On February 5, the Glenburn Penthouse transformed into a stage where movement met the lens, perception collided with reality, and history danced into the present. Hosted by Glenburn Culture Club, in collaboration with Pickle Factory Dance Foundation, with My Kolkata as digital partner, the third instalment of the Artist Diaries series brought a compelling exploration of dance, technology and storytelling with AWA — As We Are, a contemporary dance troupe from Luxembourg
Photos: Amit Pramanik
At the heart of the evening was an interactive session featuring AWA’s groundbreaking production, ‘Shoot the Cameraman’. The event included a short excerpt from the piece, followed by a discussion moderated by independent filmmaker and Aliah University faculty member Subha Das Mollick (second from right). The session invited the audience to reflect on the relationship between movement, media and perception, questioning how the act of filming itself shapes the way stories are told and interpreted
‘Shoot the Cameraman’ is an innovative narrative that merges contemporary dance with live videography. The performance integrates two camerapersons — who are also performers — into the choreography. While in motion, they capture the other two dancers live using a camera gimbal, with the footage projected onto the backdrop in real time. The result is an immersive experience where the audience can shift their focus between the live performance and its cinematic representation on screen
“The idea behind this piece is to signify the intersecting relationships between media, power and perception, through movement and lens,” the conversation highlighted. Baptiste Hilbert, AWA’s co-director and a former dancer, shared his personal inspiration for the project: “I had huge interest in photographic direction, everything that is related to lens or light. The concept began basically to understand the relation between the image, the camera and the dancers.”
The piece is set in the 1930s and pays particular attention to the era’s visual language, especially in relation to propaganda. The costume design subtly references the Nazi regime, highlighting the historical moment when images and videos were first weaponised to manipulate public perception. “Underneath that allure of silken stockings, it was the era of Adolf Hitler’s regime, so the most horrendous things were happening. AWA also wants to shed light on that,” said Dana Roy from Pickle Factory
