Odedra engages wide audience in Indian dance

Emerging British-Indian dance idol Aakash Odedra knows engage top choreographers With the programme Rising. The dance twosome went public earlier this year premiered in London and was shown 14 October 2012 at the India Dance Festival at Korzo dance theatre in The Hague.

Rising consists of four solos danced by Aakash Odedra himself. In the first choreography Nritta (A. Odedra), the young dance prince starts inconspicuously with his back to the audience on an empty stage. He then surprises by attacking the dance floor like a faun with furious speed and control. A second solo, In The Shadow Of Men by mentor Akram Kahn, is a stunning and terrifying study of man's animality. Odedra comes full circle so far as a traditional Indian Kathak-dancer.

Choreographer Russell Maliphant (Cut) and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui's (Constellation) impress after the interval with cinematic images. They show that you don't need film or video at all in a dance piece. With the right concept, music and clever lighting, you create your own film, which also dances beautifully. Maliphant likes movement but his dance here is secondary to (razor-sharp) lighting technique. The same goes for Cherkaoui, whose warm, glowing piece admittedly leans towards kitsch.

Rising can be divided into Indian dance before the interval and Western fusion dance after. In the East, meaning is the starting point of dance and the performer is imbued with it. In the West, dance is primarily a means of expressing or commenting on the world around us. The solos before the interval can hardly be performed so magically by a Western modern dancer. Any good dancer, on the other hand, can do best in Cut or Constellation.

With Rising you enter a rich culture and your senses are probed. It is to be hoped that Aakash Odedra will be seen more often in the Netherlands. And on a big stage. Thanks to names like Maliphant and Cherkaoui, Odedra's high technical level and charisma, a wider audience can be introduced to Indian dance.

For information on India Dance Festival see www.korzo.nl