Aakash Odedra Company Brings SONGS OF THE BULBUL to Sadler's Wells

This July, virtuoso performer Aakash Odedra will give his first performances at Sadler’s Wells East in his newest work Songs of the Bulbul. A transcendent solo set to an original score by genre-defying London-based composer Rushil Ranjan, Songs of the Bulbul was created in collaboration with revered Delhi-based Kathak choreographer, Rani Khanam. The work had its world premiere at the 2024 Edinburgh International Festival where it received a swathe of 4 and 5-star reviews and was named Edinburgh International Festival’s Best Show by The List.

Songs of the Bulbul lays bare Odedra’s personal and spiritual dance landscape on stage. Rani Khanam’s exquisite storytelling choreography features expressive hand gestures and flowing lines through space. Renowned for her intimate knowledge of Islamic and Sufi texts, Khanam has worked widely with Sufi musicians, singers and dancers from across the Islamic world.

Rushil Ranjan is renowned for his distinctive ability to bring together Indian classical and Western classical traditions. His original score is written for orchestra, Qawwali singers and other Indian classical musicians, played in a recording by the pioneering Manchester Camerata.

Together, Odedra, Ranjan and Khanam tell an ancient Sufi myth about the bulbul, a Persian nightingale, a symbol of the beauty of the natural world and the pursuit of religious enlightenment, which, when captured, sings a glorious tune. The song reaches an inexpressibly beautiful pitch in the moments before it perishes from despair.

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