The speed at which Hu Shenyuan’s hands race across Aakash Odedra’s body is mesmerising. Spider-like in their virtuosity, they almost don’t seem real. It’s one of many moments of ingenious connection between the two accomplished dancers in this atmospheric performance of Samsara.
The production is inspired by the 16th-century Chinese novel Journey to the West, in which a Buddhist monk in the seventh century travels west across Central Asia and India in search of authentic Buddhist texts. Choreographed and performed by Odedra and Hu, Samsara does not regurgitate a strict narrative but instead flows between themes and heavily symbolic movements of searching, connection and rebirth.
Sand and metallic statues, often crouched or mid-stride, populate the dusky and half-lit stage. Space and time become uncertain as the dancers move between different spotlights or appear and disappear with lights that fade in and out. We traverse vast distances, we fall into memory. Three spectral musicians appear behind a semi-transparent screen. In Nicki Wells’ composition, throat singing mixes with urgent drumming and pealing strings to reverberate with the dancers’ movements. Added to this heady mix is the range of sounds Odedra can make with his feet: a slap, a stamp, a stutter.
The forceful articulation of Odedra’s movements (he is trained in Indian classical dances of Bharatanatyam and Kathak) are often beautifully counterpointed with Chinese dancer Hu’s elastic form. As they tentatively emerge from the shadows to make first contact, aggressive swipes and evasive rolls turn into a playful recognition of each other’s prowess. A unity of difference emerges, the dancers either calling and responding to each other’s movements as they eat up the space, or physically joining together for an inventive delve into cultural and spiritual iconography. While upside-down in a headstand, Odedra’s raised crossed legs become the seated legs of Hu, who rests his head on one hand as though deep in thought.
Towards the end of Samsara, Odedra and Hu become versions of one another, dancing in sync under the whisper of cascading sand and between the now increased number of statues. In this heady world of symbolism, under the weight of history and identity, Odedra and Hu are electric.
At Lyceum theatre, Edinburgh, until 20 August.
