Company’s newest performance, Mehek, choreographed and danced by Aakash and Aditi Mangaldas.
In ideating this project, Aditi and Aakash wanted to create a work that would help illuminate wider societal issues and be relevant to the widest audience possible.
Mehek explored the taboo love story of a young man and an older woman. Inspired by the Indian epic Heer Ranjha, Mehek intertwined artistic disciplines and creatives from across the planet to create a raging inferno of passion that engulfed a world.
We had noticed that despite increasing international successes, our community closer to home was often ‘left out’ when it came to engaging with our large-scale stage work.
Through Mehek Live, we wanted to explore ways that actual stories and lived experiences could be included in the creative process and, at the same time, that process could be embedded within our community. We worked closely with 450 elder community members on the creative process, by which, over 8 months, they acted as co-creators in the work, and, through workshops, creative sessions, choreographic tasking, and interviews with the creative team, their stories were integrated into the narrative and dramaturgy of Mehek, culminating in a work that was truthful and authentic when exploring these issues.
At the heart of Mehek Live was the desire to explore, push forward, declare, and celebrate older people from our community, their stories and lived experiences, and their engagement with high-quality live arts experiences.
This project culminated in our community co-creators being granted exclusive access to the international premiere of the work through a live-stream in the comfort of their own homes and community centers and a celebration ‘VIP Red Carpet’ event for them being held at the UK premiere of Mehek in April 2024.
Mehek Live was supported by Nationally Significant Project funding from Arts Council England and delivered in partnership with the creative dance company Moving Together.
