BEYHAN MURPHY
Artistic Director - 29 March 2017By Esra Başıbüyük
Translated by Pınar Dinçkurt
Where are you in your timeline?
I am in the later stage. (burst of laughter) Good question! If we talk about the linear timeline, I am close to 60. But I stopped at 42 psychologically. I feel like I am still 42 years old. As you get older, you recognize that you become who you need to be. (David Bowie said this J) When you pass 50, time starts speaking to you differently.
I think it is enforced to us.
Sometimes you think you run out of time and sometimes you think there is much time to live. It depends on your perspective. But it is variable intrinsically; I like to be on the road, where I am in the which ever timeline depends entirely on my daily mood.
Do you think where you are in your artistic life?
I always think there are more than one layer when I evaluate an artist’s identity. One of these layers is the identity which is timeless. I mean if you feel the same excitement at 60 when you are on the stage; as you felt when you were 25; then this is about your timeless identity. Also there is another identity which is about the things you produce in the linear timeline, this is the ‘accumulative’ identity, the second one! And the third identity is about your creative identity which is in deep and belongs completely to you ; it is really hard to explain. This third identity can be identified with the works you produce that comes from the interior and it is about how exterior world identifies you!
Well, have you identified any other identity / part of you recently?
What an interesting question. There is one thing, maybe just a concept. The other day I saw a tag in Instagram as ≠tbt. I asked my friend what it is and I learned it is used for “Throwback Thursday”. And I thought to myself; what on earth is “Throwback Thursday” ! I mean I think it should be “Throwback Life” as ≠tbl (burst of laughter) We need to turn back and look at the very beginning. When you get older, you look back. You remember a fact, a feeling or a situation from twenty, thirty, forty years ago. And it works. It helps a lot to get to know yourself, search about yourself but it is always about “yourself” … I explored it recently and I started to use this. I look back and I think it as I am a mirror for myself. The process works like that. Actually, where was I, what did I want to be and where am I now…
You are the director of MDTistanbul ensemble. You are also a choreographer. You fill a space first in mind and then in physical area with every project. What does affect you mostly when you transform it from mind to physical area?
I will respond with a question. Do you mean the thing affects me mostly for working or for artistic creation?
For artistic creation…
Discovery!
I mean the working process…
Yeah! It is interesting; do I see its end? yes, I see the whole thing from the beginning to end like a fim. Then I say; let’s start from somewhere. It is like an empty canvas. But I see the picture on the canvas. If we are talking about a purely artistic creation, I think it is produced by concepts. For example, Ihsan Oktay Anar is a writer whom I adore. The other day I said I want to stage one of his books. I don’t know for sure whether I will or not but I would like to challenge myself. For example, ”go for a Shakespeare play, Beyhan”, I say to myself. I worked on some Shakespeare productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the U.K. Also before that, when I was a student in London Contemporary(The Place), I worked as a costume dresser in the theatre for pocket money. In those days, I watched Derek Jacobi’s Hamlet for over hundred times in backstage. I got to know those actors who we still know and some who died, I worked with them. I learned the job, tradition and culture naturally. I have always loved theatre. So I produce many theatrical works. I was never a choreographer who works just with body.
What do you think about your perspective to see a work from the beginning? Is it about where you are as a professional or your nature?
Having the perspective of a producer is in my nature. Some artists are like that. They do everything themselves. I am one of those artists. As time passes I prefer to do everything myself. From an outside perspective it may look like a crazy idea, like “such a megalomaniac woman”! but it is not. It is about the concept. Sometimes when you are producing a work, you want to be alone. During its production process, the work talks to you. Or you need to find the person/s who can fully understand you. I look at what the work demands in order to maintain and bring about a unified totality.
What is your standard about your creations?
Not to repeat yourself! It irritates me quite a lot.
Is it a target for you to embrace the audience emotionally?
I believe that dance is a way of communication. So embracing the audience emotionally is absolutely a target for me. The work needs to grab the audience in some way. I try to reach the audience through a mental-emotional realm.
A dance performance is formed with physical activity but to make feel an emotion it needs soul. Is there always a harmony between soul and body?
Details interrupt it. Details fetter you. What are they? Logistical technical and space details (rehearsal room, stage) are so important. There is always a problem about the space. If it is in the process of production, there is the human material, the person you work with I mean “the dancer”. In that moment of creation, dancer’s mood, blood flow, ability, level of perception, adaptation and implementation, the place you work in, the place you rehearse and even the lighting in that space affects the process. If the atmosphere is appropriate -and it is so hard to explain the appropriate-, it is a feeling- you flow. If it is not appropriate, you fight with yourself, you jostle with the dancer and naturally break away from the core of the work. Sometimes incidentals work against you or sometimes serve you. Sometimes you can complete the work’s ten minutes in half an hour or sometimes you can complete the work’s one minute in an hour.
Well, sometimes can you manipulate it and create the atmosphere?
We can create it. We call it “accumulated bulk”- as opposed to real inspired creativity (burst of laughter). If you tell me a story and want a choreography, I can transform it to body language now, get up and do it for you because it is an acquired job, a profession. But if you say “Beyhan, stand up and show me something” I don’t know what I can do.
Shall we say, there are two dancers who have the same features technically and you need to choose one, what kind of preference does come into play then?
I prefer to choose the one who can understand me. Because some of dancers are blocked, they don’t understand. I prefer the one who can understand me quickly even if he/she is inadequate technically when compared with the other. Technique can be learned by studying but you might not be open those blocked channels and it can be a problem. And also I do not prefer a passive dancer. A dancer needs to understand me and definitely be pro-active and take part in the creation process. I don’t tolerate a dancer who is not good enough. I don’t have time for it. The dancer and the choreographer have a rough and tumble relationship. Especially dancers who work in the contemporary-modern field don’t want to be dictated, they want to contribute and do something with the material.
As a choreographer, you have a language in time. I don’t mean it negatively but what kind of language do you memorize?
I don’t have an ongoing pattern. It depends on and changes with with I am expressing. Maybe I have some patterns of body language such as “Beyhan doesn’t use that arm movement.”. It is hard to explain. Of course, I have a style of using body language. But it is something that one can define only when one sees it and can say “that is it!”. I don’t know if it is a pattern but in every work I produce there is theatre. There is definitely a drama. I don’t work with graphic or abstract stuff.
Who are the ones affecting and inspiring your works?
Film directors mostly…
Like who?
For example, Akira Kurosawa. "He is my master!” Also, Christopher Nolan. Wim Wenders, Ridley Scott, Wachowski Brothers. I think I am inspired more by the other art fields than my field. I use the literature, too. I see and think everything as a movie. When I watch a movie, I am not so much interested in the outward produce but rather interested in behind the camera.. I focus on the director’s work, the screenplay ,, basically how the director’s brain at work is functioning. Or for example I focus on Edward Norton’s work, I watch how he is doing it rather than what he is doing.
You are a real process hunter…
Yeah, yeah… But in the mean time there are some names who inspire me in the dance field. The first one is from 80’ies Twyla Tharp of course… There is also Pina Bausch but I can’t say that I am inspired by all her works. She has hard patterns, too. A little bit of Wim van der Keybus, Ohad Naharin... My generation is important, too and of course there are some names who inspire me from last twenty years. Akram Khan, Eduard Lock affected me. Hofesh Shechter’s uprising was great. He did brilliant works, I am impressed and inspired by this guy. Also Alexander Ekman…but it is important to note that these people have great facility and backing.We don’t.
Are there trends in dance?
In 80’ies when “Crash” hit the marketplace, everyone was throwing themselves about all over the place.The “floor” took a whole new meaning. Today there is no trend, everyone does what they want to do,, but in the last ten years, dancers pushed themselves physically and technically beyond limits... They are at a very high level in using their bodies. We are looking forward to see what will happen next.
I am in the later stage. (burst of laughter) Good question! If we talk about the linear timeline, I am close to 60. But I stopped at 42 psychologically. I feel like I am still 42 years old. As you get older, you recognize that you become who you need to be. (David Bowie said this J) When you pass 50, time starts speaking to you differently.
I think it is enforced to us.
Sometimes you think you run out of time and sometimes you think there is much time to live. It depends on your perspective. But it is variable intrinsically; I like to be on the road, where I am in the which ever timeline depends entirely on my daily mood.
Do you think where you are in your artistic life?
I always think there are more than one layer when I evaluate an artist’s identity. One of these layers is the identity which is timeless. I mean if you feel the same excitement at 60 when you are on the stage; as you felt when you were 25; then this is about your timeless identity. Also there is another identity which is about the things you produce in the linear timeline, this is the ‘accumulative’ identity, the second one! And the third identity is about your creative identity which is in deep and belongs completely to you ; it is really hard to explain. This third identity can be identified with the works you produce that comes from the interior and it is about how exterior world identifies you!
Well, have you identified any other identity / part of you recently?
What an interesting question. There is one thing, maybe just a concept. The other day I saw a tag in Instagram as ≠tbt. I asked my friend what it is and I learned it is used for “Throwback Thursday”. And I thought to myself; what on earth is “Throwback Thursday” ! I mean I think it should be “Throwback Life” as ≠tbl (burst of laughter) We need to turn back and look at the very beginning. When you get older, you look back. You remember a fact, a feeling or a situation from twenty, thirty, forty years ago. And it works. It helps a lot to get to know yourself, search about yourself but it is always about “yourself” … I explored it recently and I started to use this. I look back and I think it as I am a mirror for myself. The process works like that. Actually, where was I, what did I want to be and where am I now…
You are the director of MDTistanbul ensemble. You are also a choreographer. You fill a space first in mind and then in physical area with every project. What does affect you mostly when you transform it from mind to physical area?
I will respond with a question. Do you mean the thing affects me mostly for working or for artistic creation?
For artistic creation…
Discovery!
I mean the working process…
Yeah! It is interesting; do I see its end? yes, I see the whole thing from the beginning to end like a fim. Then I say; let’s start from somewhere. It is like an empty canvas. But I see the picture on the canvas. If we are talking about a purely artistic creation, I think it is produced by concepts. For example, Ihsan Oktay Anar is a writer whom I adore. The other day I said I want to stage one of his books. I don’t know for sure whether I will or not but I would like to challenge myself. For example, ”go for a Shakespeare play, Beyhan”, I say to myself. I worked on some Shakespeare productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the U.K. Also before that, when I was a student in London Contemporary(The Place), I worked as a costume dresser in the theatre for pocket money. In those days, I watched Derek Jacobi’s Hamlet for over hundred times in backstage. I got to know those actors who we still know and some who died, I worked with them. I learned the job, tradition and culture naturally. I have always loved theatre. So I produce many theatrical works. I was never a choreographer who works just with body.
What do you think about your perspective to see a work from the beginning? Is it about where you are as a professional or your nature?
Having the perspective of a producer is in my nature. Some artists are like that. They do everything themselves. I am one of those artists. As time passes I prefer to do everything myself. From an outside perspective it may look like a crazy idea, like “such a megalomaniac woman”! but it is not. It is about the concept. Sometimes when you are producing a work, you want to be alone. During its production process, the work talks to you. Or you need to find the person/s who can fully understand you. I look at what the work demands in order to maintain and bring about a unified totality.
What is your standard about your creations?
Not to repeat yourself! It irritates me quite a lot.
Is it a target for you to embrace the audience emotionally?
I believe that dance is a way of communication. So embracing the audience emotionally is absolutely a target for me. The work needs to grab the audience in some way. I try to reach the audience through a mental-emotional realm.
A dance performance is formed with physical activity but to make feel an emotion it needs soul. Is there always a harmony between soul and body?
Details interrupt it. Details fetter you. What are they? Logistical technical and space details (rehearsal room, stage) are so important. There is always a problem about the space. If it is in the process of production, there is the human material, the person you work with I mean “the dancer”. In that moment of creation, dancer’s mood, blood flow, ability, level of perception, adaptation and implementation, the place you work in, the place you rehearse and even the lighting in that space affects the process. If the atmosphere is appropriate -and it is so hard to explain the appropriate-, it is a feeling- you flow. If it is not appropriate, you fight with yourself, you jostle with the dancer and naturally break away from the core of the work. Sometimes incidentals work against you or sometimes serve you. Sometimes you can complete the work’s ten minutes in half an hour or sometimes you can complete the work’s one minute in an hour.
Well, sometimes can you manipulate it and create the atmosphere?
We can create it. We call it “accumulated bulk”- as opposed to real inspired creativity (burst of laughter). If you tell me a story and want a choreography, I can transform it to body language now, get up and do it for you because it is an acquired job, a profession. But if you say “Beyhan, stand up and show me something” I don’t know what I can do.
Shall we say, there are two dancers who have the same features technically and you need to choose one, what kind of preference does come into play then?
I prefer to choose the one who can understand me. Because some of dancers are blocked, they don’t understand. I prefer the one who can understand me quickly even if he/she is inadequate technically when compared with the other. Technique can be learned by studying but you might not be open those blocked channels and it can be a problem. And also I do not prefer a passive dancer. A dancer needs to understand me and definitely be pro-active and take part in the creation process. I don’t tolerate a dancer who is not good enough. I don’t have time for it. The dancer and the choreographer have a rough and tumble relationship. Especially dancers who work in the contemporary-modern field don’t want to be dictated, they want to contribute and do something with the material.
As a choreographer, you have a language in time. I don’t mean it negatively but what kind of language do you memorize?
I don’t have an ongoing pattern. It depends on and changes with with I am expressing. Maybe I have some patterns of body language such as “Beyhan doesn’t use that arm movement.”. It is hard to explain. Of course, I have a style of using body language. But it is something that one can define only when one sees it and can say “that is it!”. I don’t know if it is a pattern but in every work I produce there is theatre. There is definitely a drama. I don’t work with graphic or abstract stuff.
Who are the ones affecting and inspiring your works?
Film directors mostly…
Like who?
For example, Akira Kurosawa. "He is my master!” Also, Christopher Nolan. Wim Wenders, Ridley Scott, Wachowski Brothers. I think I am inspired more by the other art fields than my field. I use the literature, too. I see and think everything as a movie. When I watch a movie, I am not so much interested in the outward produce but rather interested in behind the camera.. I focus on the director’s work, the screenplay ,, basically how the director’s brain at work is functioning. Or for example I focus on Edward Norton’s work, I watch how he is doing it rather than what he is doing.
You are a real process hunter…
Yeah, yeah… But in the mean time there are some names who inspire me in the dance field. The first one is from 80’ies Twyla Tharp of course… There is also Pina Bausch but I can’t say that I am inspired by all her works. She has hard patterns, too. A little bit of Wim van der Keybus, Ohad Naharin... My generation is important, too and of course there are some names who inspire me from last twenty years. Akram Khan, Eduard Lock affected me. Hofesh Shechter’s uprising was great. He did brilliant works, I am impressed and inspired by this guy. Also Alexander Ekman…but it is important to note that these people have great facility and backing.We don’t.
Are there trends in dance?
In 80’ies when “Crash” hit the marketplace, everyone was throwing themselves about all over the place.The “floor” took a whole new meaning. Today there is no trend, everyone does what they want to do,, but in the last ten years, dancers pushed themselves physically and technically beyond limits... They are at a very high level in using their bodies. We are looking forward to see what will happen next.
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