Özlem Alkış : Nefes

In the organizer's words:

Nefes is a breath, a voice, a song, an individual expression, a retelling of a story, a commitment to a group, a choir, a shared experience, a polyphonic utterance. It is a choreographic piece inspired by Alevi beliefs and practices. Nefes means breath in Turkish. In Alevi culture, nefes also refers to a sung poem performed by musicians at ceremonies and gatherings. Nefes are the only means of passing on Alevi teachings, painful history and hidden identity from generation to generation. They are considered sacred because they give voice to the Alevi people and their heritage.
In performance, the physicality of the voice becomes a way of locating oneself within a group and the environment. It becomes a strategy of relationship, reaction, reconfiguration and coexistence. A force that creates shared experiences and spaces- aesthetically, physically and imaginatively. In the work, familiar meanings and associations are displaced by physical resonances: soundscapes, voices, movements and bodies search for shared spaces between mood, disharmony, amplification, suppression and complementarity. Affective environments, perceived by the skin, heard by the eyes and seen by the ears, unsettle, delight, soothe and touch deeply.

Duration: 50 min.

After completing her dance training in France (essais at the CNDC in Angers and ex.er.ce at the CCN in Montpellier), Özlem Alkış completed her master's degree in dance education in a contemporary context at the Cologne University of Music and Dance. She received scholarships in the performing arts section of the Akademie der Künste der Welt in Cologne (2016) and the Akademie der Künste in Berlin (2015). In her works, most recently in the series Reverbs, also co-produced by tanzhaus nrw, she repeatedly deals with resonance - as a social, musical and physical phenomenon and with how movement can change perceptions and open up insights into society.

Supporting program