If we were free - what would we want our world to look like? 'No Friend but the Mountains' is a Kurdish expression expressing humans’ flight toward refuge from war and injustice. Using a choreographic compass, ‘No Friend but the Mountains’ intermittently juxtaposes our combative present, our dimly perceived prehistoric past, and our journey toward a more humane future. Simultaneously, the performance intersects ancient knowledge and decolonial ritual, envisioning that future where people are finally free to reacquaint with the earth.

In an encounter between Mohawk/Iroquis artist Anthony Rice-Perttunen’s sound composition and Ingá Márjá Sarre’s Jojk, these multiple temporal perspectives of the mountains are danced in a powerful interplay spanning past, present and Indigenous future. As such, the urgency of 'No Friend but the Mountains' molds dance into a unifying force: between humans and nature, between performers and the observers.
The production provides the latest chapter in the long-term project Humans & Soil, whose ongoing creations have been informed by commitments to the history and present of Indigenous peoples, and to hosting workshops, seminars, research and performances internationally.
In connection to our performance, we offer danceworkshops for young adults/adults, artistic talks, seminars and a short dance film featuring kurdish artists Luna Ersahin and Melisa Diktaş.