Desh

Image by Richard Haughton. 

The beauty of festivals is that audiences engage with art forms, genres and contemporary works that they would usually not have access to, nor the desire to explore. Akram Khan’s most personal work to date, Desh, a solo dance piece, is a flagship of this year’s Brisbane Festival, and rightly so, it’s simply sublime.

Desh, meaning ‘homeland’ in Bengali, is ultimately a journey exploring tales of land, nation, resistance and convergence in 80 superb minutes of dance and theatrical brilliance. Khan is of Bangladeshi descent, but was born in London, hence the piece moves between these two locations aided by enchanting dialogue and enviably smooth transitions between scenes.

Michael Hulls’ lighting design takes you to the bustling streets of Bangladesh, with Khan avoiding the barrage of traffic, depicted simply by bars of light traversing the stage. Olivier award-winning composer Jocelyn Pook’s score moves from being haunting to frenzied, possessed to consoling, but is consistently mesmerising, wholly accompanying Khan’s hypnotizing chorography and dance.

Designer and Oscar winner, Tim Yip, and digital animators, Yeast Culture, transport Khan and the audience to a panoramic natural oasis with a cruise through Bangladesh’s natural wilderness depicted by beautiful monochrome animations with which Khan interacts effortlessly.

Although the design is remarkable, it is Khan that brings this incredible piece to life. At the age of 40 he negotiates the stage barefoot, with tornado like speed, accompanied by controlled erraticism. As one of the leading contemporary choreographers in the world today, Khan illustrates how a solo dancer can bring the stage to life in the same way an entire dance ensemble can.

‘I am fascinated by water inside the earth, it is the core principles of the way I think and move, fluidity within form… and Bangladesh has an abundance of both water and earth,’ Khan stated.  This fascination is brought to life when the dancer loses himself in a tirade of ribbons that fly into the space depicting Bangladesh’s frequent battles involving an overabundance of water.

Khan climbs mighty trees, engages in back-breaking labour, comically explores the modern nightmare that is call-centres and leaves the audience in absolute rapture at the conclusion of this superb work.

Noel Staunton has provided a true masterpiece to open his fifth and final festival as Artistic Director and Desh represents 80 minutes that everyone needs to find during this period of festival madness.