Geri Dön
English Ceyda Tanc’s “KAYA” received a standing ovation at the Brighton Festival

Ceyda Tanc’s “KAYA” received a standing ovation at the Brighton Festival

Brighton based artistic director Ceyda Tanc’s latest work “KAYA” received a standing ovation at the annual Brighton Festival.

Ceyda Tanc’s “KAYA” received a standing ovation at the Brighton Festival

Ceyda Tanc, Brighton based artist, founder and the artistic director of Ceyda Tanc Company, displayed her latest work “KAYA” during the Brighton Festival. Established in 1967, Brighton Festival, the annual celebration of music, dance, art, film and literature events, witnessed Tanc’s work, delivering the theme of displacement and gender stereotypes.

The performance was displayed to approximately 1,000 people by 17 dancers and at the end of the performance, Ceyda Tanc answered questions related to “KAYA”. Noting that she is aiming to draw attention to displacement, a global issue, and to people whom are forced to leave their communities and are in need of belonging, Tanc described “KAYA” as a contemporay dance work, influenced by the Turkish folklore. Tanc defined how the idea for the performance arised as follows: “The work is based in Kayaköy, the village of Kaya in Turkey where I spent a lot of time as a child. The village was home to a Greek community and in 1925 they were forcefully evacuated from their homes resulting in a Turkish/Greek exchange and leaving the village as a ‘ghost town’.

“Through my father's anthropological research, and my time spent living in Kaya as a child, I became increasingly interested in exploring this further within my work.”

Stating that she wishes to display KAYA in her hometown Kayaköy, where she has plenty childhood memories, Tanc continued as given: “I wish to display my work to people who are currently experincing displacement in Greece and the generation after them. Displacement causes traumas on individuals, nonetheless I am trying to emphasize their positive energies, creativity and the process of adaptation through my work.”