Tag: Dance

  • Aakash Odedra

    “Echoes & I Imagine”

    World Premiere at Curve – Review

    Echoes and I Imagine – World Premiere – Curve
    Posted on 10th Oct 2015
    By Trevor Locke
    Rating: *****

    The solo dance performance of Aakash Odedra tonight was sensational. I have not seen male dance of this calibre since I last saw Rudolf Nureyev in the 1970s. Odedra’s first piece was a stunning performance based on the Indian classical dance genre Kathak. Dancing to the choreography of Aditi Mangaldas, Odedra demonstrated the sublime artistry of his abilities, with movements that had razor-sharp timing, perfectly synchronised with the music. The work opened with gloriously evocative sounds creating a hauntingly beautiful atmosphere, heightened by the lighting and the floor of the stage being spread with long filaments of golden threads studies with tiny bells, laid out to look like the ripples of a lake.

    The piece drew on the image and symbol of bells, which hung from the top of the stage in clusters of long strings. As the programme notes explained ‘The resonance of the bells awakens us to the now. A breath and senses awaken. LIFE awakens me.’ The Kathak dance form is story-telling in motion. The elaborate footwork, enhanced by bells, attached to the ankles, was characteristic of the dance form; Odedra pulled down two of the long strands of bells and wound them around his ankles before proceeding to display amazing footwork, in his bare feet. In something that Western audiences would recognise as tap dancing, he also used his feet as percussion instruments, drumming on the stage, producing sequences of intricate rhythms. Echoes is a work that plays with the idea of bells, their tradition in classical dance, their ritualistic significance and their potential as a metaphor for freedom and awakening.

    The piece also included many of the spinning movements – the chakkars – so characteristic of classical Kathak. What Mangaldas has done is to bring the ancient art form into the 21st century without losing any of its resonance and vibrancy. Some of Odedra’s spins were like those of an ice skater; he has a fluidity of movement that is remarkable but he combined this with dynamics that are amazing. All the time we watch those extraordinarily impressive hand movements, the fingers that wave and flutter like the wings of a bird. It was like seeing dance from another planet; something that moves forward what we understand about solo dance. Utterly enthralling and spellbinding throughout.

    Echoes celebrated the form of classical Kathak, but the second piece – I Imagine – brought a totally new approach and direction to the stage. In it, Odedra demonstrated his sense of humour, his consummate capacity for entertaining his audience. It was another demonstration of his story-telling powers, using mime, antics and even spoken word to engage us in a meditation on the theme of travel and migration (very topical.) Odedra came on to a stage stacked with suitcases – like the bells, another evocative metaphor. This piece used a variety of masks to signify characters, not unlike those used by actors in classical Greek drama, I thought. At the beginning of the piece, one of the larger suitcases begins to move and Odedra emerges from it, foot by foot, leg by leg, rather like a butterfly emerging from a chrysalis. It reminded me of Ernest being found in a handbag. The story goes on to depict arriving in a new country, migration to a new and alien culture, the feelings evoking loss of homeland, leaving behind the ones that are loved, the challenges of accommodating a new style of life. And then Odedra does something totally innovative for a dancer – he engaged in a spoken monologue in which he used surprising skills of characterisation, speaking in accents to bring his characters to life, much to the amusement of the audience. It was a sequence that bore similarities to stand-up comedy, recollecting the Kumars, I thought. Towards the end of the piece, Odedra walked across the top of a line of suitcases, having used them beforehand to make an armchair and a house. It was a gleeful deployment of the props and one that took us a long way from the previous classical dance routines.

    I Imagine included spoken word by the celebrated Sabrina Mahfouz, the British Egyptian poet, playwright and performer who was born in South London. Odedra’s collaboration with the award-winning Mahfouz created a work that was supremely one of theatre, one that gave us dance, drama, comedy and gymnastics. It reminded me of my previous experience at Curve when I saw Bromance, the production by the Barely Methodical Troupe that created a new genre of dance and gymnastics. Odedra commissioned the masks used in this production from circus practitioner David Poznanter (it must have been the association of circus that conjured the idea of the work by the Barely Methodical Troupe in my mind.)

    Tonight’s World Premier of Echoes and I Imagine crowns the previous appearance made by Odedra at Curve, including Inked and Murmer in 2014.
    Speaking after the performance, Odedra paid tribute to his teacher, the internationally renown Kathak dancer Nilema Devi MBE.

    Aakash was commissioned by Curve Theatre in Leicester to choreograph a piece for the opening of the theatre in November 2008. This piece, called “Flight” was the only one invited to perform for HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh on their visit in December 2008

    Aakash Odedra was raised in Leicester and his company is based here.
    Curve has over the years given us so much that is new and exciting in the arts and tonight was no exception.

    This entry was originally published at http://www.artsinleicestershire.co.uk/ in News on March 12, 2016
    This entry was posted in News on February 2, 2017.

    Taken from: http://www.aakashodedra.co.uk/echoes-i-imagine-world-premiere-at-curve-review-2/

    Akash O’Dedra
  • Dance

    Dance in Leicester for 2012 and 2013

    This is the home page for the dance section

    This page is all about the art of dance and dancing and dancers in Leicester and the East Midlands.

    The link below opens a PDF file in a new browser window

    Dance in Leicester 2012 and 2013

    This page reports on various forms of dance in Leicester in 2012 and 2013

    The PDF document will show links but few of these will be likely to work.

    News about dance from 2010 (requires a PDF reader. Links are no longer valid)

    Dance and dancers in Leicester 2010

    News about dance from 2011

    News about dance in Leicester for 2011

    See also:

    Music home page.

     

  • DanceNews

    News about dance and dancers

    25th January 2016

    This page forms part of our archives

    Nupur Arts Dance Academy

    4th August 2015

    Nupur Arts Dance Academy has just received £30,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for an exciting project commemorating their 25 years in promoting and developing South Asian Dance in Leicester and Leicestershire.

    Driven by Nupur Art’s Youth Association, this project will focus on the impact that the organisation has made locally to participants, audiences and the wider public through the creation of an exciting documentary and web resource.  The grant will enable a group of 15 young volunteers to develop transferable heritage and media skills and also play a key role in increasing the awareness and understanding of the development of South Asian dance across the Leicester community. There is a significant knowledge-gap in the records of numerous heritage organisations in the Leicestershire area on the progress of South Asian dance over the 25 years that Nupur Arts has developed, but there is certainly a growing interest in the art form with huge festivals and audiences being attracted to sell-out shows. This project will address this need of promoting the growth of South Asian dance and also empower the young people of Leicester to engage with arts, media and heritage in their local area.

    From its humble beginnings, Nupur Arts Dance Academy has become the largest dance organisation in Leicestershire with over 300 students learning a range of Indian classical and contemporary dance styles every week.

    As well as innovative productions, vibrant community performances and engaging workshops in the community, in 25 years Nupur Arts has built a core team of young dancers that teach and choreograph in classes and projects. With this focus on young people and by working with heritage professionals from East Midlands Oral History Archive, this project will not only map the journey that the organisation has made but also how it has influenced the cultural landscape of the region. It is a highly relevant history and important to our past and present participants in a city where people of South Asian origin make up at least 31% of the population.

    Commenting on the award, Smita Vadnerkar, Artistic Director of Nupur Arts Dance Academy said: “We are thrilled to have received the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and are confident the project will support young people to be active citizens with pride in the cultural heritage of Leicester.”

    Jonathan Platt, Head of HLF East Midlands, said: “Nupur have educated and entertained Leicester for the past 25 years, helping to expand the city’s understanding of South Asian dance. Thanks to National Lottery players, our investment will create a fantastic opportunity for young people to explore the company’s story whilst learning a set of valuable new skills.”

    Source: Nupur Arts

    Midlands best dance crew

    Midlands Best Dance Crew Returns for 5th Year

    Dance at 2Funky
    Dance at 2Funky

    Now in its 5th year, Midlands Best Dance Crew 2015 comes to Curve Theatre, Leicester, on Sunday 8 November. It will see the crews with the fiercest moves dance it out, for a panel of industry insiders, to win this year’s trophy and a £1000 prize. An evening of stunning routines, using hip-hop, street and break dance, the annual competition is repeatedly sold out and showcases a wealth of urban dance talent.

    The event will also feature a ‘Best Dancer in the Audience Section, with a £50 prize.
    Previous winners of the competition have included Addict, who have gone on to perform as part of high profile dance shows such as Street Dance (Channel 4), Britain’s Got Talent (ITV) and Got to Dance (Sky1).

    Vijay Mistry, Director of 2Funky Arts said: “We’re thrilled that Midlands Best Dance Crew is returning for its 5th year. We’re looking forward to seeing the best, emerging urban dance talent that the region has to offer.”

    Midlands Best Dance Crew 2015
    Sunday 8 November (doors 6.30pm, show time 7pm)
    Curve Theatre, Rutland St, Leicester, LE1 1SB
    Tickets: £10-16
    www.curveonline.co.uk
    E: info@2funkyarts.co.uk T: 0116 242 3595

    6th March 2015

    Project  E

    The new dance company in Basin Echo, which focuses on stimulating the audience imagination and interaction with the arts.

    Our current project E/ aims to encourage the skills of creativity and critical thinking in 21st Century  schools. We are producing a dance film through the use of mainstream academically approved subjects (Mathematics, Science etc), which gives everyone a basic common ground to relate to. There will be no indicated theme or meaning to the film, it will present a form of art which the spectator can nurture in their own minds.

    We are creating E/ to support movements such as Art and Culture Matter and the importance of Arts in Education. Having previously dance for Leicester Youth Ballet (Arts in Education) for 10 years, I understand the importance of keeping the arts in education.

    We are in pre production of the project, which is scheduled to be completed in August 2015.

    Visit Project on Facebook

    See also:

    Street Dance