First, imagine misspelling your own name. Not once or twice, but throughout childhood and adolescence.
Now, instead of racking your brain to find the right way to label, sit down and think about this idea. Think of it like your upbringing. How do you feel? What are you thinking about yourself? How do you understand this?
For British dancer Aakash Odedra, this reality is not just a word — dyslexia — but a world. As he said, “I always spelled my name Akash, and even though I flipped through my passport a million times, I never noticed the other A. I didn’t notice it until I was 21. The weird thing is, it took me 21 It’s also strange that over the years I’ve misspelled the most basic, fundamental part of my identity.
From the outside, it may seem incredible to now know that Odedra is an internationally renowned dancer/choreographer. “But even stranger,” he recalls, “when I finally discovered the missing A, I felt like I had found a sense of control.”
Looking forward nearly two decades, the newly minted institution has been refined into a beloved institution Little gossipA collaboration with choreographer Lewis Major, it won the hearts of critics, toured extensively and made an impact on audiences young and old. Soon it will debut in Major’s home state of South Australia.
“The feedback has been very touching,” Odedra said of the work. Since premiering at the Spark Festival in Leicester, UK in 2022, Little gossip Has performed in theatres, libraries and schools across the UK and Europe. “It brought a lot of people to tears, not only those with dyslexia but also those who were just trying to find their identity and celebrate their individuality,” Odedra noted.
Yet despite the beauty of the words, Odedra and Major (along with musician Nitin Soni and the visual effects team at Ars Electronica FutureLab) faced the creative challenge of using the figurative language of dance to represent the dyslexic experience. This is no easy task.
“There are a lot of challenges in choreographing and directing because I can imagine the grand image before I start the process,” Odedra explains. “I can feel it, but it’s hard to articulate it to your collaborators because people generally need logic or rationality, which I don’t have and don’t work with. I work from pure instinct, and for me It’s more about pushing the emotional narrative rather than the drama.
and Little gossip, that emotion is obviously more direct. It’s not a dry, conceptual work, it’s rooted in personal experience, likely amplifying its creator’s desire to keep things feeling authentic. As Odedra admits, “It becomes a challenge when you try to bring people into this chaotic world that seems to them upside down and meaningless. I don’t I enjoy conflict and often find myself trying to make the vision fit my collaborator’s ideas. long It was time to fully trust my dyslexic instincts.
As he and Major prepare to resume work in Melbourne, Darwin and Adelaide this winter, another obstacle looms. Given its staging and technical elements – confetti, projections etc – and the fact that it will be shown to school and adult audiences during its Australian screenings, Little gossip It must be mobile production.
However, Odedra is quick to point out that this flexibility goes deeper than pragmatic theatrical norms. “Sometimes dancers who perform dances perform to children, and the child’s reaction is really instinctive. This is something that the performer cannot ignore. You have to acknowledge that and incorporate it into the performance. We are dealing with people’s emotions, and we It has to be very organic and responsible about it.
He was citing his own experience when he said this. “When I look at letters or objects on the board, they often morph and change shape and form,” he explains. “It was as real as the person sitting next to me in the classroom. Letters were flying across the blackboard in swarms like starlings.
Since then, Odedra has not only discovered the second A in her name, but has become known as a dynamic dancer who combines traditional South Asian dance forms with Western contemporary practices to create A series of award-winning works and a pioneer in world-renowned dance companies.
“When I accepted dyslexia and stopped trying to be normal, dyslexia turned from a curse to a blessing,” he added. “It’s part of my creative personality and being. It brings chaos and peace at the same time. It’s both the originator and the solution to my life. When I have nothing to say, I dance.”
For artists whose resume includes solo Rising and the beautiful duo reincarnationit is very likely that Little gossip It is his most public work. “Dyslexia is so much more than that,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s about celebrating your own differences, but also celebrating the differences of others. We all struggle at some point in our lives. It’s about perspective and helping one person understand another. So far, People have been moved by the show, which is why I think it’s still touring.
In this way, a small whisper grows louder—a full-blown voice that speaks to something inside all of us.
Aakash Odedra Company and Lewis Major Projects will be present Little gossip Held from 21 to 24 August at the Space Theater at the Adelaide Festival Centre. For tickets and more information, visit www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au/whats-on/little-murmur.
Full dates for nationwide tour Little gossip They are: July 25 to August 4 (Melbourne Arts Center), August 9 to 10 (Sydney Opera House), August 17 to 19 (Darwin Entertainment Center) and August 21 to 24 Day (Adelaide Festival Centre).
By Paul Ransom of Dance Informa.
