“Riding the Waves”
This piece was produced for second-year undergraduate students at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2024. At that time, I was teaching contemporary technique class with the same group and was working on my own proficiency in art thesis. I was intrigued by the idea of translating the concepts I had explored as a solo into a collective work, and this production unfolded from that very perspective.
They reflected on how they situate themselves within a crowd, on the forces that draw them closer or drive them away in life, and on the ties they weave with those near to them; unfolding these reflections through notions of distance between bodies, and the play of encounters—whether serendipitous or deliberately sought and intimacy.
Ultimately, a separate video installation was created from the resulting work for use in the Minding the Gap solo.
Below, you will find the teaser of the work.
Dancers: Kayra Zafer, Yağmur Tungan, Ekin Can Yılmaz, Selin Yağmur Çetinkaya, Lara Kaptan, Füsun Çakır, Nilay Topçu, Duru Toprak Doğan, Nazlıhan Vardarlı, Dila Özer.
Video: Grandeur Film.
Dancers: Bora Hürcan, Ece Çamlı, Ecem Dilara Özmen, Elif Aleyna Özdem, İdil Kara, Sude İnce, Sunay Baykal, Zeynep Beren Boylu, Nazlıhan Vardarlı.
Video: Pınar Akyüz.
If you would like to see how it was later transformed on stage, please follow this Vimeo link:
“As It Is”
This piece was first produced for first-year undergraduate students at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2021, during the pandemic. We began the creation process with the question: How can we find ways to connect, even when confined to our homes and separated by miles? I drew inspiration from the movements of the planets, their orbital togetherness, and astrology—thus also from the elements.
The work was first presented online as a video project during that time. Later, when in-person gatherings became possible again, we explored how the same materials could be transformed within a shared space.
Below you will find the video project.
“Minding the Gap”
This solo contemporary dance piece was shaped through principles drawn from Countertechnique, particularly body-space awareness and the notion of taking initiative.
The choreographic process uses the same dance technique as a movement generator.
In this solo, the notions in Riding the Waves are explored simultaneously. While the piece presents itself as a solo, it unfolds as a duet between dancer and audience, between body and space. Rather than observing from a fixed vantage point, the audience is drawn into the work, inhabiting the very terrain of the performance.