Participants of the workshop backstage at the set of “DESH”. Photo Courtesy: Saad Enamul Haque

A backstage workshop was held on September 13 on internationally-famed choreographer-performer Akram Khan's production “DESH”. Sander Loonen, technical director of “DESH” conducted the workshop at the Seminar Room of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, which saw participation by 20 participants from theatre arena.

Sander, through PowerPoint presentations, explained how Akram Khan and his company put the idea of “DESH” into practice through teamwork. When Akram Khan came up with the concept, he focused on building a strong team for the execution of the idea.

Sander, at first gave the participants an insight into the team of “DESH”.

Then through video presentations he explained how they brainstormed and gathered different materials from different countries to design the set. Designing the production and bringing it on stage was a time-consuming job and it needed hard work and dedication, he added.

He then he moved on to the idea of “DESH”, which combines two different places, Dhaka and London. They had to focus on different aspects so that they can clearly portray the story, he added.

Following the presentation, Sander took the participants to the stage being set up for “DESH”. There, he focused on all the technical details of the set and lights. Participants engaged in a lively Q&A session with Sander, and were especially curious to learn how the crew of “DESH” had made the sky-forest on stage.

The workshop gave the participants an insight into the technical aspects of the award-winning production.