The choreographer describes her challenging film shoot in the Spanish desert, where dancers are pitted against scorpions, fierce winds and punishing sun

It is a chilly 6am start in late May in the Almerían desert and everyone heads to the catering truck like homing pigeons. It is difficult not to feel like intruders in this fragmented and erratic landscape dotted with dark towering rocks, dry sandy gullies and patches of scrub. We are advised not to kick any stones in case it disturbs snakes or scorpions. Fortified with just the right dose of anxiety, we begin filming.