Saṃsārais a Pali/Sanskrit word that means “world”. It is also the concept of rebirth and “cyclicality of all life, matter, existence”, a fundamental belief of most Indian religions. Popularly, it is the cycle of death and rebirth.Saṃsāra is sometimes referred to with terms or phrases such as transmigration, karmic cycle, reincarnation or Punarjanman, and “cycle of aimless drifting, wandering or mundane existence”. – Wikipedia

Samsara, inspired by the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West, traces the steps we take, both forward and backward, in search of our higher selves. Drawing on thinking and imagery at the heart of Buddhist philosophy, it explores some of the 81 obstacles and 6 states of mind that can hold us back. Epic mythological storytelling merges with personal experience and anecdote from two globally opposite perspectives, in a highly visual landscape. – Aakash Odedra Company

I attended the Lyric Theatre at The Lowry in Manchester on Sunday 9th October 2022. This was the 4th event I had planned that was (indirectly) affected by train strikes but I was determined to make this one as it would have also been the 4th event I had scheduled that I would have to have missed. I am so glad I made the effort to attend. The journey to Manchester is (for me) really not that far anymore. It takes about an hour on the train (when they are running) and a 20 minute tram journey through Manchester to Salford Quays and the Lowry. This is now the 3rd time I have visited but ironically the first time I have seen a performance in the main theatre space at the Lowry. Previously, both times I have been in the Quays Theatre space. The journey to the Lowry was.. ok. Train was busy because seemingly most previously were cancelled but still managed to get a seat for the journey. Jumped off at Deansgate and awaited a tram to MediaCityUK. I arrived in time to get a drink from the bar and read some of the information supplied by the Aakash Odedra Company about the performance and there Dance Company.

I am not a stranger to the Aakash Odedra Company. I have seen a previous performance back in Liverpool at Unity Theatre back in February 2022 called Little Murmur. (Read more about that here). I have seen Aakash perform previously and it was also the first event I pushed myself to go to see in this year of getting back outside, so seeing this performer again in the same year was important to me. I am glad I got to do just that. I was also excited about seeing Samsara. I had heard only good things about it. I took my seat inside the theatre and as it turns out I had picked a well placed seat to be able to see all of the on-stage action. However if I was to attend the Lyric for any other events in the future, I have identified some other locations that have good viewing angles too. It’s good to have that knowledge prior to a visit.

Let’s get into the performance. First of all I should state that Samsara is a duet between Aakash Odedra and Hu Shenyuan. Hu is a world-renowned Chinese Dancer & Choreographer. I must admit, I don’t know of Hu Shenyuan and I don’t know much about him, but from reading an article from Guardian.com which was an interview with Samsara co-creator Aakash Odedra in which he says that Hu and himself are very much “one soul split in two”, I can gain a better understanding of who Hu is and a little of his backstory and journey to find himself. I feel that I know more about Aakash from seeing a previous production with his supreme “quicksilver-fast movement and gracefully light touch”.

Typically you tend to find that dance performances are generally lit from the side of the stage, you want to reduce the amount of shadowing on the stage and design wise you keep it simple, one or two colours. Samsara is not at all typical. The staging plays with physical space with movement around most of the stage up and downstage, left and right extremes. The lighting design by Yaron Abulafia is nothing short of superb. The show starts with a simple singular spot focused down on a Dancer who is wearing a dark cloak so most of the light is absorbed focusing the eye towards the hands and their movement. This is stage remember, you are viewing what is a small object at a distance and yet there is nothing lost in the translation of the moment witnessed. Nothing is exaggerated, everything is exact and planned with precision. The Dancer moves in and out of the light with purpose. At the start of the show we are treated to a solo performance from Hu Shenyuan although through the costumes and stage direction it is not entirely clear as to the identify of the dancer as they playfully interact with the minimal light available on stage. One of the best parts for me was the introduction of the second Dancer to the stage. A long, slow walk is performed around a complete circle of the performance space before we see any initial interaction between the Dancers. Before they meet on stage there is a transitional period were different sections of the stage are lit still using what looks to be singular spots, a series of movements are performed within the light then the Dancer exits the light as it fades to darkness. Cut to the next second where on a completely different part of the stage another light fades up and this process repeats a few times. I found this impressive as it wasn’t clear if it was the same performer or not. I found this to be clever design & staging. It was brilliantly open to interpretation as all good dance should be. Yes light (and darkness) is utilised a lot within the performance. There are props on the stage that are interacted with as the story progresses, but these are very much ‘set dressing’ compared to the artists at work. The introduction was nothing short of mesmerising to see.

Samsara had a soundtrack running throughout which was composed and performed by Nicki Wells with BeiBei Wang who is a percussionist (although that word doesn’t describe the half of what she brings to the performance of Samsara, and Michael Ormiston who is a Singer and multi-instrumentalist and within Samsara is a throat singer which provides its own unique sound. It was interesting to see these performers live on the stage and in parts, very much a part of the performance. Music driving movement. There were between tracks short moments of silence (aside from the contagious coughing that British audiences seem to need to do to fill the silence). During these silent periods there was still movement ongoing. It was surreal in parts and showed that the movement was its own force to drive forward the storyline.

I don’t want to talk too much about the rest of the performance as not to give away any spoilers. It is one that has to be seen. Even if you think that Dance is not your thing. I know there is a lot of you out there, but you may just find yourself surprised. Surprised as to what you like. There were some incredibly well choreographed duet pieces within the performance involving both bodies intertwining and moving as one singular body. From the trailer you can see that the use of Sand is included in the performance. This together with the lighting design and costumes is actually an integral part of the performance design. Aakash who is the one who interacts mostly with the sand adds his unique fluid movement under streams of falling sand. Mesmerizing – as a word – doesn’t do this justice as he spins and spins and spins and spins. There are several emotions and mental states represented within Samsara. Those which were clear to me were birth and rebirth, discovery of self and exploration of humanity. There are clear moments of hostility which gives over to love, joy and acceptance. Through the inclusion of more traditional Buddhist Dance and movement arts was a unique thing to see and experience. It was interesting to see that both Hu and Aakash literally mirroring each others movements in such a surreal way.

In summary I really am glad I was able to attend this performance. It still has a few dates left of its UK tour and I hope it returns within 2023 so that more people can see the inspiration this performance brought to me. Below is a trailer which does illustrate some of the moments I have talked about above. I cannot recommend it more and I could write and write about this one. One of the best performances I have been lucky enough to experience this year.