TAKSIM SQUARE is a poignant piece of dance theatre which came about as an artistic response to the popular protests in Turkey and the unfolding of the Arab Spring. The work draws on personal testimonies, key images, and is told through symbolic movement and patterns. It takes its audience on a moving and often brutal journey through hope and despair, creating an intense portrait of repression and resistance.
TAKSIM SQUARE is programmed as a 15 or 25 minute performance and features different cast sizes and genders (from a male solo performer or a female duet, to an ensemble of 15 performers). TAKSIM SQUARE was devised to allow a community dance group composed of semi-professionals or youth dancers to join the company’s dancers in sections of the performance.
- Nicholas Minns, www.writingaboutdance.com -
Originally choreographed for the London contemporary dance platform, Cloud Dance Festival as a work in progress in July 2013, TAKSIM SQUARE was later performed as a finished solo work in November 2013 in London.
TAKSIM SQUARE was presented in Birmingham, Leeds and London, and is touring in the UK and abroad in 2015/2016. As part of the touring double-bill Pathos, TAKSIM SQUARE is programmed as a 25 minute production featuring an international cast of 5 performers. TAKSIM SQUARE is also presented as an outdoor performance, as a site-responsive work and is suitable for festivals.
Artistic Direction and Choreography: Johnny Autin Rehearsal Director: Rebecca Namgauds Performers: Donata Kukytė, Johal Lloyd, Charlotte Morewood, Frankie Hickman, Melanie Simpson, Rebecca Namgauds, Tom Tindall, Sheridan Sherrat, Mélanie Quevedo, Jason Boyle, Laura Vanhulle and Johnny Autin Music: Claude Chalhoub, “Melancholia”; Daniel Waples & Flavio Lopez, “Cajon”; DJ Krush, “Beyond Raging Waves”; Yann Tiersen, “Preparations for the Last TV Fake”; Ceccal, “Playground” Lighting Design: Andy Finn Costume Designer: Nicola Moorhouse