Nejla Yatkin

Description

Described by The New York Times as "a magician, telling tales and creating worlds" and "a fierce and supple performer," Chicago-based choreographer Nejla Yatkin travels around the globe inspiring empathic connection between people and their environments. She creates solos, choreographs ensemble dances for stages and sites, collaborates on plays and film/video projects, and educates young artists. She is the recipient of multiple grants and awards from the Princess Grace Foundation, the Jay Pritzker Foundation, the Turkish Cultural Foundation, the National Performance Network, 3Arts, the Chicago Dancemakers Forum, the Illinois Arts Council, and the City of Chicago. She also received the 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship Award.

Nejla hails from Germany and weaves multiple cultural influences into choreographic tapestries of her own design.

Work Sample

The Other Witch (2020)

Direction, Dance and Choreography - Nejla Yatkin
Videography/Editing - Enki Andrews
Dramaturgy - Susan Manning
Music - Zen Of Space - Zakir Hussain
Nocturne in 3 sharp minor by Chopin
Original Composition - Shamou
Voice/Text - Nejla Yatkin
Costume - Jordan Ross
Mask - Anna Wooden


The Other Witch is a multi-media solo dance featuring elements of contemporary dance, text, sound, and music.  The piece is inspired by and references Mary Wigman’s 1914 dance piece Hexentanz, but recreates itself anew. The Other Witch premiered as a virtual solo film in three segments.

Nejla’s residency and creation has been supported by a partnership between Chicago Dancemakers Forum, the Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago and Performance Response Journal and DCASE.

My inspiration:
“Everything in life moves. The human body is designed to engage with the environment through movement.” –Nejla Yatkin
Running time 1 hour outdoors and is flexible engages communities.

“Conference Of The Birds by Nejla Y. Yatkin” is presented as part of the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in the Parks series, supported by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Arts programming in neighborhoods across the city advances the goals of the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Cultural Plan. Now in its sixth year, the 2018 Night Out in the Parks series will host over 1,000 cultural events and programs at more than 250 neighborhood parks throughout the city, making community parks a safe haven and hubs of activity.

A compilation of different styles of work and commissioned works

Currently, I do a lot of solo performances in intimate settings as well as interactive site specific performances engaging local communities. The works shows you two samples of Solo and site specific performances.

History

Described by The New York Times as "a magician, telling tales and creating worlds" and "a fierce and supple performer," Chicago-based choreographer Nejla Yatkin travels around the globe inspiring empathic connection between people and their environments. She creates solos, choreographs ensemble dances for stages and sites, collaborates on plays and film/video projects, and educates young artists. She is the recipient of multiple grants and awards from the Princess Grace Foundation, the Jay Pritzker Foundation, the Turkish Cultural Foundation, the National Performance Network, 3Arts, the Chicago Dancemakers Forum, the Illinois Arts Council, and the City of Chicago, among others.

Artistic Vision

Through dance, I seek what the philosopher Isaiah Berlin refers to as an “awareness of the deep currents” — a comprehension of the connection between all things, an awareness of the present as well as that which transcends time and space. I am an artist working with movement through embodied research and storytelling.

My work manifests in theatrical dance pieces, durational performance installations, and short experimental films. My dances examine the body’s connection to place, space and other bodies through embodied memory and I create within a framework of my multi-lingual context and imagery that comes from embodying and living in three continents.

Programs for Specific Audience(s) Expertise

I have worked with audiences all over the world and can adapt movements based on needs of the communities.

Traditional Folk/Ethnic Artform Statement

I include elements of middle Eastern Dance traditions into my work but then all contemporary dance does that but they are just not aware of it.