SAMSARA Announces UK Tour Dates and London Premiere

Following its UK premiere at the Edinburgh International Festival this August, Aakash Odedra Company's epic new dance work Samsara goes on the road. The tour opens at Curve Leicester on 1 October and on 17 and 18 October the company will make their debut at Sadler's Wells Theatre.

Samsara is a collaboration between Aakash Odedra and Hu Shenyuan, two of the world's finest exponents of dance from their countries of origin, India and China. Odedra has attracted global attention for his virtuoso Kathak performances and his contemporary choreography. One of the outstanding dancers of his generation in China, Hu Shenyuan was the standout performer in Yang Liping's Under Siege in 2016 - when Odedra first saw him and decided he wanted to work with him. The pair met in Shanghai in 2017 and, with no mutual spoken language, went on to create Samsara, a powerful story of cultural exchange and shared philosophy.

Samsara takes place in a desert landscape peopled with eerie human statues, created by set designer, Tina Tzoka. Yaron Abulafia's lighting conjures a mythic world which the two dancers, Odedra and Shenyuan, enter and explore. Eventually they come together in a series of exquisitely-patterned virtuoso duets of challenge, reflection and exchange. Mongolian throat singing and traditional Chinese percussion are part of the powerful score, specially commissioned from Odedra's regular collaborator, Nicki Wells. Samsara is directed by Aakash Odedra and dramaturgy is by Lou Cope.

The work takes as its starting point Wu Cheng'en's 16th century Chinese novel 'Journey to the West', one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature. It tells the story of the legendary pilgrimage to India undertaken by the monk Xuanzang returning to China with the central tracts of Buddhist philosophy. Many monks followed in Xuanzang's footsteps and their journeys were both literal and metaphorical, physical and spiritual.

Samsara has been made possible by the generous support of the Bagri Foundation, a family foundation dedicated to promoting the arts and culture of Asia. Aiming to challenge, engage and inspire, it gives artists and experts from across Asia, or those inspired by the continent, wider visibility on the global stage and supports a diverse programme of film, visual arts, music, dance, literature, courses and lectures.

Tour Dates

Thursday 18 to Saturday 20 August
Thursday 18th & Friday 19th at 8pm / Saturday 20th at 5pm
Edinburgh International Festival
The Royal Lyceum Theatre
Grindlay Street, Edinburgh EH3 9AX
Box Office and group bookings: 0131 248 4848 / boxoffice@lyceum.org.uk
Tickets: £21 to £26, concessions available
www.lyceum.org.uk / https://www.eif.co.uk/events/samsara

Saturday 1 October at 7.30pm
Curve, Leicester
60 Rutland St, Leicester LE1 1SB
Box office: 0116 242 3560
Tickets: £10 to £26, concessions available
www.curveonline.co.uk

Sunday 9 October at 8pm
The Lowry, Salford
Pier 8, The Quays, Salford, M50 3AZ
Box office: 0343 208 6000
Tickets: £18, concessions available
www.thelowry.com

Friday 14 October at 7pm
Northern Stage, Newcastle
Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RH
Box office: 0191 230 5151
Tickets: from £10, concessions available - on sale soon
www.northernstage.co.uk/

Monday 17 & Tuesday 18 October at 7.30pm
Sadler's Wells Theatre, London
Rosebery Ave, London EC1R 4TN
Box office: 020 7863 8000
Tickets: from £20, concessions available
www.sadlerswells.com

Sunday 23 October at 8pm
Birmingham Hippodrome
Hurst St, Birmingham B5 4TB
Box office: 0844 338 5000*
Tickets: from £15, concessions available
www.birminghamhippodrome.com
*calls cost 4.5p per minute plus your phone company's access charge