Review: SONGS OF THE BULBUL, Sadler’s Wells East

It was recently announced that Aakash Odedra was to become an Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells. And seeing his latest work Songs of the Bulbul, one can understand why.

Choreographed by Rani Khanam to a new score by Rushil Ranjan, the work sees Odedra inhabit the world of a Bulbul; a mystical bird from ancient times with a complex existence.

The piece opens with a recorded narration explaining the stages Bulbuls are put through in order for their captors to benefit from their beautiful song - manipulation with light and dark, and finally having their eyes removed.

Odedra (via Khanam) leads us through this journey from within a minimal set including a sweep of (electric) candles and endless rose petals, all topped off with exquisite, atmospheric lighting by Fabiana Piccioli.

The opening few minutes feel very promising, with Odedra shrouded on the floor, starting to show the restrained movements of a bird/man creature with evident, emotional expression.

The Bulbul's first stages of captivity aren't horrific, so are shown with joy and positivity. I found this section on the samey side. Even though there's a handful of separate dances they felt very similar in both language and dynamic structuring. This isn't helped by Ranjan's score which leans towards the cinematic - and in collaboration with the one dimensional movement, things start to feel repetitive and too literal quite quickly.

The last 20 minutes improve as the Bulbul's fate dwindles. There's a powerful section that uses floorwork to communicate anguish and exhaustion, and a traumatising use of strobe lighting to show what the removal of one's eyesight might look/feel like. 

Throughout, Odedra is an engaging dancer. He brings an agility to the Kathak/contemporary dance fusion, most evidently in the spring of his jumps and the speed of his swirls and spins.

The work is sophisticated but lacks subtlety at this point. Often the true power of narrative work lies within the space it offers - where the audience can be guided in a direction as opposed to cajoled. Food for dramaturgical thought.

Songs of the Bulbul ran at Sadler’s Wells East July 17-19

Main Photo Credit: Angela Grabowska