Sadler’s Wells East, London.
8 July 2026.
Aakash Odedra Company’s one-act classical kathak dance work, Songs of the Bulbul, combining traditions of Sufism, was unique and mesmerising from the very beginning.
Aakash Odedra danced solo, interpreting the Bulbul – a common songbird in Asia and Africa. Dressed in white shirt and trousers, the shirt extended into a voluminous long swirling skirt that he used throughout to great effect. He danced bare foot, using a classically flat or natural-footed technique, but also rose on to demi-pointe to bourrée, creating a hovering illusion, while he used his arms as wings. Odedra used bird-like movements throughout, sometimes delicate sometimes more buoyant – lots of intricate fingers and hand gestures.
There were so many spins – did this reflect ritual-like movements from Sufism? Odedra conveyed bounding energy, fast and frenetic – as well as gentle peace at the same time. The work felt very spiritual – a result of a combined effort between the choreography, the music, set and lighting designs.
Music was emotive, which varied greatly in speed and mood. Softer sections, some vocal, a gentle female voice, and later male voices resonated in a hypnotic chant. Orchestral music, rising and falling in tempo and volume. Lyrical moments, and times where the tempo picked up and the drumbeat was embodied with increasingly more urgent movement. Odedra often used his feet against the floor to enhance rhythm and emotion too.
The set was minimalist aside from suspended wooden branches – three of which dropped vertically to the stage with a bang, to create a cage around him. Plus, many red petals that floated down at intervals. So effective as Odedra danced with them, swirled among them, and slid through them along the floor. At one point, he turned on his knees travelling in a semi-circle across the stage through them. There was also a curved structure of multiple candles which glowed at appropriate times throughout and cast a warm glow across the stage. A deep breathy sound initiated the first lighting of a candle, and later it felt quite moving when the stage was in darkness apart from one lit candle. Blindfolded, Odedra knelt next to this one light and holding sparks of the flame against his face, sight was restored.
Lighting added so much to the overall ambience. Eight spotlights pointing diagonally across the stage from a high corner position, cast strips of light, and later overhead spots beamed down in a crisscross pattern. On occasion, a singular bright spotlight shone on Odedra who knelt reverently in it and reached upwards, giving a spiritual and worshipful feeling. And later, a rapid strobe caught Odedra in various poses as he spun, which looked very effective. Fans were also used to blow petals across the stage and to enhance the movement of a floating shimmering piece of material Odedra danced with at the end.
It’s a performance to just sit back and allow yourself to be absorbed into. It’s joyful, it’s expressive, and playful too – perhaps we were all thinking about how it might feel to slide through the petals across the floor!
I was seated higher up in the auditorium this evening, than my designated seat was, thanks to a later running train. But it felt very special to have this wider overview of the stage. It felt as though there were prophetic messages and deep hidden lessons to be learned without really knowing what they were.
Just the right length at an hour, Songs of the Bulbul left a peaceful and holistic atmosphere as it drew to a close.
By Louise Ryrie of Dance Informa.
