Damla is a volunteer, explorer, improviser, and musician from Turkey. Since she got into the world of CI in 2016, she has been exploring movement, dance and authentic expression on a personal and social level. Between 2016-2019, she joined multiple workshops and festivals on movement and CI in the U.S., Latin America and Turkey. Her interests were guided by the supervision of many visionary teachers, including, Martin Keogh, Nora Hajos, Kirstie Simson, Cristina Turdo, Benno Voorham, Lucy Mahler, Defne Erdur, Eszter Gal, Itay Yatuv with a focus on Contact Improvisation, Body Mind Centering, Skinner’s Releasing, Intelligent Movement, Alexander Technique, and Authentic Movement. She volunteered in many different schools, NGOs, and organizations which aim to create a social transformation through dance, arts, outdoor sports and circus. Her interest in social change and CI led her to create workshops for socially disadvantaged groups such as refugees, blind people, and young adolescent women in Turkey and Mexico. Through body awareness, listening, play and creative self-expression, her main focus is to explore how CI could serve as an inclusive platform to bring together many different groups with different disabilities and disadvantages. During the various workshops she facilitated, she witnessed how CI can create a bridge in settings with language and cultural barriers and supports children and adults to connect, be open for differences and understand each other through touch and improvisation.

Significant teachers

Martin Keogh, Nora Hajos, Kirstie Simson, Cristina Turdo, Benno Voorham, Lucy Mahler, Defne Erdur, Eszter Gal, Itay Yatuv