Aakash Odedra: Echoes / I Imagine, Lilian Baylis Studio

The classical Indian Kathak and Bharatnayam dancer Aakash Odedra is cut from similar cloth to his one-time mentor, the brilliant Akram Khan.

The similarity lies in the combination of intense classical skill and a curiosity for other forms of performance, contemporary dance and art for Khan, monologue and even comedy for Aakash Odedra.

The respected Kathak dancer Aditi Mangaldas choreographs Echoes for Odedra on a stage strewn with the threads of bells that traditionally adorn the dancer’s feet. From the ceiling and the floor the dancer gradually winds the bells into his movement, gaining speed and complexity.

Lit in golden beams by Fabiana Piccioli, Echoes promises to show off Odedra’s incredible talent in the rhythmic footwork, flying turns and delicate hands that define this style.

It is in I Imagine that Odedra plays to his other strengths. A mixture of dance, mime and spoken word, he channels the verses of poet Sabrina Mahfouz to dwell on travel and migration.

The suitcases stacked on the stage become alternately a house, an armchair and the trappings of unknown countries as Mahfouz’s refrain ‘Home is where the hope is’ plays out.

Funny and eloquent as well as beautiful, this programme is the next step in an intriguing canon of work from Odedra.