PERFORMANCE

SLOW DOWN

A Project by Maya Gomez and Belçim Yavuz

In a world of relentless acceleration, bombarded with a ceaseless flow of images, we often lose touch with who we are. Our identity becomes fragmented and transforms into a series of reactions rather than reflections.

Can slowing down offer us a chance to reflect, pay attention, to observe ourselves beyond the demands of a daily rush? How does time influence our thinking, our identity, and our lives?

Dancers Maya Gomez and Belçim Yavuz, want to remind us to make a pause through ‘Slow Down’ an intimate performance of body contact between the two of them. By being almost one organism, they will constantly share their weight, merge into each other, and change body structure. All this while gracefully performing at a very slow, non-stopping pace, within the confined space of 11m3. The gallery becomes thus a portal, where the boundaries between the private world of the dancers and the public gaze are blurred, creating a shared sense of intimacy and connection.

Maya Nathalie Gomez has been dancing and performing around Europe for the last 14 years, after graduating from the Dance Conservatory in Barcelona. She was based in Berlin and worked regularly as a guest dancer in the renowned company Sasha Waltz & Guests for more than 7 years.

Maya was awarded a grant from Kulturprojekte Berlin for her research in the field of Movement Awareness and Dance Exploration. In 2019, she danced in Deutsches National Theater, Weimar as soloist for The Rite of Spring from the Tanztheater Erfurt. Since then, Weimar has been her new home and workplace. Here, she has had the opportunity to create and present her own artistic work in collaboration with theaters of the region; such as the Junges DNT, Theatre Erfurt, Theaterverband, and Theaterhaus Jena.

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Belçim Yavuz is an interdisciplinary artist and performer, soon to graduate in Media Architecture from Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. With a background in dance and architecture, she holds a Bachelor’s in Architecture from Istanbul Technical University. Her work explores the intersections of interactive digital media, movement, and spatial performativity through sensors, animation, and interactive design. Belçim’s works have been featured at festivals and venues, including Ars Electronica in Linz, Dock 4 in Kassel, Gieannale in Giessen, K Format (Kassel) and Barockfest (Weimar).

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