Today's Edition
ABU DHABI (ALETIHAD)
“Songs of the Bulbul”, to be staged by NYUAD’s The Arts Center on Sunday, January 18, is an enchanting fusion of Indian Kathak dance, Sufi music storytelling, performed by Aakash Odedra, with choreography by Rani Khanam and music by Rushil Ranjan.
Drawing inspiration from an ancient Sufi myth, the work tells the story of a bulbul (nightingale) trapped in captivity. Bound by its constraints, the bird’s despair deepens as its final moments approach. Yet, it sings more sweetly as its end draws near, delivering one last heartbreaking song before its soul departs. This tale of sacrifice and beauty explores freedom found only in the ultimate release.
In Persian culture, nightingales are deeply symbolic, representing the soul’s yearning for unity with the divine. Their songs, often directed towards the rose, symbolise the earthly beauty and the divine beloved, capturing the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment.
From Persia to the Indian subcontinent, from freedom to captivity, “Songs of the Bulbul” explores the soul’s journey towards divine love and enlightenment.
Birdsong is fleeting — like dance, it exists only in the present, vanishing as soon as it is sung.
Odedra’s performance poses a universal question: will we remain confined to the material world like the caged bird, or will we soar toward liberation and unity with the divine?
Leveraging their common cultural heritage, Odedra and Khanam seek to explore and research forms that uphold the sanctity of traditional Kathak, a classical style imbued with profound spiritual nuance and rooted in the dance traditions of the Indian subcontinent, while also investigating its possibilities when viewed through a modern lens. With music composed and directed by Ranjan, “Songs of the Bulbul” is an immersive dialogue between traditional classical Indian dance and music, renowned for its precise rhythm and storytelling, and the innovative perspectives of contemporary forms and processes.
