An exchange of energy

I was part of the Edinburgh Showcase in 2013, but before that I did a tour in India, which was a partnership with the British Council, covering Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore. Before that, someone in India saw me dance Akram Khan’s piece at British Dance Edition, and there was a British Council connection there. The relationship has developed – it’s been building up over about three years. 

It’s interesting to go to new places. It’s good to come and perform, but it’s more interesting for me to be able to develop a relationship with some of these places. Otherwise it becomes a “one-hit wonder,” something that only happens once and then it disappears. If you’re doing a workshop, especially if there’s a big connection between the participants and the company, it’s really important that the relationship continues rather than making it just happen once.

Art can be something to liberate people from the confines of what’s happening around them, from their environment. I think that’s really important – it means a lot to me, anyway. I want to support people in any way I can, which is why keeping those relationships going is so important.

Touring for me is a way of life now – I feel like I’m hardly ever at home! The difference is that when you go to new places, it becomes an exchange of culture and ways of life, ways of practising your art, ways of viewing the world. It’s amazing! Even when you’re performing on stage, there’s an exchange that happens subconsciously between the people who are present there, an exchange of energy. That is rejuvenating.

It inspires you, that energy that you’re receiving from people in the audience. I think that to be able to speak to people who are going through hell – and that’s an understatement – gives you a sense of perspective, and it personally helps me when I return to my home, or my home ground. It makes me feel that whatever problems come my way, it becomes like a grain of sand compared to what’s happening in the rest of the world. I think that this idea of being able to exchange cultural ideas through dance is a very healthy way to introduce people to other cultures that they may not be familiar with.

Aakash Odedra has toured extensively with the support of the British Council. He was speaking to Eleanor Turney.