Sunday 30th October

Spectacular dance theatre show

Tonight we went to see Amaas, a spectacular dance show at Curve. It was amazing. It brought dance to life.

Amaas was a unique experience. It showed that movement can come from a variety of sources. Artistic idioms can be skillfully blended together to produce an extravaganza of entertainment.

Here is how the programme notes set the scene for the show:

A new moon phases. Released from her iridescent shroud she is free to dance and play. Freedom is a precious thing when time is short but tempted by night's mysterious characters, a sky with no moon could spell disaster for us all. When the shadows are at play then temptations may have their way. The new day hangs in the balance. The darkest night of the lunar calendar, the night of no moon is upon us all ...

Well, with an introduction like that you would expect to be in for something rather wonderful. The great thing about shows at CURVE is that you are never quite sure what to expect. More often than not, you are not disappointed. Recently, CURVE has been the venue for a series of shows that have been consistently exciting and wonderful.

Amaas was no exception. On tonight's stage we saw contemporary dancing, ballet, acrobatics on the floor and in the air, juggling, magic, stilt walkers, fire dancing, hoola hoops and fan dancers.

An amazing cocktail of dance, circus and athletics. You might think that these things do not comfortably fit together. If, that is, you do not know the magic that Aakash Odedra can weave on a stage.

Dance organisation Desi Masti has been interested in Circus for a long time: for them there is a common ground between dance and what circus performers do. Last night they demonstrated how this can work. As the programme notes aid "Desi Masti were introduced to Combust, and the rest as they say, is history."

The artists on stage tonight included the circus performers from Combust, the dancers of Desi Masti, and dancers from the Centre for Indian Classical Dance.

The dance routines were complex; contemporary choreography rather than traditional. The troupes were dancing each piece for quite some time, so the mixed group of women and men had a lot to learn but their delivery was faultless.

The music was also impressive. Mysterious, mood evoking, a mixture of traditional indian idioms, electro-synth and contemporary pop and jazz. Yet another intoxicating cocktail to excite the senses.

The show progressed with a series of dance routines, circus-style performances, aerial acrobatics including those who hung suspended from long strips of fabric - Aerial Dance - and Lauren Red performing inside of or hanging from a hoop suspended over the stage.

Curve is of course the best place to stage this kind of event. It has state of the art stage technology and a first class sound system.

The show was thrilling and dramatic, inspiring and romantic. More than just a series of acts, it had a theme running through it to do with the moon, as described in the intro. More ballet or musical theatre, it brought all these different aspects of movement together into one whole event.

The audience was thrilled. You could tell by the enthusiasm of their applause both during the show and at the end and many people commented to me after the show on how wonderful it was. The show was a sell out, every seat was taken and the audience was mixed, in terms of age, ethnic origins ... there is a growing interest in Indian culture from all sides of the Leicester community, especially during Diwali week.

The only downside of all this, is that it was a one off, unless of course Anand Bhatt is planning to build on the success of tonight and come back with a week long show next year. Fingers crossed!

The show was presented by Aakash Odedra Company, Desi Masti, Combust, Pole Xclusive, 1stclasspolefitness and CICD.

Producer, Anand Bhatt, Artistic Director and choreographer, Aakash Odedra

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