Ok, I know why they are so hard to find (for one, Turks do not have the covered belly restriction that Egyptian dancers have), but I want to whine about it anyway. I had some abdominal surgery over a year ago and now have a scar that is not ready for human consumption. Not that I am performing much anymore any way, but for those rare opportunities, I would love to find a super blingy Turkish dress for my costume closet. Combine the scarcity of a Turkish dress with the scarcity of my dress size and it is a virtual desert out there! ;)

Of course, I think there are also more professional Egyptian designers than there are professional Turkish designers so there’s that too. The major Turkish ones are:

• Bella
• Legend Costumes
• SIM Moda Evi *Ooh jackpot! Check out the “Singer” costumes! Lots of pretty dresses there…

I know most Oriental dancers today work hard to combat the dance’s misrepresentation as something akin to stripping, but as with most stereotypes, there is usually a kernel of truth somewhere among the fiction. I believe that it is human nature to sensationalize (did I just make that word up?) and blow a small instance out of proportion. While I am not trying to do the same, I believe that if you are a serious student of anything, you know that there are multiple sides to one story and sometimes one has to take the good with the bad. We’ve all seen the topless album covers from the 1960s, right?

A particular interest of mine is the progression of Turkish Oriental dance after the birth of the Turkish Republic, mainly because the information is so hard to find. It is my own theory that Ataturk’s attempts to westernize Turkey is in part responsible for Turks rejecting Oriental dance as one of their own. It was a dance reflective of the cultural melting pot that was the Ottoman Empire and therefore not a dance of purely Turkish origin. Ataturk’s embrace of Turkish folkloric along with western ballroom dancing left Oriental dance out in the cold, so to speak. Although public performers were rarely considered to be fine, upstanding individuals, this transition pushed the opinion of Oriental dancers even lower still.

I am by no means judging what others need to do to keep a roof over their head and food on their plates. I cannot say that if I were in the same position that I would not do the same. That said, I wanted to share a source of first-hand experiences of American military that served in Turkey in the late 20th century. This website is a collection of stories of their time stationed there. Just search for “dance” and you will find many accounts of belly dance performances. Some even include photos. I think it is a fantastic primary source, but be forewarned, you might find yourself cringing a bit. While I personally did not find any of the stories to be antagonistic (these service men and women recall their time in Turkey with fondness), they do corroborate a certain stereotype that most of us hope would just go away.

PS I am trying to share this site without drawing undue attention to the issue. I am not trying to add fuel to the fire as much as trying to share this source with any fellow historians out there.

My goal is to post at least once a day Monday-Friday. However, I will have very spotty internet access for the next couple weeks so I will probably fail in that goal (and just when I was getting into a groove!). I am trying to put together at least a few posts that are scheduled to publish while I am off the tubes and I plan to be back at the M-F schedule after the Memorial Day weekend.

It is rare that you ever see choreographed Turkish Roman dancing so I just wanted to share one of my favorite YouTube clips.

Although I particularly love Turkish music and dance, I am a student of Turkish/Ottoman history as well. I follow many Turkish blogs and keep up with Turkish newspapers online. One of my favorite reads comes from the Hurriyet Daily News. Journalist Niki Gamm writes a series called “Taste of the Past” which are interesting tidbits of Ottoman Empire culture and history. Since I do not always have the time to indulge in hours of reading, I appreciate these quick glimpses of Turkish culture. It seems to me that this series is published weekly on Saturdays, but please do not hold me to that. This conclusion just comes from my observation rather than any statement of fact.

I particularly like this column because Gamm covers topics from “Furnishing an Ottoman Kitchen” to “Tuğras, fermans and the Ottoman legal system” so if you are a Turkophile like me (and I assume you are if you are reading this!), you are sure to find something of interest. Do you have any sources to share?

CINEMA-TV – ‘Conquest 1453′ to continue as TV series.

I am a historical fiction junkie. (I think I mentioned that in my post about Muhteşem Yüzyıl.) I follow them on YouTube and it helps with my Turkish language studies. Fetih 1453 is about the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 (obviously) and is the most watched film in Turkish cinema history. There are plans now to continue it as a television series and I for one can’t wait! Do you watch any Turkish films or tv?

Ok, so I am trying to get your attention with this post title… did it work?  This is a post that I have been thinking about for some time now. I have just been having a hard time putting my thoughts down in writing. We reached a bit of a milestone recently when not one, but TWO dvds focusing on Turkish Roman dance were released. I personally think they are both excellent instructionals in a dance form that is far from codified… or is it?

While it seems to be getting a little easier to study with Turkish-style dancers in person, videos continue to be a popular choice especially for those of us hundreds of miles from the nearest instructor. And although both of these dvds are influenced by Reyhan Tuzsuz, they are also different enough in content that I feel it is well worth it to purchase both.

Now I adore Reyhan Tuzsuz and think she is a wonderful dancer so this is not a commentary on her abilities AT ALL but she seems to be the common denominator among many dancers particularly because Romani instructors are few and far between. Hers isn’t the only style/method out there, but she currently has the greatest reach.

Of course, the only ones that any of this matters to are those that study it. The average person would not be able to recognize Turkish Roman dance, let alone be able to recognize the influence behind the dancer performing it.

That brings me to my question… because her style has been documented and translated, if you will, into an instructional format suitable for western audiences and because I doubt that we will ever see a proliferation of Turkish dvds on the market, will Reyhan’s style eventually become the norm? What are your thoughts? Do you use these dvds? Have you studied with Reyhan or another instructor?

I apologize to one and all for my lack of upkeep around here. It’s a wee bit dusty, isn’t it? I have a bad habit of biting off more than I can chew so I have decided to downsize a bit a la Eddie Izzard,

“Look, you’re British so scale it down a bit” .

I have decided to just try to build the habit of blogging more often. Once I get that going, I will try to add more features to the site. I was overly ambitious and simultaneously overwhelmed by that ambition. I need to start smaller so here it goes. If there is anyone out there reading this, please let me know if there are any topics you would like to explore. I would love some input on what you would like to discuss! Teşekkürler!

I am so so thrilled to hear that Elizabeth Strong has released a Turkish Roman instructional DVD! I just placed my order and will now be stalking the mailbox until it arrives. I took a workshop with Elizabeth many years ago at a TribalCon. Although I no longer remember which year it was, I do remember several of the unique gestures she taught us.

New Release!
Turkish Roman Dance with Elizabeth Strong Instructional DVD

Sema Yildiz performs

Another fabulous time has been had at Folk Tours this year! Tayyar and all the staff deserve a big round of applause for all the hard work that goes into putting together an event such as this. It is greatly appreciated! This event is so unique in that it includes a focus on Turkish music and dance (although it is not strictly Turkish – there are many other options as well) and truly the most amazing live music of any dance event that I have ever attended.

Folk Tours is a Middle Eastern dance and music event held yearly in the U.S. and Turkey. (I have not been fortunate enough to attend the one in Turkey yet, but I am saving my pennies to attend next year.) Workshops are offered for both dancers and musicians, and the instructors are the tops, and I mean TOPS, in their field. This year was a special treat with Tayyar bringing Sema Yildiz in from Turkey.

I’ll admit that I had a very one-track mind about the workshops this year. I had planned on taking all of Sema’s workshops and Aszmara’s workshops when they weren’t in conflict with Sema’s. I mean, how often do you get to study with Sema Yildiz without the cost of a international plane ticket attached? Ultimately, I ended up taking workshops with Sema, Aszmara and Lee Ali.

The Sema workshops that I attended were on Turkish Roman. I have to admit that I was a bit star struck. I have watched videos of her over and over again and have read other accounts of dancers who had studied with her in Turkey and now here she was in person! Girl crush! She got us all moving right away and before we even knew it, we were rehearsing a choreography. What I liked most was the fact that she wasn’t trying to teach us everything she knew, but had us drilling a simple choreography over and over again to really get it into our bodies. Sema was very sweet, kept an eye on everyone, and offered corrections as needed. I ended up watching the veil class from a loft/balcony and picked up some interesting veil wrap ideas. I am also very happy to say that she blew me a kiss! <3 I loved the fact that she had several “costume” changes during the day as a proper diva should, but she was right in there with the rest of us dancing to the live band in the evenings.

My only disappointment, I guess, would be that Sema’s workshop topics were a bit ambiguous. I thought at some point there was to be a Turkish chiftitelli workshop but it ended up being another Roman, and I skipped what I thought would be yet another Roman workshop and it ended up being a Turkish drum solo. Oh well, live and learn. I still had a great time!

Aszmara performs

My first workshop with Aszmara was on classic American karshilama. Now if you do not know who Aszmara is, I suggest you remedy that ASAP. This woman is a dynamo! So incredibly talented, friendly and funny, she can play the zils like nobody’s business and is just a fantastic performer. I was fortunate enough to meet her two years ago at Artie’s Turkish intensive and had taken workshops with her in 2010, so I was really looking forward to seeing her again. Now this was an American karshilama meaning that it was not the Turkish folk dance, but the style danced to a 9/8 rhythm with its origins in the ethnic nightclubs of the late 20th century. Aszmara is the perfect instructor for this style: sassy and full of attitude. The workshop was only an hour so I really hope to revisit this topic with her again sometime.

Accompanied by Souren Baronian, Aszmara also taught an improv/musical interpretation workshop. Souren is a master clarinetist and a good friend of Aszmara. (I wanted to include a link for more information about him, but unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have a website. If you know of one, please contact me!) I took this same workshop with them in 2010 so I knew it was one that I wanted to repeat. Aszmara is a musician as well as dancer so she has a lot of wisdom to impart about dancing with the music rather than over it.

Finally, I took another zils class with Aszmara. Again, I was fortunate enough to take this workshop with her in 2010 and again, she approaches zils as an instrument (which of course they are) rather than a prop. If you ever have a chance to take this workshop with her, please do!!! You can thank me later.

Finally, I took a Greek rebetika/tsifteteli workshop with Lee Ali. Prior to this, I had heard her name mentioned before but really didn’t know much more than that. The idea of the Greek blues intrigued me, and people around camp had a lot of great things to say about her Moroccan workshops, so although this was the last workshop of the weekend and my tired body was crying out for mercy, I was determined to stick it out. She sat us down for a bit of history of the genre first (so the historian in me was thrilled about that!) and then got us working on the attitude and flavor of the dance. She finished up the workshop going over Greek-style bellydance. This was all completely new to me and a lot of fun. Rebetika will definitely be on my “further research” list.

Seido with davul for open dancing

I can hardly put into words how great the Folk Tours shows are. World class music! Tayyar Akdeniz… Souren Baronian… Seido Salifoski… Sami Abu Shumays… Rachid Halihal… I am going to stop here because I cannot name them all, but suffice it to say, there is no other Middle Eastern event IMHO that can even remotely compare to the level of music that can be found at Folk Tours. Open dancing to the most amazing Middle Eastern musicians around… it is truly a dancer’s paradise. Of course, you also get to watch the fabulous dance instructors perform and often a surprise performance sneaks in as well. Last year it was Ismail Lumanovski; this year was Ruby.

So, have you been to Folk Tours yet?