Princess of Wales marks Holi in Leicester with temple visit, dance, and Aakash Odedra company

Aakash Odedra company were delighted to welcome a special guest to their studios this week!

The Princess of Wales visited Leicester yesterday to celebrate the culture, community and heritage of the British-Indian community in the city, following the Hindu spring festival of Holi. During the visit the Princess had the opportunity to indulge her love of dance, at both the Hindu temple of Shreeji Dham Haveli - which is dedicated to the teachings of Shrimad Vallabhacharya Mahaprabhuji - where she went barefoot and took part in a traditional dance and later, when she then joined Aakash Odedra to watch an extraordinary candle-lit rehearsal of their latest work, 'Songs of the Bulbul'. 

This production is an interpretation an ancient Sufi story about a captured songbird, a bulbul, which sings an exquisite tune before perishing from despair. Developed with choreographer Rani Khanam and composer Ranjan, associate artist of the Royal Albert Hall, Aakash combines Ranjan’s new score, played by a live orchestra from Manchester Camerata, and the voice of Abi Sampa, and combines music, dance and the poetry traditions of Sufism.

Following the sharing the Princess gave a standing ovation and describing the experience as “so moving” and adding “My children would love it, they love their dance.”

Born in Birmingham and now based in Leicester, Aakash trained in Indian dance styles Bharatanatyam and Kathak, then moved to India as a student of the renowned Bollywood choreographer Shiamak Davar. He founded the Aakash Odedra Company in Leicester in 2011, with the core belief that art and culture should be accessible and available to all and now engages over 1000 people weekly through learning and participation programmes. Aakash uses voices of the British Asian experience to tell new stories about modern life and create boundary pushing and award-winning dance works. 

Later that afternoon, members of the community gathered on the pavement outside the community centre to see the Princess of Wales as she walked down the Golden Mile, where she had her chance to join in a dance performance of the garba at the Hindu temple, performed in a circle with the women repeatedly turning to face the left, then right, as the circle rotated.

Mayur Kachela from the temple’s executive committee hosted the visit and joked afterwards his royal guest did not need much persuading, replying “Oh, go on then” when he asked if she wanted to join in.

Mr Kachela said Kate’s gesture was “absolutely amazing”, adding: “This visit means a lot. There’s not just one faith, one religion out there, there are many faiths and religions."