Filmed on location in a crystal mine and an abandoned copper quarry, two dancers clad in gem-coloured silk are captured through prisms of light and through layers of spun glass. The movement of this duet displays recognizable postures and steps from bharatanatyam. This poetic site-specific dance for camera film is adapted from an original work by Natasha Bakht, gives expression to line, colour, light and angles, breaking up the frame in unpredictable and exciting ways. The precise gestures of the choreography are revealed and obscured as the layers of glass shift – reflecting and refracting the sun as the dancers move through the day perpetually guarding ‘dafeena’ (the Urdu word for ‘buried treasure’).

Directed & Produced by: Marlene Millar & Philip Szporer
Choreography: Natasha Bakht
Composer/Musician: Alexander MacSween
Dancers: Aarti Joseph, Atri Nundy
Director of Photography: Michael Wees
Editor: Jules de Niverville
Sound Design: Luc Papineau
Production company: Mouvement Perpétuel

5 min 30 HD