Like many artists, choreographer and dancer Nebahat Erpolat has needed to relocate for the benefit of her career. When settling into a new city, feelings of isolation and alienation can be challenging. Erpolat explores these experiences in her show Urban Rupture, which will be performed at the Melbourne Fringe Festival in September. The work is inspired by her time living and working in Istanbul and Berlin, having relocated there from Melbourne.

“I felt very confronted and challenged by being in a new culture and not understanding the language” says Erpolat. “I had to let go of what I knew and what I felt was right or wrong, and totally open myself to relearning cultural etiquette.”

Urban Rupture uses movement and sound to investigate what it means to orientate oneself in new spaces, and to connect with unfamiliar ideas and experiences that can be found there. Although it has its challenges, Erpolat sees travel as an unavoidable part of her work. “As contemporary art makers we are required to be transient and move. We can no longer base ourselves locally in one state because there are just not enough opportunities for us. We have to be open and flexible enough to move constantly.”

April Albert, a theatre maker who will also be performing at this year’s Melbourne Fringe, identifies with Erpolat’s experiences. “I moved to Australia from London a few years ago and I had no contacts, no friends…. so the creation of my show has been the process by which I’ve made connections.”

Albert is presenting a solo show called Hildegarde/Knef, examining the life of the German singer, film star and author who lived through the Second World War. The show looks at facts about Knef’s experiences, focusing on the elements that particularly interest Albert from a contemporary feminist perspective: “I put a modern spin on things – it’s a bit edgy.”

The show considers what it means to be a woman in a “very post-modern time”, and touches on the idea of guilt, including the guilt still prevalent in Germany seventy years after the end of the war.

Although she performs alone, Albert stresses the contribution of many Melbourne artists made to bring the show to fruition. “I met people who I then asked “Can we have a coffee and talk about my show?”

For Albert, this support from a newfound artistic community was particularly important as she had recently returned to creative work after time off to concentrate on motherhood. Albert says emphatically, “the whole process has built me back up as a performer.”

For both Albert and Erpolat, relocating has had a significant impact on their creative work as well as their personal lives. In Erpolat’s view, the experiences of performers who have traveled are valuable and worth reflecting on. “It’s about listening to the experiences of people coming back from living overseas and integrating that into your own cultural landscape,” she says. She believes it is important to push the boundaries of art in order for these new experiences to be communicated.

Urban Rupture will be performed at Dancehouse, Carlton North from 23–26 September at 8.30pm.
Hildegarde/Knef  will play at Northcote Town Hall from 16–26 September. at 8.30pm, with matinees at 3.30pm on Saturdays.