Lokma pt.3 BCA DanceLab Fundraiser

UPDATE!

The total amount to be raised has been updated to reflect donations done personally! Our current goal is $1160.

Hello everyone!

My name is Mira Göksel (they/them) and I am an interdisciplinary movement artist from Izmir, Turkey, currently existing on the land of the Massachusett and Pawtucket Peoples, colonially referred to as Boston, MA.

On the behalf of myself and the team of Lokma,

I am reaching out for assistance to raise $1350 to help support the incredible team of Lokma, currently in residence at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA), DanceLab Residency 2024-2025.

Working with this team has been the most inspiring (almost) month of my career! Dancers, Izzi King (they/them), Marissa Molinar (she/her), and Maude Warshaw (they/she) are all magically tender, caring, intelligent wonders that I feel so privileged to work with…what a spectacular trio I get to make dance with! Creative Collaborator/Archival Artist, Ananth Udupa (he/they) is one of the most intuitive humans I’ve ever met, always bringing such beauty into everything they touch and create. Prop Artist/Technical Collaborator Nate Guevin (they/them) is creative, smart and thoughtful, creating work that is unimaginable to form and physicalize for many, including myself. This work would be nothing without them, and I am dedicated to making sure these artists are paid!

A little more about Lokma…

Lokma (kronolojikal displays of celebration, from birth to grief) is a three part, evening length multidisciplinary/dance piece that explores Turkish and Islamic traditions for observing and honoring stereotypically significant milestones in life; ie. birth, unions of love, and death. The research for Lokma is heavily concentrated in knowledge passed down almost solely through word of mouth. Through conversations over tea with elders, family members, old neighbors, and the occasional digital search to debunk intense superstitions; Lokma is about the strength and expression of community as love. With consideration that Turkish culture expands and owes much to beyond the land that is now modern day Turkey, credit is due to overlapping generational understandings, customs, and norms of the countries and people of Kurdistan, SouthWest Asia/North Africa (SWANA), the Caucasus, and Mediterranean.

The last section of Lokma (pt.3) is the celebration of death, burial, and mourning. How we water graves, tend to loved ones experiencing grief, and the lifelong customs we follow to honor beyond the grave. The Residency will conclude with an open rehearsal held on April 4th 2025 in Martin Hall, Boston, MA.

pt.1 (birth) was supported by the Urbanity X Residency and Grant (2024),Somerville Arts Council, and platformed at ArtBeat 2024.

pt.2 (love and marriage) was platformed and supported by Choreography Project Rhode Island 2024.

pt. 3 (grief) is supported by the New England Dance Fund Grant 2024 (NEFA), and presented/supported by the BCA Dance Lab Residency ‘24/25.

Your support will help fund the budget outlined below. If you are not at a place where you can support the project financially, I hope that you will share with your friends, communities, and families to get the word out!

budget outline: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A8dzBEVEqAt9O3LcN6xSQJg7ubJy8kNPEecP1Pn2S7Y/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you to the Boston Center for the Arts and Andrea Blesso for this opportunity, I invite you all to support my fellow BCA DanceLab 2024-2025 resident artits Darnell "Snoopy" Brown and Alexander Davis. Thank you to Monkeyhouse and Midday Movement Series for your additional guidance and collaboration with DanceLab.

Please feel free to reach out to me with any questions!

Instagram: @miragoksel

Thank you for your time and contributions!

*cover image material provided by Gülsen Göksel