The Things We Carry / Taşıdıklarımız
This project gathers two contemporary dance communities that are from the westernmost and easternmost points of Europe. The representatives of these communities are choreographer Francisco Camacho and his organisation EIRA, dancers Leyla Postalcıoğlu and Mihran Tomasyan on behalf of Çıplak Ayaklar Kumpanyası, alongside musician Berke Can Özcan.
The Portuguese leading choreographer from Lisbon has asserted EIRA as a fundamental player in the artistic scene of this capital in the westernmost tip of continental Europe. Çıplak Ayaklar Kumpanyası is an organisation of remarkable longevity in Istanbul, the only capital in the world to encompass two continents – Europe and Asia -, and proposes the reunion of two dancers and a musician, all distinguished in their country, besides a strong international presence. Not incidentally, the encounters among these Portuguese and Turkish artists have happened in the context of these international crossroads.
With an artistic team rooted in these two different harbour cities, with a pronounced intersection of diverse traditions and nationalities, and combining highly contrasting socio-cultural realities, it is only natural that the artistic work should partially reflect these characteristics. The performance unfolds through a continuum of actions that evoke travel, nomadism, the creation of conditions for survival and for the maintenance of a model of life already familiar.
Are the things we carry the ones we need? Are they the ones that allow us to survive? Or are they those that allow us to perpetuate a model of life already known without questioning it? Do we repeat inconsequent gestures without realising their arbitrariness, or do we repeat them because without them we would allow the void to creep in? Are we in full charge of our laboratory of life or are our actions nothing more than ways of postponing the confrontation with an interpellation that could put all our experience into question?
The work also probes whether we genuinely hold the reins of our own experience. Are our decisions acts of agency, or simply ways of postponing the confrontation that might lead us to reevaluate everything we think we know? This subtle tension between control and surrender gives the performance a philosophical depth, where movement becomes a metaphor for both freedom and inevitability.
Supported by the Portuguese Republic – Ministry of Culture | Directorate-General of Arts, the Camões Institute, and the Embassy of Portugal in Turkey, the project is the result of a collaboration between EIRA and Çıplak Ayaklar Kumpanyası. Through this partnership, it offers a transnational dialogue in dance — a poetic crossing between Lisbon and Istanbul.
Credits
- Artistic Direction
- Francisco Camacho
- Created with and Performed by
- Leyla Postalcıoğlu, Mihran Tomasyan, and Berke Can Özcan
- Light Design
- Cem Yılmazer
- Costume Design
- Selen Hayal
- Lighting
- Utku Kara and Yasin Gültepe
- Sound Technician
- Berkant "Doktor" Kılıçkap
- Project Assistant
- Carlota Lloret and Selim Cizdan
- Poster
- Alican Tezer
- Photo
- Mustafa Erdoğan and Kam Stüdyo
- Teaser
- Muhtar Pattabanoğlu
- Production
- EIRA and Çıplak Ayaklar Kumpanyası
- Colophon
- Supported by Portuguese Republic - Ministry of Culture |Directorate-General of Arts; Camões Institute and Embassy of Portugal in Turkey.
- Performance history
- Performed in various places including Auditorio de Marvila (Lisbon), Armazem 22 (Porto), Teatro da Cerca de Sao Bernardo (Coimbra) in Portugal, Studio2.2 (Berlin) in Germany, Fadjr Theater Festival in (Tehran) Iran, Arter, Sabancı Museum, Zorlu Performing Arts Center, Alan Kadıköy, Beykoz Shoe Factory, ENKA Open Air Theater, Nazım Hikmet Cultural Center (Istanbul), Cer Modern, Kült Sahne (Ankara), Bergama Theater Festival (İzmir), Tayyare Cultural Center (Bursa), Vecihi Hürkuş Aviation Museum (Eskişehir) in Turkey.
