Between a lounge and a pasture, Am I Not Human? drifts through emotional excess, belonging, and the fragile performance of being human. The tension between joy and agony is built upon an Arabesk musicality.
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Beste & Güfte
Inspired by this contradiction, and the question posed in the title of the referenced, iconic Turkish Arabesk song, Ben İnsan Değil Miyim? (Am I Not Human?), the performance, with choreography and live musik, opens itself up to the complexity of human experience posed on an absurd, non-fitting setting.
Arabesk becomes a catalyst for unhinged emotional expression among newcomers navigating daily life in a society with distinct codes of behavior. Might the glimmering hosts indeed be the cows themselves, unbothered by the public`s presence?
Burcu Bilgiç and Derin Cankaya are İstanbul raised and Berlin-based choreographers exploring absurdity and poetic storytelling in their individual and collective performance-making practices. For this project, they collaborate with sound designer İlkyaz Yağmur Köroğlu and musician/performer Anton Gerzina under the guidance and performative support of Kurdish drag queen and Arabesk singer Babykilla.
