Contemporary Dance Through a Decolonial Lens

August 2025 - February 2026
DIYARBAKIR, İZMİR, İSTANBUL, VAN

This project is a series of travelling workshops that aims to rethink contemporary dance from a decolonial perspective. Through workshops held in four different cities across Turkey, artistic production based on the freedom of expression of the body and cultural diversity will be supported. Participants will experience the relationship between contemporary dance and post-colonial structures on a physical and conceptual level, producing creations based on critical thinking. The project aims to expand artistic expression and establish sustainable links with local art communities.

BoMoVu / Sports and Physical Activity Association for Social Empowerment

The Sports and Physical Activity Association for Social Empowerment, known as BoMoVu, was established in Istanbul in 2016. The association aims to promote and develop sports, physical performance and body movement activities for social empowerment at local, national and international levels. BoMoVu was established to combat discrimination and support individuals and organisations working in these areas, with the goal of increasing access and education for everyone, especially disadvantaged groups.

Dilan Yoğun

Dilan began dancing with folk dances. She studied at the Ankara University State Conservatory, Department of Modern Dance. She completed her education at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory and the Istanbul State Conservatory, Department of Performing Arts, Department of Contemporary Dance. She lives in Istanbul, where she works as an independent dancer and choreographer. Recently, she has been focusing on contemporary dance from a decolonial perspective, the relationship between repetition and difference from a socio-somatic perception, and continues to share her insights on ethical approaches to education.

Nil Delahaye

Nil is a co-founder of BoMoVu, an Istanbul-based organisation working to ensure everyone's access to their bodily rights and freedoms through the analysis and deconstruction of power relations and discrimination present in physical practices. She wrote her Master's thesis in Cultural Management on the cultural rights of Sub-Saharan African migrant artists and minorities. She has worked at IOM and BoMoVu in Istanbul, the Women's Resource Centre in Yerevan, and Common Goal in Berlin. She continues to work as a consultant in civil society.

This page is published on 11 September 2025.
Last update: 18 November 2025