DESH
DESH is a full-length contemporary solo and the most personal work to date from celebrated choreographer and performer, Akram Khan. DESH meaning ‘homeland’ in Bengali, draws multiple tales of land, nation, resistance and convergence into the body and voice of one man trying to find his balance in an unstable world.
Moving between Britain and Bangladesh, Khan weaves threads of memory, experience and myth into a surreal world of surprising connection. At once intimate and epic, DESH explores fragility in the face of natural forces, and celebrates the resilience of the human spirit in the rhythms of labour, in dream and story, and in transformation and survival.
For this production, Khan teams up with Oscar-winning visual artist Tim Yip (Production Designer for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), fellow Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist lighting designer Michael Hulls, writer and poet Karthika Nair and Olivier award-winning composer Jocelyn Pook.
PRESS
'Gloriously lit by Michael Hulls'
– The Independent
‘Michael Hulls’ fine lighting sets the seal on this extraordinary collaboration’
– The Times
‘Superbly lit by Michael Hulls’
– The Financial Times
‘Lighting by Michael Hulls is brilliantly realised’
– The New York Times
‘Lighting by the ever brilliant Michael Hulls’
– The Daily Telegraph
‘Outstanding lighting’
– The Daily Express
‘An essay in atmosphere by Michael Hulls’
– The Observer
‘Michael Hulls’ lighting at it’s cleverest and most atmospheric’
– The Evening Standard
‘Celestial lighting’
– The Arts Desk
‘Lighting is by all-time dance lighting god Michael Hulls’
– Londonist
CREATIVE TEAM
Direction, Choreography and Performance
Akram Khan
Visual Design
Tim Yip
Music Composition
Jocelyn Pook
Lighting Design
Michael Hulls
Stories imagined by
Karthika Nair and Akram Khan
Written by
Karthika Nair, PolarBear and Akram Khan
Dramaturge
Ruth Little
Photos
Richard Haughton