Even when men dominated traditional Indian dance forms such as bharatanatyam and kathak, they spoke the same feminine language as the women: the darting eyes, eloquent wrists, tendriled arms, and finely jingling feet. No one achieves this hermaphroditic splendor like the young feline Indian-British dancer-choreographer Aakash Odedra. But for his latest creation (sponsored by the ubiquitous and discerning Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels), he is teaming up with an actual woman, veteran kathak soloist Aditi Mangaldas. Mehek (Fragrance) is a love story, though not between seductive Hindu gods and their long-suffering consorts, as is usual, but between artistic generations. While Odedra’s fusion of contemporary and traditional, Western and South Asian, can create a haze over the drama, Mangaldas’s participation should keep the language crisp. —Apollinaire Scherr
The Arts Intel Report
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
Mehek - Aakash Odedra & Aditi Mangaldas
Aakash Odedra & Aditi Mangaldas in Mehek.
When
Feb 7–8, 2024
Where
NYU Abu Dhabi C3 Arts Center - Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Hwy - Al Saadiyat Island - Saadiyat Marina District - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates
Etc
Photo: Angela Grabowska
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Jan 23–26, 2025
Until Mar 1, 2025