Turkish Ritual Dancer Alper Akçay joins us as the 11th feature of CARAVANA Freethinkers 2021 Edition. A native of the Turkish Riviera, Alper takes us on a soulful journey of movement and expression, allowing us entrance into his inner world of creativity and dance.

CARAVANA connected with Alper at The Edition Bodrum in Turkey, as he led a tantalizing Turkish dance performance during an intimate event at the hotel. Now, we reconnect in the new year with this heart-opening conversation. The passion that Alper brings to his performances is similar to witnessing magic. He inspires a yearning to step into our inner light and harness the endless possibilities to create, connect, and grow.

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My grounding vehicles are simply being aware of my body; breathing and living in nature have a great impact and introspection.

How has your life shifted over this past year?

When I was in my mother’s tummy. During one of the check-ups, the doctor had said that there was more than one baby, perhaps a “twin or triplet”. After the scans and discovery that I was alone, he declared that I would be a “footballer”. I’ve always been curious about movement and hypersensitive to space. I walked on my hands before I walked on my feet. I’ve expressed myself through movement for as long as I can remember. My body knew how to move.

I spent my time at home producing impromptu dances and a whirling video series “QurantiNature” and “Whirling Art” that I shared through my IGTV. I started a project on Instagram as a self-portrait photo project called “MA-AD”.

Last summer I performed for smaller groups for Conscious Communes events that brought artists from different disciplines together to celebrate art, nature, and connection. I collaborated with Turkish musicians Nilufer Ormanlı and Ekin Bernay, who create contemporary dance and dance therapy. Finally, for the CARAVAN X EDITION full moon performance that took place in Bodrum EDITION.

What did you think of CARAVANA when you came across us in Bodrum, Turkey?

I still face these questions often, however, my love for what I do and what it brings me and others is much bigger than any setback. As long as movement is a part of it, I get excited no matter what style or art-form gets involved, it excites me. Before my performance at The Edition Bodrum, through a spontaneous dinner, our connection was solidified and I was given a beautiful piece of CARAVANA.

How do you feel wearing our pieces?

I feel that the CARAVANA community set out to Mother Earth with sensitive awareness and principle, which softens my heart the most while wearing the piece, and I am impressed by the designs. Regardless of your body type, it is very comfortable to have fringed, hand-knotted leather threads with beautiful designs and to be open to different clothing styles. The piece I have chosen has a tribal, primordial effect, and I felt connected with my inner shaman ancestors.

In my dances or my whirling performances where I focus on Sema, stories, miseries, discoveries, reunions, I embody endless dialogues that people make with divine love. 

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What are some of your rituals or routines that help ground you and keep you creative?

Reading Rumi and different Sufi mystics, rubais, stories, and poems- all are deeply inspiring to me. My daily healing and prayer enhance flexibility, improvised and somatic movement exercises, and spending time in the kitchen, deepening my relationship between natural nutrition and mother earth, travelling, and spending time in the mountains. My grounding vehicles are simply being aware of my body; breathing and living in nature have a great impact and introspection.

Being in a conversation with conscious communities, healers, and friends that I am inspired by, working on ideas that I dream of are very powerful sources of inspiration nowadays.

The audience and performer are essentially making the same journey and that intimate bond between them is a miracle of the stage that transforms, heals, and renews life.

What element(s) do you draw your inspiration from for new dances and routines?

Here is an excerpt of what Rumi says: “We found our medicine in love. We always shed our blood for the sake of love. Every breath of us goes towards love. In every breath, love finds its breath, love breathes with us”. We are the children of love. Everything is love! This is our journey back home. All the suffering we live on the road comes to us for and from love. 

In my dances or my whirling performances where I focus on Sema, stories, miseries, discoveries, reunions, I embody endless dialogues that people make with divine love. Anatolian-Sufi movement rituals, Japanese Butoh dance techniques, Skinner Releasing technique, Taoist movement flows, Breath, Authentic Movement studies, and Creative Movement techniques, which I have been working on since the early 2000s.  As well as Contemporary dance, Modern Theatrical, improvised dance, and movement dynamics can be seen in my performances too.

How would you encourage others to embrace their authenticity when it comes to dancing, even in the space of your own home or out on the proverbial dancefloor?

We can establish a deeper connection with the self while feeling restrained. Position dance as a true, sincere, transformative bond you establish with life and renew your bond with it. Since our body is constantly moving, bringing attention to its healing effects adds somatic awareness.

There is a saying in Sufi and Anatolian traditions: “There is god in human and human in god, whatever you look for it is in a human, there is a lot of talent in one”. Trusting in our existence conveys the knowledge that we can reach the state of trance through our natural actions. We need to recognize our shadows and believe that they are waiting to be seen for them to complete their cycles. In Sufi’s teaching, we understand this as “He who knows himself, knows his Lord”. I do not forget that the audience and performer are essentially making the same journey and that intimate bond between them is a miracle of the stage that transforms, heals, and renews life.

In a few words, what do you envision for yourself and/or for the global community?

My wish is that we understand everything that has happened, and do not resist the change that awaits us. This is a messenger of big shifts in our sociocultural, socioeconomic structures, global climate, and ecology. What is important is to notice our thinking patterns and daily practices. It is time to identify and change how we think about them. What we experience in the outer world reflects our inner world. As we remember our bond with nature and our most precious treasure: spirituality; our heart compass will set in. I urge you to follow the compass of your heart because it will lead us through the most compelling day.

If you’d like to be considered for the Freethinkers Program, we invite you to connect with us at freethinkers@caravana.land. We would love to hear from you.