Ultimate Release

Perhaps not since Mikhail Fokine’s 1905 iconic “The Dying Swan” has there been as haunting a solo dance depiction of avian death as Aakash Odedra Company’s “Songs of the Bulbul” (2024). The 50-minute piece, inspired by the ancient Sufi myth of a bulbul (nightingale) held in captivity and systematically denied freedom and sunlight to make its birdsong sweeter, proved one of award-winning dancer Aakash Odedra’s very best productions.

Performance

“Songs of the Bulbul” by Rani Khanam

Place

Byham Theater, Pittsburgh, PA, October 11, 2025

Words

Steven Sucato

Aakash Odedra Company in “Songs of the Bulbul.” Photograph by Kuldeep Goswami

The performance began with a voiceover that encapsulated the Sufi myth and the bulbul's embrace of death as its ultimate release. This narrative element set the stage for Odedra's dance, providing the audience with a clear understanding of the bulbul's tragic journey. Choreographed by Rani Khanam, the work blended classical Indian Kathak movement with contemporary theatrical sensibilities to create a rich tapestry of intense emotion and spellbinding visuals.

It began with Odedra as the bulbul, enjoying freedom in the pools of light surrounding him (set design by Emanuele Salamanca’). Odedra mixed bird-like gestures with Kathak movement that unfolded in circular patterns and whirling-dervish spins. One could not help but be drawn into the joy expressed in Odedra’s dancing of Khanam’s exuberant choreography. Odedra evoked powerful emotions from viewers at every step along the bubul’s journey—when the cluster of suspended bamboo poles dropped to the stage landing with a massive thud to form the bars to the bulbul’s cage, the impact was palpable. Now caged, Odedra’s character’s movements became panicked and frenetic as the realization of his own imprisonment overcame him.

Aakash Odedra Company in “Songs of the Bulbul.” Photograph by Angela Grabowska

The stage light gradually dimmed to a sliver, Odedra’s dancing took on the bowed head and slow, melancholic articulation of flapping arms, reminiscent of Fokine’s “The Dying Swan.” Odedra’s physical manifestation of the bulbul’s dying was accompanied by a powerfully moving song, featuring vocals by Sarthak Kalyani and Abi Sampa, that exemplified the bird’s ever-sweeter birdsong as it moved closer to death. During it, several of the unlit stage candles briefly illuminated as if a part of the bulbul’s released spirit came into them.

The climax of the work came after a foot-stomping dance of defiance by Odedra as the bird, over its fate, and the fulfillment of the myth’s final act, removing the bird’s eyes to inspire the bulbul’s sweetest song. This was symbolized by Odedra putting on a white blindfold and stumbling across the stage as more red flower petals rained down, and all of the candles illuminated briefly before the stage went black, with only one spark of red light, like a firefly, ascending into the rafters, possibly representative of the bird’s soul bound for the hereafter.

Aakash Odedra Company in “Songs of the Bulbul.” Photograph by Angela Grabowska

The conclusion of the work and the bulbul’s fateful journey saw Odedra covered in a semi-sheer cloak of white fabric lying on his back on the stage, chest lifting off the stage floor to exhale the bulbul’s final breath. A rousing standing ovation for Odedra followed.

Steven Sucato

Steve Sucato is a former dancer turned arts writer/critic living in Cleveland, Ohio. His writing credits include articles and reviews on dance and the arts for The Plain Dealer, Buffalo News, Erie Times-News, Dance Magazine, Pointe, Dance International, and web publications Critical Dance, DanceTabs (London), and Fjord Review. Steve is chairman emeritus of the Dance Critics Association and the creator of the arts website artsair.art.

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