Işıl Biçakçi

It’s just a period. Temporary period. Don’t take it personal. Don’t protest. Keep it up. Perform. Produce Provide.Procreate… Proceed.

CAGE-FREE is an interactive conceptual performance that starts with observations about the life of a chicken. Inspired by the life of a chicken, Işıl Biçakçi finds some striking similarities between humanity and its feathered friends. Gently, the performance leads us into a reflection on our own behavior in society. Slowly it becomes clear that the environment we have created for chickens actually applies to us as well. Just as chickens are our slaves, caged and pressured to perform, we are equally slaves to our own system With appropriate humor, Isil puts her finger on the wound Every 24 hours we lay our metaphorical egg If we do not do this, if we do not produce, perform or fulfill … society rejects us.

Işıl Biçakçi was born and raised in Istanbul. She obtained a degree in Computer Science and realized that coding and programming was not the profession she dreamed of. She completed an acting course at the Müjdat Gezen Theatre Academy and a course in Contemporary Dance at th Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University State Conservatory in Istanbul. Even during her training, her choreographies proved to contain clarity, a subtle dose of irony and a fine sense of humor, which remains recognizable in her later choreographies Işıl worked as an intern with Ann Van den Broek in Belgium. Upon her return to Turkey, she joined the State Opera and Ballet Modern Dance Ensemble in Istanbul (MDTİst) as a dance Her next choreography “Hal/Status” was added to MDTist’s repertoire.

After the pandemic, when performing arts resumed, she created a new choreography called “Kıssa” for MDTİst in 2022. Her curiosity about a person’s physical and mental limits makes her continue to develop her skills After assisting Ziya Azazi in his whirling workshops “Dervish in Progress,” Isil gathered the required skills and began teaching whirling worldwide. When she moved to Belgium, she began teaching contemporary dance and improvisation workshops for Wisper. To date, she continues her career as a freelance instructor, performer and choreographer.

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