Aakash Odedra

It's the dance equivalent of a red-carpet event to get Akram Khan, Russell Maliphant and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui as choreographers on the same programme. And it says much for talent of the south Asian dancer Aakash Odedra that all three have created solos for his new show. Odedra is a very interesting dancer to watch, not least because he's physically so different from his mentor, Akram Khan. Where Khan is powerfully compact, Odedra's skinny body is animated by a jangling, rogue energy. Opening with his own solo Nittra, he barely seems tethered by gravity as his limbs fly out in extravagantly angled shapes. In the piece created by Khan, however, Odedra is transformed. Crouched low to the ground, with odd grunting noises issuing deep from his belly, he looks like a creature from Ovid, a human spirit trapped in animal form. Parts of his body flex and quiver in painful isolation; he shuffles on his knees; he arches back in a sudden howl. It's a technical tour de force. The solo is also wonderfully lit by Michael Hulls, who, along with Maliphant, is co-creator of Cut. Here the light forms a single flat plane that causes Odedra's undulating body to catch fire and glow whenever he comes into contact with it. Then, with a switch of perspective, the light carves out a deep arched corridor, perfectly framing Odedra as he spins quietly and raptly, at accelerating speeds. It's like a prayer, and by comparison Cherkaoui's Constellation is more lightweight and whimsical; with Odedra dancing amidst a dozen of dangling light bulbs Overall, the evening doesn't quite deliver the A-list choreographic experience it promises. But it certainly establishes Odedra as a dancer to follow.