Argentinian choreographer Cecilia Bengolea achieves physical feats in ballet-style stilettos, crab-walking through Paris’ backstreets in today’s abstract dance homage. Directed by filmmaker Clara Cullen, the short sees Bengolea joined by dancers François Chaignaud, Ana Pi and Alex Mugler, and was shot in and around La Ménagerie studio where the artists have a residency. It was based on four pieces from the Bengolea and Chaignaud Choregraphique Repertory—“Sylphides” (2009), “Danses Libres” (2010), “Mimosa” (2011) and “Altered Natives’ Say Yes to Another Excess-Twerk” (2012). “She’s a great inspiration for me,” says Cullen of her muse, confidante and compatriot. “I met her in a squat in Paris five years ago and we instantly became friends—I understand her world, and that’s why I can do this kind of work with her.” Cullen studied Film at the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires and later trained under Spike Lee in New York and Werner Herzog in Los Angeles. Her more recent work includes fashion films for such brands as Max Mara and Nike. “It’s a mix of things we just created in the moment,” says Cullen of today’s short, which was partly shot with a VHS camera that Cullen obtained from eBay and splices grainy sci-fi architectural landscapes with scenes of dancers vacuum-packed in rubber fetish wear. “They stayed in that bag for an hour,” she explains, “which is physically and mentally very hard. The film has a lot of moments of hope and desperation—I just wanted to have that feeling throughout.”