Aakash Odedra: Rising

“Aakash Odedra is simply breathtaking….a brilliant dancer [who] can attract the very best….Rising is a masterpiece of speed and virtuosity.”—Globe and Mail (Canada)

“An astonishing young dancer, Aakash Odedra is something to behold…a marvelously conceived and well-executed show.”—Dancing Review

One of the hallmarks of the Wexner Center’s programming over the past 25 years is to not only introduce important innovators to our local audience, but to also highlight Columbus and Ohio State as the place where new talent and new work is first seen in this country. A case in point: this US premiere of Rising, the first solo program by British dance sensation Aakash Odedra.

An ascendant young star on the international dance scene, Aakash Odedra has the dynamic dance energy to attract such top-tier choreographers as Akram Khan, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, and Russell Maliphant, who have each set new pieces for him in this program. The Wexner Center hosted the US premieres of both Khan and Cherkaoui, as well as the US premiere of their Wexner Center–coproduced collaboration zero degrees. Now you can be among the first in this country to see Aakash Odedra, who follows in their footsteps while forging his own path.

In Rising, Odedra draws on his background in the classical Indian dance disciplines of Kathak and Bharatanatyam while remaining intrinsically contemporary in style and concept. Exploring different processes and aesthetics in the pieces created for Rising, Odedra highlights different aspects of himself to create a new personal language: lyrical and graceful, brutal and raw, edgy and animalistic. Join us for this highly anticipated performance, and see why critics have widely praised Odedra’s hypnotic energy and thrillingly virtuosic technique.

This project is commissioned by AKCT, London; Eastman, Antwerp; Russell Maliphant Company, London; DanceXchange, Birmingham; Sampad, Birmingham; The Hat Factory, Leicester; Leicestershire and Rutland Dance, Leicester; South East Dance, Brighton; New Art Exchange, Nottingham; The Place, London; Curve Theatre, Leicester; and Southbank Centre, London; and supported by the English Art Council and Akademi.