Neighbours
Brigel Gjoka
Rauf "Rubberlegz" Yasit
Ruşan Filiztek
In 2021, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels supported choreographers Rauf "RubberLegz" Yasit and Brigel Gjoka in the creation of Neighbours in collaboration with William Forsythe. Neighbours is presented as part of the Festival d'Automne à Paris 2022.
Neighbours is a raw, powerful collaboration by two extraordinary artists, each from a distinct movement and cultural heritage. Pioneering abstract b-boy Rauf "RubberLegz" Yasit and established contemporary dancer Brigel Gjoka were inspired by their time on William Forsythe's A Quiet Evening of Dance. Both at the cutting edge of their disciplines, they've created a work that brings together their diverse expertise and draws influence from their Kurdish and Albanian roots.
A new choregraphic language forms as they examine moments of transformation and contemplation at the crossroads of urban, classical and contemporary dance. Through their shared experience a simple truth emerges: dance is part of being human.
Photo : © Brian Ca
éclairages
About the artists
Brigel Gjoka
In 2021, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is supporting dancer and choreographer Brigel Gjoka for Neighbours, a duet performed with dancer Rauf “RubberLegz” Yasit and created in collaboration with William Forsythe.
Rauf "RubberLegz" Yasit
In 2021, Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels is supporting dancer and choreographer Rauf “RubberLegz” Yasit for the creation of Neighbours, a duet performed with dancer Brigel Gjoka and created in collaboration with William Forsythe.
Ruşan Filiztek
Hailing from Diyarbekir in south-eastern Turkey, Ruşan Filiztek learned saz with his father before entering the renowned music schools of Sakarya and Marmara University in Turkey. For several years, he travelled throughout the Middle East to deepen his knowledge of Kurdish, Turkish, Greek and Armenian / Aramaic music and singing.
In love with the songs and melodies from Anatolia and Mesopotamia, Ruşan Filiztek likes to use the ancient name of these regions, which were the cradle of civilization and have forged so many cultures and musical forms, which have been but inherited by today’s populations. Ruşan Filiztek is Kurdish from Diyarbakir but that alone does not qualify him as an artist. Over many years, he has forged numerous precious friendships with Turkish, Armenian, and Greek musicians who have helped him enrich his repertoire. To this already generous program, the musician adds his own compositions.
In 2015, Ruşan moved to Paris where he is studying musicology at the Sorbonne. At the same time, he continued his career as a musician and was invited to play in many festivals. Since 2016, he has been participating in the European project Orpheus XXI by the musician Catalan Jordi Savall. From Jordi Savall to the Greek Solon Lekkas, this young virtuoso re-composes his oriental influences, combining jazz, baroque and traditional. In 2019, Ruşan Filiztek received the Musiques d'Ici Award, a renowned French award for world music. He is working on his first solo album that will be was released by Accords Croisés in September 2021.
Photo : © DR
