Come on bro!

2021 Performance
Close rear view of the performer against a black background, wearing a loose white shirt and a green floral headscarf wrapped around the head. Both arms extend outward at approximately shoulder height, forming a broad horizontal line across the body. The elbows are slightly bent, and the head turns to one side while the shoulders remain open toward the camera.
Screenshot from the performance livestream video

A 7-hour-long drag-king performance, Come on bro! is an investigation of manhood's body gestures and movements with reference to Zeybek dance, a folkloric dance from the Aegean region. The name comes from guerrilla fighters of the region who lived between the 17th–20th centuries: Zeybeks. They fought with a vengeance against non-Muslim forces during the Turkish War of Independence, and since then, they have been seen as nationalist heroes. The strictly gendered dance indicates man's bravery and valor, contains space-holding movements, and gives an eagle/hawk shape to a man's body. Some versions of Zeybek also contain a female dancer who always dances delicately and acts to maintain the man's space through continuous watching.

Today it is performed in many ceremonies in the region, including military ceremonies.

Taking the folkloric Zeybek dance, a national symbol, as a starting point, in Come on bro! Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu questions the lines between gender and imitation, the body and performativity, as well as the relationships between nationalism and masculinity.

During the live piece, Leman, as a drag-king, does Zeybek by imitating the dance through watching the video of the performance from the screen placed in the space.

Rear three-quarter view of the performer against a black background, wearing a loose white shirt and a green floral headscarf. Both elbows are bent away from the torso and the forearms extend outward, with the hands open and palms turned upward. The shoulders are held wide while the head turns slightly to one side.
Screenshot from the performance livestream video
Close view of the performer’s lower legs and feet stepping across a pale floor against a black background. Loose black trousers gather above shiny black heeled ankle boots. One boot is lifted from the floor with the knee bent while the other foot bears the performer’s weight. Strong light casts overlapping shadows of the legs and boots across the floor.
Three-quarter view of the performer against a black background in a loose white shirt, black trousers and a green floral headscarf. Their head tilts downward and to the side, with the gaze directed toward the floor. One arm extends down beside the body, the wrist loose and the fingers slightly separated, while the opposite side of the body falls outside the frame.
Cropped view of the performer’s torso and arms against a black background. The loose white shirt is open at the chest. Both arms extend diagonally downward and outward from the torso, creating a broad wing-like shape, with the hands open and the fingers softly curved.
Close view of the performer’s legs crossing through a step on a pale floor. Loose black trousers fall over shiny black heeled ankle boots. One leg passes closely in front of the other as the performer shifts their weight, while strong light casts doubled, elongated shadows of the legs and feet across the floor.
Close view of the performer’s lower body in motion against a black background. Their black-trousered legs are set widely apart in a step, with the shiny black heeled ankle boots pointing in different outward directions. One knee bends more deeply than the other as the body’s weight shifts between the feet, and dark shadows extend diagonally across the pale floor.
Close portrait of the performer against a black background in drag-king styling. They wear a green floral headscarf, a loose white shirt open at the chest and a white earbud. Dark moustache and beard makeup frame the mouth and jaw, and the eyebrows are strongly darkened. Their mouth is open, the chin slightly lowered, and their gaze is directed downward and to the side.
Screenshot from the performance livestream video
Presentations
Unboxing: Masculinities, Hochschule Osnabrück, Osnabrück, DE, 2021, with curatorial support from Performistanbul
Credits
Come on bro!, by Leman Sevda Darıcıoğlu, performance, 7 hours, 2021
Performance Nationalism Gender Ghosts Queer Reappropriation
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