Interdisciplinary performance “LEDRA’S LAMENT” director Kris Muhammed Adem

September 10 -20:30

“LEDRA’S LAMENT” is a cross-communal, non-narrative contemporary live performance that combines music, dance, design, and drag art. Nicosia was once known as the city of gardens, shaped by its fertile grounds with abundant access to water. The production reflects on what is beneath Nicosia’s damaged ecosystem. Drawing on the archives and historical memory of the ancient city of Ledra, the work approaches the past as a living source of inspiration, guiding us to reflect on the present and imagine a shared cultural future. As for the language of the production, Adem excavates traces of Eteocypriot from beneath the soil—a language once spoken in ancient Cyprus that has now largely disappeared from public memory.

Kris Muhammed Adem

Within the framework of a contemporary site- specific approach, the performers (our ancestors) take the audience’s seats in the amphitheatre and claim it as their stage, while today’s audience is positioned in front of the amphitheatre, creating a dilemma and fluidity, merging and blurring the boundaries between audience and performers, our ancestors and us.

Musicians are Troodia Christodoulou, Thomas Daskalakis, Ulaş Öğüç and Katerina ellis Despotis. Dancers of the production are Chiara Capizzi, Noa Daoulatian, Doğa Uluç, Mizgin Bozkaya İçli and Selsu Solman accompanied by performance artists Ayda Canova, Hayal Gezer and DIANA. Drag performers, Cosmo Mo Rose and Aphroditios. Costumes designed by SHIRVANNA and research assistant Hazal Barışer.

Special thanks to Ron Mandos, Dance House Lefkosia, Hasder and Rüstem.