For the third edition of Artist Diaries 1.3, which took place at The Glenburn Penthouse, a contemporary physical theatre group from Denmark, Don Gnu, took centre stage to speak about their group and projects. They were in town for the showcase of their production of ‘Walk-Man’, which is a four-man show featuring Jeppe Kaas Vad, Kasper Jonas Buus, Jesper Holm Hermansen and Petras Lisauskas, where stories unfold as they take a walk through a city. While the performance was a couple of days later, a smaller group of audience got a preview of the show by Jesper and Petras, followed by an interaction with the team
All images by Soumyajit Dey
Jesper Holm Hermansen and Petras Lisauskas started the event with a snippet of their production where poetry and humour merged with physicality and edgy stunts. In the performance, Lisauskas seemed to be leading Holm, where he starts by first moving his limbs one by one. The performance then goes into an intense mode where Lisauskas tries to teach Holm contemporary dance, but things don’t go according to plan
From Copenhagen, artistic directors Jannik Elkær and Kristoffer Louis Andrup Pedersen also joined in on the conversation on Skype. The group spoke about how the company was founded in 2010 and since then has toured all the Nordic countries, South Korea, Canada, large parts of Europe and Cuba. The company Don Gnu gets its name from a clever mix of twp concepts. ‘Don’ represents the individual, while ‘Gnu’ refers to a herd animal — the wildebeest. By combining these two contrasting elements, the company aims to embody both individual creativity and collaboration. This blend of individualism and teamwork fuels the dynamic and experimental nature of Don Gnu productions
