★★★★★
Songs of the Bulbul is an enchanting music and dance piece, not so much a fusion of contemporary/Kathak dance or of West and East but a co-creation.
Presented by the Aakash Odedra Company in associated with Manchester Camerata, with dancing by Aakash Odedra, choreography from Rani Khanam, lighting design and dramaturgy by Fabiana Piccioli, and set design and stage management by Emanuele Salamanca. Musically, there is compositions and musical direction by Rushil Ranjan, additional composition by Abi Sampba, Danyal Dhondy, Shuheb Hasab and Amaan Ali, additional composition on ‘Yaare Mann’ and ‘Forest’ by Shuheb Hasan and Amaan Ali, mixing and mastering by Andrea Gobbi at Glown Studios, vocals by Abi Sampa and Sarthak Kalyani (choral vocals by Rushil Ranjan and Aakash Odedra), music performed by Manchester Camerata (conducted by Melvin Tay), and additional instrumentation by Janan Sathiendran (tabla) and Praveen Prathapan (bansuri).
There is a sense of multi-disciplinary performance which feels almost like watching the earliest form of storytelling through art.
Indeed, there were parts Odera’s choreography which felt so naturally like storytelling (for someone who struggles to interpret story through dance). There were very clear, didactic moments where movement was imbued with emotion and narrative. Often, when combining different artistic forms, it becomes a musical or like a multi-disciplinary, experimental piece, but there is something sort of organically necessary for there to be an orchestra, two singers and a dancer all contributing uniformly towards this story. The style of each form can and did become complex, shifting between Western Orchestral Forms, Qawalli lyrics, Kathak dance, Ragas and a beautiful Tabla.
Salamanca’s set is brilliant – the orchestra occupy the back half, with Sampa and Kalyani placed to their front-right. Odedra occupies our attention in the front, with a semi-circle of candles to the right and branches hanging from the ceiling to the left. Odedra moves purposefully, utilising his clothing so brilliantly – at one point he changes to a sort of white, sheer chaddar, which is so opaque that it moves on and around Odedra as though we are seeing sand fall and rise like waves on his movements – it is one of the most memorising parts of the performance.
There is a quote at the back of programme, attributed to Odedra about the performance, “A tribute to my mother “Kay” …my smiling bulbul who left her cage.” This sums up an interpretation of the narrative which was part of the introduction – there are poems and myths around the nightingale being trapped for their songs and squeezed in a cage, until it is forcefully blinded. It is said the more despair the bulbul is in, the sweeter the song.
There is a sort-of structure that follows in the performance too. It became more beautiful, and more despairing, holding this tension of emotion very well. We have a short introduction before the show about how the Lowry has hosted the most dance performances of any venue outside of London. So, it is above all classified as a dance piece.
The Lowry is celebrating 25 years of existence, and this commission is one of many to celebrate the venue’s continued creative being. I would recommend watching this if you enjoy South Asian performances and/or dance which can be interpreted by even the most basic of dance enthusiasts.
Songs of the Bulbul tours the UK util July 19.
Photo: Angela Grabowska
JADAR 