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Forbes
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Review: Anoushka Shankar's Spellbinding Finale At Brighton Festival Offers Hope For A New Dawn
Anoushka Shankar Chapter III. Photograph by Claire Leach. Claire Leach Anoushka Shankar brought the Brighton Festival to a breathtaking close on 25th May with a performance that was nothing short of transcendental. Taking to the stage with her visionary new live show, Shankar performed her trilogy of mini-albums–Chapter I: Forever, For Now, Chapter II: How Dark it is Before Dawn, and Chapter III: We Return to Light–in one sweeping, emotionally charged arc. It was a spellbinding evening of music, meaning, and deep emotional resonance. The trilogy–composed and released across two years of global touring–formed the core of an ambitious and experimental project. Each chapter informed the next, not only musically but thematically–tracing a full emotional cycle from the fleeting, sun-dappled joy of Chapter I, to the womb-like introspection of Chapter II, and finally, the radiant, redemptive energy of Chapter III. Together, they formed a powerful meditation on grief, healing, and hope. Anoushka Shankar Chapter III. Photograph by Claire Leach Claire Leach Though Shankar had lost her voice–the result, she explained, of an exuberant Yoko Ono-inspired performance earlier in the festival–the lack of dialogue only heightened the power of the music. After a brief, heartfelt greeting, she let her sitar do the talking, while her ensemble of peerless musicians read from notes she had written. In those words, she shared the deeply personal genesis of the trilogy: the sadness of being unable to help a loved one, the heartbreak of watching a world in conflict, and the fragile but persistent hope for a brighter future. Her sitar became a vessel for that hope—looping, bending, and shimmering through textures that ranged from the meditative to the ecstatic. With 30 years of performance behind her, eleven Grammy nominations, and an Honorary Degree in Music from Oxford University, Shankar has long since proved her technical mastery. But this performance revealed something deeper: a spiritual command of her instrument that borders on the mystical. The ensemble matched her every step with breathtaking sensitivity and virtuosity, moving seamlessly from classical ragas to techno-tinged rhythmic pulses. At moments, the music soared into joyous crescendos that had the audience visibly moved; at others, it descended into intimate stillness, allowing space for reflection. Anoushka Shankar Chapter III. Photograph by Credit Claire Leach. Claire Leach In every note, Shankar expanded the language of the sitar–not by abandoning its roots, but by weaving them into a bold, Indo-futurist soundscape that felt both ancient and utterly new. Shankar's entire aura is filled with a luminous inner light, her black bobbed hair framing a Cleopatra-like visage, and her arms so finely in tune with her sitar that it feels like an extension or her being. The climax of the evening–a euphoric final movement brimming with joy and light — felt less like an ending and more like a beginning: a musical invocation of a 'new dawn,' which also served as the thematic heartbeat of the entire Brighton Festival she so masterfully curated. This was not merely a concert. It was a cathartic, soul-stirring experience that reaffirmed the power of music to hold sorrow, transcend boundaries, and illuminate the path forward. Anoushka Shankar has long been a transformative force in contemporary music–but this performance marked a pinnacle. A swansong, perhaps, to this particular chapter–but also a luminous opening to whatever comes next. And after such a performance, we wait for that next chapter with bated breath, and renewed hope.
Forbes
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Anoushka Shankar Curates Brighton Festival 2025: A Celebration Of Indian Art And Performance With Highlights Including Aakash Odedra Songs Of The Bulbul.
BF25 Guest Director Anoushka Shankar. Photo Credit Laura Lewis. BF25 Guest Director Anoushka Shankar. Photo Credit Laura Lewis. Anoushka Shankar, the Grammy-nominated renowned sitar virtuoso and composer, has taken the helm as Guest Director for the Brighton Festival 2025, bringing a rich tapestry of Indian art and performance to the forefront of this year's program. Her curation is themed around New Dawn and the program of diverse performances and artistic collaborations illuminates notions of transformation, renewal, and the interconnectedness of cultures. Brighton Festival is England's largest annual curated multi-arts festival and the 2025 edition features an eclectic multi-arts line-up curated by Shankar as a rallying cry for a more hopeful future. We are living through an era defined by conflict and unrest around the world, yet Shankar's theme of New Dawn invites performers at the festival to send a message of hope for our collective ability to heal and recover. Shankar's New Dawn festival program features seven world premieres including Wembley, written by Nikesh Shukla (The Good Immigrant) Nikesh Patel (Starstruck) and Himesh Patel (Yesterday) in the aftermath of the 2024 riots and a riveting programme of South Asian music, dance and performance including Meera Syal, Aakash Odedra, Aditya Prakash, Aruna Sairam and Arooj Aftab. Other highlights of the festival include evim [my home]. Ceyda Tanc is a Turkish-British choreographer who has presented two world premieres at Brighton Festival this year. Starring an all-female cast, Tanc's work explores the interplay between Turkish folk dance and contemporary UK culture. Tanc collaborated with childhood friend Natasha Granger to create evim as a magical interactive dance theatre piece for 0-5 year olds and their families. EVIM Ceyda Tanc Dance & Theatre Fideri Fidera, Brighton Festival 2025. EVIM Ceyda Tanc Dance & Theatre Fideri Fidera, Brighton Festival 2025. I was fortunate enough to witness Aakash Odedra's unforgettable dance performance Songs of the Bulbul at the Festival, which completely blew me away with his phenomenal energy and spirit. Songs of the Bulbul is a perfect fit for Shankar's theme of New Dawn and at its centre is a passionate dance performance that unfolds like poetry in motion. A moving meditation on life, death, and rebirth, it is at once deeply personal and universally resonant—an ode to Odedra's late mother, tenderly expressed through the character of a Bulbul (Persian for Songbird). Nightingales, or Bulbuls, are revered in Persian culture where their song represents a spiritual seeker looking for union with the divine. Aakash Odedra collaborated with choreographer Rani Khanam and musician Rushil Ranjan on Songs of the Bulbul, which is inspired by the ancient Sufi myth of a bulbul captured and held in captivity. The performance follows the experience of a Songbird–played by Odedra–who was bound ever closer and slowly died from a broken heart, emitting one last song before expiring. Odedra's magical performance tells the tale of beauty born out of loss and the freedom that can be found only through the ultimate sacrifice. The musical, dance and poetic traditions of Sufism are at the heart of this compelling new theatrical experience created by two of the world's leading Sufi Kathak artists. Odedra's epic dance performance combines the physicality of Kathak with the spiritual journey of Sufism on a quest to seeking unity with the Divine. Songs of the Bulbul, Aakash Odedra Company. Brighton Festival 25. Photo Credit Angela Grabowska Songs of the Bulbul, Aakash Odedra Company. Brighton Festival 25. Photo Credit Angela Grabowska Odedra inhabits this songbird with astonishing physicality, his fluid, soaring movements capturing both fragility and resilience. The performance is powerful and life-affirming, filled with visceral emotion that transcends the stage and invites the audience into a dreamlike realm. Beguiling and profound, Songs of the Bulbul is a rare work of dance that not only tells a story but also touches the soul. Odedra takes the audience on a mystical journey with his utterly mesmerising dance performance which emits so many emotions without any words. In Songs of the Bulbul, Odedra delivers a profoundly evocative performance and offers the audience an immersive experience steeped in grief, love, and spiritual transcendence. This new work is a deeply personal tribute to Odedra's late mother Kay—who he describes as his 'smiling bulbul who left her cage.' Through an eloquent fusion of movement and music, Odedra explores the fragile, soaring life of a songbird, using it as a metaphor for death, liberation, and the cyclical nature of existence. There is some reference in Odedra's performance to Whirling Dervishes of the Sufi order, who are known for their unique practice of whirling as part of religious ritual Sama. Also called Sufi whirling, the dance is a form of physical meditation and a way for dervishes to connect with God. Odedra takes the spirit of the Whirling Dervish and adapts it into a thoroughly contemporary dance performance which he puts his heart and soul into. From the moment he steps onto the stage, Odedra becomes the bulbul. His body channels both the anguish and the beauty of a creature caught between worlds. Every glide, every turn of his hand, pulses with emotion. His kathak-infused movements—rooted in the classical Sufi tradition—are not mere technical displays, but living, breathing expressions of longing, resistance, and ultimate surrender. At times he seems almost weightless, caught in a dance that feels like prayer; at others, his body twists in raw anguish, echoing the pain of loss and the yearning for transcendence. The performance is notable for its absence of spoken word. Yet in that silence, a story of immense depth unfolds—one of life, death, and eventual rebirth. Odedra guides the audience through these spiritual and emotional realms with the grace of a seasoned storyteller. The music, rich with Indian classical and devotional tones, acts as a second voice—an aural current upon which Odedra's movements sail. The rhythm of the tabla, the lament of string instruments, and the undercurrent of poetic chant form a symphony of sacred mourning and quiet hope. There is a meditative stillness to Songs of the Bulbul, a quality that invites reflection. It may well draw inspiration from The Conference of the Birds, the 12th-century Sufi parable by Attar of Nishapur, where birds journey in search of the mythical Simurgh, only to discover that the divine truth lies within. The Conference of the Birds is a poem about sufism, the doctrine propounded by the mystics of Islam. In Songs of the Bulbul, Odedra's songbird seems to travel through despair toward a luminous inner peace—an embrace of death not as an end, but a beginning. Ultimately, Songs of the Bulbul is not just a performance—it is a ritual, a requiem, and a rebirth. Odedra has crafted a work that is both deeply personal and universally resonant, rooted in cultural tradition yet unbound by geography or language. It is a stirring reminder that through art, we can give voice to the unspeakable, and in movement, find meaning beyond words. Anoushka Shankar, Brighton Festival 25. Photo Credit Carly Hildebrant. Anoushka Shankar, Brighton Festival 25. Photo Credit Carly Hildebrant A highlight of the festival promises to be Anoushka Shankar's performance of Chapter III– the culmination of her recent trilogy of mini-albums: Chapter I: Forever, For Now, Chapter II: How Dark it is Before Dawnand Chapter III: We Return to Light with a visionary new live show–on Sunday 25th May at Brighton Dome.
ITV News
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- ITV News
Vibrant start to Brighton Festival
Loading spinner Vibrant start to Brighton Festival Sun 4 May 2.16pm • "NEW DAWN" SPARKS INTO LIFE
BBC News
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
What's on in Sussex this May Bank Holiday weekend?
Some of the biggest events on the Sussex social calendar are happening this bank holiday weekend, which has been dubbed Marvellous "something for everybody", people across the county will be able to enjoy theatre, comedy, cabaret, exhibitions, family shows, spoken word and circus, among other popular Brighton Fringe festival begins on Friday, celebrating its 20th year with "a feast of good taste", while Brighton Festival kicks off on Saturday with the annual parade of children through the crowds of visitors are expected to bring a welcome boost to trade for many businesses. Some of the highlights include Magnificent Motors in Eastbourne on Saturday and Sunday and celebratory Jack in the Green parade in Hastings on Martin, head of events and seafront at Eastbourne Borough Council, told Radio Sussex: "We have Magnificent Motors this weekend, which is taking place on the Western Lawns which is just opposite the Grand Hotel. "We have over 600 vintage cars, everything from 1900, very early vehicles, to modern day electrics."He added there will also be a funfair, lots of retailers and a bar on site, as well as a stage for presentations and free event will be an "excellent fun day out for all the family", Mr Martin said. In Hastings, Keith Leech, founder of the annual Jack in the Green event, said: "We've got a lot coming up this weekend, it's really really exciting."We've discovered that there's a sort of Jack in the Green-type thing that used to happen in Jamaica and the local Afro-Caribbean community have been working on it and they're doing a talk this evening, so that's going to be really exciting."Then we've got a folk session playing music, singing songs in the East Hastings Angling Association."Then over the weekend we've got Morris dancing across the streets of Hastings, all day long, particularly around the Old Town area, every single day, culminating with the procession with the Jack in the Green on Monday." In Brighton and Hove, Amy Keogh, managing director of the Brighton Fringe Festival, said there were more than 800 events planned for this year."People have the freedom to put a show on, do a performance... and so you get the chance to see some brilliant stuff, some crazy stuff," she told Radio Sussex."We cross so many genres, we go through theatre, music, circus, comedy, family shows, dance, exhibitions. We've got new venues which are bringing new shows."With forecasters predicting the sunshine and high temperatures will stick around, visitors and residents will be able to enjoy a splash to cool paddling pools - at Saunders Park, Hove Lagoon and The Level - are opening in Brighton and Hove from Saturday until 14 the King's Road paddling pool is planned to be re-opened in the summer, the council Alan Robins, cabinet member for sports and recreation at Brighton & Hove City Council, said: "We know how important this paddling pool is to the local community. "Now we are certain the roadworks which would have impacted the site will take place later in the year we have made the decision to re-open this pool for the summer."We are currently sourcing quotes to bring the pool up to a suitable standard but are determined to have it open and being enjoyed by families as soon as possible."
BBC News
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Brighton bus photo exhibition by Martin Parr and JJ Waller
If you're catching the bus around Brighton & Hove this summer, make sure you grab a seat on the top deck. Bus stops around the city are being turned into photo gallery, only viewable from above. Over 65 images will be supersized and placed on flat bus stop roofs for show by famous photographers Martin Parr and JJ Waller. The Beside the Sea exhibition shows iconic British seaside scenes including ice creams, beaches and seagulls stealing chips! Waller and Parr, the artists behind the idea, said they wanted to do something different for this exhibit, which is part of the 2025 Brighton Festival. "Photography has the ability to be shown anywhere, and this is the most original location I can think of," said Parr."There is nowhere more British than the seaside" he said he was inspired by bus journeys with his mum when he was younger. "For her, it was a carefree break from suburban life, and for me, it was a window to another world."Organisers said the exhibition will visible from bus shelter roofs from 22 April with the photos also be displayed at the Hove Museum of Creativity.
