Monday, July 20, 2015

Studying Dance in Turkey- The Diyarbakir Diaries

Continuing on my brief series of blogs on my dance study in Turkey this year, I now write about some of my experiences in southeastern Turkey- in the fascinating province of Diyarbakir. The city of Diyarbakir, a two-hour plane ride from Istanbul, is the capital of the Diyarbakir province, and is among the largest cities in southeastern Anatolia. It presents both a geographic and cultural landscape quite distinct from Istanbul. While Istanbul is on the sea and has fairly humid but somewhat temperate weather, Diyarbakir is landlocked, dry (and also beautiful) and dusty, and during our stay, the temperatures averaged to over 40 degrees Celsius.



                                                    at the old City Wall



As part of my study, we were guests of the Dicle University State Conservatory, and lived on campus at the campus guesthouse. We were greeted at the airport by a wonderful member of the Music faculty at the conservatory- Prof. Shahin- who plays Zurna as well as several other instruments, and specializes in folk dance as well. Over a delicious breakfast, he explained to me the different rhythmic/stylistic dance zones of Turkey.

He then took us over to the home of another faculty member, a thorough and patient teacher, Gonul Ozturkman. Gonul and her husband Ozgur are both well-established and well-known folk dancers, choreographers and teachers, and both on faculty at the State Conservatory. That afternoon, Gonul taught me classes on Ciftetelli and Zeybek and the Halay. I found her to be an intuitive and wonderfully interactive teacher, and she also patiently explained to me some of the background information about these dances.

The next day, we had class at the Conservatory, and I got a chance to visit the Dance Department there, and also had class in the conservatory studio facilities. We worked some more on the Zeybek and also had class on Azeri dance.





                                          Class at the conservatory studio with Gonul


I also showed Gonul a bit of my own Indian dance, and she showed me a parallel dance form with gestures for the everyday work of rural women as wells as women's self-ornamentation.

The following day, we again returned to the State Conservatory studio, and worked more on Azeri dance. I also met with the Dean of the State Conservatory Folk Dance Department- Prof. Gulbeyaz, who also graciously took us out for a delicious dinner and post-dinner coffee. He specializes in several different dance techniques, and has led several competitive teams internationally. I truly found the hospitality of all the faculty members and our new friends/colleagues in Diyarbakir wonderful.

 During my stay in Diyarbakir, I became especially fond of the Diyarbakir cheese, which we were able to get at breakfast at the university guesthouse each morning. I also truly enjoyed the warmth and hospitality extended to us by Gonul and Ozgur, as well as Prof. Gulbeyaz. In addition to teaching me the dances, they took us around to see some of the striking historical monuments and natural landmarks of the region.

We saw the great wall of Diyarbakir, with a sort of fortress inside it. This is a fascinating wall, surrounding the city, and is the second longest in the world, after the Great Wall of China. The wall has a door facing each city, and these doors/gates are named after these cities, such as "Urfa Kapi" facing in the direction of Urfa.







This fortress has a huge echoing domed ceiling inside it! This is photo I took of this domed ceiling from the inside.




The fortress also has a small cafe inside it, as well as a vendor selling beautiful local handmade clothes as well as dance costumes!




Our next stop was the On Gozlu Bridge, or the "Ten Eyed Bridge", named after its ten arches. This was another fascinating structure, built on the Dijle River. On the other side of this, we can see the construction of new buildings. 


To me, it was also fascinating to see the Tigris River. I had not initially realized that "Dijle" was the local name for the Tigris River. I had learned in school that the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris had been the cradles of civilization, and it was a strange and incredible feeling to realize that I was looking at one of these rivers, and to learn dance on a city situated on the banks of this river.

We also got shown around some of the new parts of the city, including underground shopping centres, and wonderful eateries and cafes, in both the old and the new parts of town. One of the most interesting of these was the Diyarbakir Culture Garden Cafe, which was a wonderful family cafe with outdoors seating in the evenings. 


One of our friends in Turkey told us- there is Istanbul, and then there is the rest of Turkey. I found this to be so true not only for getting a taste of the culture of the land, but also for an immersive experience of dances from Turkey. While I love Istanbul, and find it a truly vibrant city, I found Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey also rich in history, heritage, music and dance, and ofcourse, the wonderful spirit and warmth of our company there! 






Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Studying Turkish Roman dance in Istanbul

For the past week, I have been in Istanbul, Turkey, to engage in a deeper study of the Turkish Roman (Romani) dance form. This is the first time that I have been engaged in an immersive study overseas, outside of my classical Indian Odissi dance training in India under Guru Durgacharan Ranbir and my research on the Debaprasad Das style of Odissi. Turkey was also one of the stops along the series of travels with my partner, musician-composer-ethnomusicologist Mike Anklewicz this summer (spanning the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Turkey, Kazakhstan and Germany). I currently write from our apartment in Sultanahmet. Today is our last day in this apartment, before a brief journey to southeastern Anatolia, after which we return to Istanbul.

Since earlier this year, I have also been engaged in a dance ethnography-based project, on Turkish Roman dance. I presented a preliminary version of the research at the "Beyond Gypsy Stereotypes: Voicing Romani Pluralities" Conference hosted by the Initiative for Romani Music (IRM) at New York University. The conference gave me the opportunity to also connect with a number of scholars on Romani music and dance throughout Central Europe and the Balkans. 


We arrived here on July 1 (Canada Day!). The very next day, I went to Reyhan Tuszus, who lives in the Gazi Osman Pasha district of Istanbul. I had first heard mention of her name in the videos by New York-based dancer Dalia Carella, whose instructional DVDs and VHS of her own signature Dunyavi dance creation were my first exposure to Turkish Roman dance. 

My first day of study took me to Reyhan, who teaches by example. We danced in her living room space, and she executed movements which I followed. It was an enjoyable and informative lesson, and she also gave me a sense of what is important, proper and improper in Turkish Roman dance. 


I returned to Reyhan for an extended lesson a day later. This time, we had more time to also connect and catch up a little. Reyhan told me about a Bollywood movie she really enjoyed as a child- "Nagina" starring Sridevi. Ofcourse it was a movie I had watched growing up in India in the 1990s! We had an enjoyable time together, both dancing and connecting. I also had a chance to meet Reyhan's two daughters, Gulizar and Malta. 



On the following day, Mike and I traveled to the seaside district of Tuzla, one of the outermost districts of Istanbul on the Asian side. Tuzla is about a 2 hour journey from Istanbul, and it is a beautiful, relaxed seaside town.

Photo Credit: Mike Anklewicz 


 I was in Tuzla to learn from Aydin and Goksu Elbasan. I had heard of this extremely talented dancing couple from a wonderful dancer and dance teacher at the " Beyond Gypsy Stereotypes: Voicing Romani Pluralities" Conference at New York earlier this year. I found Aydin and Goksu to be incredibly warm, and their class was extremely informative. Aydin played the drum and sang to accompany the class, and they both also demonstrated the movements for me. I learned more about nuances and the movements indicating communication between the dancers and the musicians. 

Aydin and Goksu both demonstrated movements, and Aydin additionally played the derbouka and sang while Goksu demonstrated and taught me movements. They also often showed me the different corresponding movements for men and women during the dancing. 
We also tried a number of different spatial approaches- dancing in a circle, dancing facing the mirror, and dancing in a duo. Here, I was also able to learn some of the cultural contexts of  these movements.  Aydin's father, who passed away some years ago, was a noted zurna player, and we also practiced to some of his recordings. 

I was truly glad for this class, and will certainly return to them in future trips to Turkey. Considering how beautiful Tuzla is, I would perhaps also stay in Tuzla for a slightly more extended stay on the next visit.