Yeliz Pazar: POINT OF NO RETURN

In the organizer's words:

The "point of no return" is a moment that changes your entire life: Either suddenly and unexpectedly or long awaited. It is the point at which there is no turning back, at which change takes place, regardless of whether it is self-determined or externally determined. What makes a moment a decisive event in this way? When does this moment begin and when does it end? In POINT OF NO RETURN, five dancers address these questions, using the dance style of waacking as the most important element. Waacking stands for living out and celebrating one's own strength beyond heteronormative guidelines. The focus of the sound- and image-intensive piece is an expressive waacking choreography. As if in the eye of the storm, the piece begins with intense glances and flashing changes. Sometimes confrontational like an impulsive push-off and then again with sensitive and impressive synchronicity, the moment of the turning point expands into an absolutely captivating dance experience.
Waacking is a dance style that emerged in the disco era of the 70s in the Afro Latinx American LGBTQ* community in Los Angeles. Queer people had to hide their identity and still experience exclusion and discrimination in society today. In the clubs, however, they could be themselves. Waacking thus became an expressive dance to defend themselves against the oppression of racism, sexism and homophobia and to celebrate precisely those aspects that are still considered "weak" today: Vulnerability and emotionality. Typical elements are rotating arm movements, poses and an emphasis on expressiveness, all in combination with disco music.

Yeliz Pazar aka Yeliz Manuka is a dancer and choreographer from Düsseldorf and co-founder of the dance collective nutrospektif (2020 - 2022 Factory Artists, tanzhaus nrw). Her work aims to make urban dance cultures, such as waacking, more visible in the stage context and to promote them in the dance landscape. She choreographed Dschinns at the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus, Get Together at the Cologne Opera and NUTRO 10 - Eine nutrospektive at tanzhaus nrw, among others. Since 2008, she has also been part of the first generation of Waacking dancers in Germany. In 2018, she founded the Manuka Waacking Flowers, a waacking crew from NRW. In the same year, she organized THE WAACK OFF at tanzhaus nrw, the first international event of the genre in Germany, which celebrated a revival last December.

On the occasion of the Night of the Museums , we will be showing POINT OF NO RETURN twice in a row on Sat 26.04. in a short version of 30 minutes. In addition to the screenings, there will be the opportunity to take part in several Open Studios in the foyer during the Night of Museums. On Sun 27.04. POINT OF NO RETURN will be presented in the full version with a duration of 50 minutes.

Duration: 30 minutes (Saturday) or 60 minutes (Sunday)