“Dastak: I Wish You Me”

Short Films from Ananya Dance Theatre

 •  2 minute read

Dastak: I Wish You Me will be Ananya Dance Theatre’s evening-length dance work about home, belonging, borders, boundaries, and loss. The Farsi word dastak means “knockings,” and the dance traces the knockings of global injustices on our hearts through four sections: Earth, Water, Fire, and Air.

A group of dancers wearing face masks move across a grassy field under a bright blue sky, some lying on their sides while others extend their arms in expressive poses. Behind them stands a small stone arch structure set into the landscape, adding a historic backdrop to the outdoor performance. The scene captures a contemporary dance piece blending movement, nature, and architecture.
Still from film “Dastak 1: Earth” by Ananya Dance Theatre and Darren Johnson.

This video is the first fruits of Ananya Dance Theatre’s collaboration with filmmaker Darren Johnson in their Documentation & Storytelling project of creating documentary films around the work Dastak: I Wish You Me (formerly Āgun).

This spring and summer, Ananya Dance adapted the work to be performed in nature and public places. Four surreal dance films created by Darren Johnson are the result. 

“Until we can meet you in live performance in 2021,” they write, “we offer the spirit of the four sections, beginning with this iteration of ‘Earth,’ filmed at Coldwater Spring, Minnesota. We will release the remaining three films over the coming weeks.” Visit their website for more.

I. Earth

Text over a rocky dirt ground reads Ananya Dance Theatre in light green and Dastak in bold orange script. Small stones and patches of sunlight create a natural textured background beneath the title. The image serves as an opening title card introducing the dance work Dastak.

Due to this video’s privacy settings, please visit its Vimeo page to view it.