Meet the Choreographer of Little Murmur!

Diagnosed with dyslexia at a young age, Aakash Odedra misspelled his own name until he was 21. It wasn’t until he found the missing “A” that he felt he belonged. With mesmerizing projections and a stirring soundscape, Little Murmur is a biographical piece of solo dance theater that paints a triumphant and heartfelt portrait of neurodiversity, revealing the struggle of living in a world that’s not designed for you.

We spoke with Aakash, the choreographer of Little Murmur, to learn more about his experience with dyslexia, how it led to his love of dance and the ways Little Murmur comes to life on the New Victory stage.

How did you first learn you had dyslexia?

Aakash Odedra: I felt like I was very different as a child. My attention span and sense of imagination were very different. My teachers picked up on this and did a test on me for dyslexia, finding that I had it. At that time, I didn’t understand what dyslexia was; I just felt less than the other kids, that maybe I wasn’t as bright or as clever. It took me a while to understand that dyslexia wasn’t a curse, but a blessing, because it’s where my quest to find a world of imagination started.

How did you discover your love of dance?

AO: Dyslexia led to me dancing. It is a language without words and goes beyond nations and barriers. It is the most poetic, visceral language. When words were not enough for me as a child, I danced. Dance brought a sense of liberation.

What inspired you to create Little Murmur?

AO: I had always spelled my name “A-K-A-S-H.” Even though I flicked through my passport a million times, I never noticed there was another “A.” No one ever corrected me, not even my mother or father. It wasn’t until I was 21 years old that I noticed I was misspelling the most basic, fundamental part of my identity. When I finally found that “A,” I felt a sense of control. Little Murmur is about going on a journey to find your identity and taking control and owning it.

Can you talk about the projections in the show?

AO: For me, what was very important in Little Murmur was the sense of imagination. There was a simple rule: if the performer’s internal sense of imagination has to externalize, we have to show that in the environment that we’re placing the performer in. So, the piece has a lot of projection in it to allow the audience to go into the mind of the performer. Ultimately, you want to create a sensational world where childlike creativity and imagination become the dominant factor of the performance.

How do dance, sound and projections all come together to tell the story of Little Murmur?

AO: What’s really important is to create a story. If it’s a dance story, people often think it’s just dance, but this is a story about the imaginative mind and the scope of creativity. So when dance feels limited, the sound takes the narrative forward. And when the sound ceases to convey the narrative, the projections take it on. When the projections are no longer able to narrate that leg of the story, the dance takes it through. When all three of these things weave together, it takes the audience on a full sensory journey.

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Photos: Angela Grabowska, Pamela Raith