In Murmur created with Lewis Major, Aakash Odedra, remembers and reminds us that his first name is spelled with a double “A.” Murmur is one of the two solos danced by Odedra as part of Lincoln Center’s “white light festival” at Baryshnikov Arts Center (October 22-24). The other solo, Inked by Damien Jalet, showed Odedra as the small, yet powerful performer that he is. Murmer is longer, more episodic and filled with scene upon scene of theatrics that take away from Odedra the performer. Consider the set: multiple fans surrounding the performance space that eventually blow uncountable strips of paper everywhere, plus panels of white materials hanging or tethered to poles that eventually become a screen for projected images. And then picture the screen with Odedra’s shadow, birds projected that he tries to catch, him writing the letter “A” in space, talking about “control,” “mistakes,” and so on. Contrarily, consider hearing slapping/drumming sounds in the dark, when slowly, through a cut-out against the back wall a figure appears—it’s Odedra dressed only in black shorts, waxing off a contemporized version of the Indian classic dance--Kathak. This shorter work, is direct and to the point. Towards the middle, Odedra becomes one with a big pool of black ink set center stage, diving in head first, but before and after that, what is intoxicating is his synchronized weaving in and out of sculptural positions mixed with rhythmic precision. His company is Aakash Odedra Company and Odedra is also trained in Bharat Natyam, another classical Indian dance style.
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