Acknowledgement of Country

Overview

This project will see artistic director and choreographer, Aakash Odedra embark on a creative programme with Australian partners, STRUT Dance and Lewis Major projects. Together, the partners will co-design a programme of networking events, artist development/research and digital creation to give Australian artists multiple opportunities to engage with and be inspired by Aakash’s practice, both in person and digitally, and for Aakash to connect deeply with contemporary Australian dance-makers and artists. Over this time, Aakash Odedra will explore the intersection between movement, linguistics and nature, utilising his knowledge of Classical Kathak and western contemporary dance.

Australian artists include Sarah Chaffey, Xin Ong, Isha Sharvani and Adrianne Semmens.

About the artist

The Aakash Odedra Company was founded in Leicester in 2011 by Anand Bhatt and Aakash Odedra. It is named after Artistic Director Aakash Odedra, a choreographer and one of the most talented British South Asian dancers. Born in Birmingham, Aakash trained in bharatanatyam and kathak, then moved to India as a student of the renowned Bollywood choreographer, Shiamak Davar. This was the start of a relationship with Shiamak Davar International which has culminated in the dance classes that the Company now teaches to over 600 participants. Aakash is a globally-recognised and award-winning artist, who has performed over 300 full length performances in 40 countries.

In 2018, the Aakash Odedra Company became part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio. As a not-for-profit organisation, any surplus funds are invested directly back into creating a happier and healthier society through dance and the arts.

STRUT Dance, is a programme of internationally benchmarked training, collaboration and presentation opportunities unique in Australia and Asia-Pacific region. They offer choreographers and dance practitioners the possibility to engage with great national and international masters, the chance to work with collaborative partners in the making of their own performance, and the opportunity to put their work in front of a willing and informed audience. As a national organisation, STRUT is now open to all and continues to operate on five levels: Body, Collaboration, Presentation, Mentorship and Exchange.

Lewis Major is an award-winning choreographer, director and creative entrepreneur with a background in sheep shearing and a foreground in contemporary dance theatre. He honed his skills in dancemaking over a decade spent working with seminal contemporary dance makers Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Russell Maliphant, Hans van den Broeck (Cie Soit/Les Ballets C de la B), Hofesh Shechter and Aakash Odedra amongst others. Unabashedly audience driven, the ethos that drives his work is local focus, global outlook. His company Lewis Major Projects presents surprisingly real dance works in multiple mediums to diverse audiences across the world, having created 17 different works both independently and on commission and having presented them on 6 continents to widespread critical acclaim.