General Director
Mustafa TURAN
State Artist

Periodic Performances of the State Folk Dance Ensemble

During 18 - 23 September 1973, a group of academicians, authorised representatives of related institutions and folklore experts who convened upon the invitation of the Tourism and Information Ministry, at the conclusion of their discussions recommended the establishment of the long awaited "STATE FOLK DANCE ENSEMBLE" which existed in many countries, with the aim of achieving a high artistic quality regarding Turkish folk dances.

This recommendation was welcomed by the Ministry and on 3 June 1974 an "Art Board of Folk Dances" was established to carry out the necessary research and preparatory work and on 17 March 1975, the Ensemble was officially established.

The ensemble which gave its first performances during 7 - 13 May 1976 in Ankara at Büyük Tiyatro. Besides its activities within the country it has given about 100 performances in 50 different countries. The Ensemble has represented Turkish culture and art with exceptional excellence and has received high level art awards and during visits abroad, participated in numerous television programmes.

For the past 20 plus years, the State Folk Dance Ensemble, with the contemporary interpretations they brought to our folk dances which originate from their very essence, have been working towards contributing to our publicity efforts in general and to the wide recognition of our cultural and folkloric assets in particular and towards an increased flow of tourists to the country.

The principle of the Ensemble is the correct representation of traditional Turkish culture and arts and within this context shape and display both the folk dances and music and the costumes with a new staging concept, with appropriate respect to their origins.

The Ensemble presents all the trends, colours and refinements which are particular to Turkish dances with great sensitivity and their repertory includes outstanding examples of Turkish folk dances from different regions of the country.

The traditional dances of our country show great variety in terms of their form characteristics. This is a richness, which is not shared by many other countries. The performances of the Ensemble seeks to highlight this richness and to display it in an effective and correct manner.

The repertory is developed with due consideration for different geographical regions and the basic characteristics of form, costumes and steps of the traditional dances. The repertory thus developed is presented within a holistic staging programme.

The work from a particular region is led by people recognised as authorities on that particular area. Once the dances are ready to be staged, the same authorities are once more approached for advice on steps, music and the costumes. Great sensitivity is shown to avoid destruction of the essence of the dances.

Music and costumes are essential parts of our traditional dances. During the performances of the Ensemble, the basic music, instruments and patterns of te region is preserved and the music is performed with traditional folk instruments.

The costumes obtained from their origin are studied in detail, and are technically adapted for stage keeping their colour, embroidery, decoration and use characteristics. Such work brings out the best in the costumes while reproducing them in more practical to use versions.

Staging of the dances is designed with great care. All the arrangements take off from the authentic features and bring contemporary interpretations without destroying the origins and the original forms.

The present repertory of the Ensemble includes various local dances (Adıyaman, Artvin, Bingöl, Bitlis, Dinar, Elazığ, Erzurum, Gaziantep, Kars, Kırklareli, Kırşehir, Ssilifke, Tokat, Trabzon and Aegean Zeybek) as well as thematic arrangements of traditional dances from various regions under names such as Anatolian Inspirations, Çiftetelli, Kınagecesi and Bağbozumu. In order to enhance the repertory, each year 1, 2 local dance is taken up within the above principles .

The Ensemble represents Turkey all over the world like a flashing flag. While preserving our national culture and aesthetic values, it also makes the best use of the accumulated universal cultural and artistic wealth. In this sense, with an international approach, it takes the richness and uniqueness of our culture and our high cultural and artistic level to all people of the world.

Periodic Performances of the State Folk Dance Ensemble