DANCE
Turkey has a very ancient folk dance
tradition which varies from region to region, each dance being
colourful, rhythmic, elegant and stylish. The following are
among the most popular: “Çayda Çıra” from the Sivas region in
Central Anatolia is performed by young girls dressed in silver
and gold embroidered kaftans who dance in the dark with
lighted candles in their hands. In the “Silifke Yoğurdu” from
the Mersin region in the South Mediterranean, dancers click
wooden spoons together above their heads. “Şeyh Şamil" from
the Kars region in the East, is a beautifully dramatised
legend of a Caucasian hero. "Kılıç Kalkan” is an epic dance
performed with swords and shields from the region of Bursa,
and “Zeybek” from Izmir is another epic and vigorous folk
dance performed, by male dancers who bang their knees on the
floor in between steps.
Folklore has also had a considerable
influence on ballet. First imported from Europe and Russia,
ballet became institutionalised in the Republican era along
with other performing arts. The Turkish State Ballet owes its
momentum and development to the great British choreographer
Dame Ninette de Valois. The State Ballet in both Ankara and
İstanbul has, for decades, performed many world classics.
Several new foreign and Turkish productions have been
introduced into the repertory over the years and a number of
modern dance groups like infamous “Fire of Anatolia” (Anadolu Atesi) have recently begun to give performances throughout the
world.
MUSIC
Turkish music evolved from the original
folk form into classical through the emergence of a Palace
culture. It attained its highest point in the 16th century
through the composer “Itri”. Great names in Turkish classical
music include “Dede Efendi”, “Hacı Arif Bey” and “Tamburi
Cemil Bey”. It is a form that continues to be professionally
performed and one that attracts large audiences. Turkish music,
locally called Turkish Classical Music, is a variation of the
national musical tradition, played with instruments such as
the tambur, kanun, ney and ud.
Folk music has developed gradually over the centuries in the
rural areas of Turkey. It is highly diversified with many
different rhythms and themes. Musical archives contain almost
10,000 such folk songs. Turkish religious music, mostly in the
form of songs, is centuries old and rich in tradition,
embodied most perfectly by Sufi (Mevlevi) music.
The Turks were introduced to western classical music through
orchestras which were invited to the Sultan's Palace to
celebrate occasions such as weddings. The great Italian
composer, Donizetti, conducted the Palace Orchestra for many
years. The first military band was founded in the 19th century.
During the Republican era, the Presidential Symphony Orchestra,
founded in 1924, and the Orchestra of the Istanbul
Municipality Conservatory played a leading role in introducing
and popularising classical music in Turkey. Turkish composers
drew their inspiration from Turkish folk songs and Turkish
classical music. Today, conductors such as Hikmet Şimşek and
Gürer Aykal, pianists like İdil Biret and the Güher and Süher
Pekinel sisters, and violinists like Suna Kan are
internationally recognised virtuosos. Leyla Gencer was one of
the leading sopranos of La Scala Opera, wildly acclaimed
whenever she performed in her native Istanbul.
THEATRE AND CINEMA
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Nuri Bilge Ceylan / Three Monkeys
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Turkish theatre is thought to have
originated from the popular Karagöz shadow plays, a cross
between moralistic Punch and Judy and the slapstick Laurel and
Hardy. It then developed along an oral tradition, with plays
performed in public places, such as coffee houses and gardens,
exclusively by male actors.
Atatürk gave great importance to the arts, and actively
encouraged theatre, music and ballet, prompting the foundation
of many state institutions. Turkey today boasts a thriving
arts scene, with highly professional theatre, opera and ballet
companies, as well as a flourishing film industry.
The making of films in the true language of the cinema, free
from the influence of the theatre, began towards the 1950s.
One of the first of these directors was Ömer Lütfi Akad.
Towards the 1960s, some 60 films a year were being made.
Starting from that time, directors such as Metin Erksan, Halit Refiğ, Ertem Göreç, Duygu Sağıroğlu, Nevzat Pesen and Memduh
Ün produced successful films taking social problems as their
subject matter. The period that began in the late 1960s, when
television was having an adverse effect on the cinema, saw
such prominent directors as Yılmaz Güney, Atıf Yılmaz, Süreyya
Duru, Zeki Ökten, Şerif Gören, Fevzi Tuna, Ömer Kavur and Ali
Özgentürk.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Fatih Akın, Ferzan Özpetek, Abdullah Oğuz and Semih Kaplanoğlu are successful directors of today’s
Turkish cinema. Nuri Bilge Ceylan's film “Uzak” won Grand Prix
at Cannes Film Festival in 2003. “The Edge Of Heaven” (Yaşamın
Kıyısında) which directed by Fatih Akın (2006), won the Award
for Best Screenplay (Prix De Scénario) at Cannes 2007. The
record holder of Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival “Egg”
(Yumurta), film of Semih Kaplanoğlu, was awarded with Best 2nd
Film in Estoril European Film Festival which took place in
Portugal and honoured with Eurimages Award by the jury of
Sevilla Film Festival in Spain. “Bliss” (Abdullah Oğuz, 2007)
has been rewarded with European Council's 'Human Rights Award'.
Nuri Bilge Ceylan won the best director award in the 2008
Cannes Film Festival for his Üç Maymun (Three Monkeys).
The country enjoys numerous performing arts festivals
throughout the year, the most prestigious of which is the
Istanbul International Festival and Antalya Film Festival.
FINE ARTS
Until the 18th century, painting in
Turkey was mainly in the form of miniatures, usually linked to
books in the form of manuscript illustrations. In the 18th
century, trends shifted towards oil painting, beginning with
murals. Thereafter, under European inspiration, painting
courses were introduced in military schools. The first Turkish
painters were therefore military people. The modernisation of
Turkish painting, including representation of the human figure,
started with the founding of the Academy of Arts under the
direction of Osman Hamdi Bey, one of the great names in
Turkish painting. In 1923, following the proclamation of the
Republic, a society of contemporary painting was set-up,
followed by many other such schools. Art exhibitions in
Turkey’s cities multiplied, more and more people started to
acquire paintings and banks and companies began investing in
art.
LITERATURE
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Literature has long been an important
component of Turkish cultural life, reflecting the history of
the people, their legends, their mysticism, and the political
and social changes that affected this land throughout its long
history. The oldest literary legacy of the pre-Islamic period
are the Orhon inscriptions in northern Mongolia, written in
735 on two large stones in honour of a Turkish king and his
brother. During the Ottoman period, the prevailing literary
form was poetry, the dominant dialect was Anatolian or Ottoman,
and the main subject beauty and romance. The Ottoman Divan
literature was highly influenced by Persian culture and
written in a dialect which combined Arabic, Persian and
Turkish. Separate from the aristocratic Divan literature, folk
literature continued to dominate Anatolia where troubadour-like
poets celebrated nature, love and God in simple Turkish
language.
Towards the 20th century, the language of Turkish literature
became simpler and more political and social in substance. The
great and politically controversial poet, Nazım Hikmet, inspired by the Russian poet Mayakowski, introduced free verse
in the late 1930s. Nowadays, the irrefutable master of the
Turkish popular novel is Yaşar Kemal, with his authentic,
colourful and forceful description of Anatolian life. Young
Turkish writers tend to go beyond the usual social issues,
preferring to tackle problems such as feminism and aspects of
die East-West dichotomy which continues to fascinate Turkish
intellectuals.
The most well-known and widely-read writers of the 1950-1990
period can be listed as follows: Tarik Dursun K., Atilla lhan,
Yasar Kemal, Orhan Kemal, Kemal Tahir, Tarik Bugra, Aziz
Nesin, Mustafa Necati Sepetçioglu, Firuzan, Adalet Agaoglu,
Sevgi Soysal, Tomris Uyar, Selim Ileri, Cevat Sakir
(Halikarnas Balikçisi), Necati Cumali, Haldun Taner. Prominent
poets in this period are: Behçet Kemal Çaglar, Necati Cumali ,
Oktay Rifat, Melih Cevdet Anday, Cemal Süreya, Edip Cansever,
Özdemir Ince, Ataol Behramoglu, Ismet Özel, Ece Ayhan, Turgut
Uyar, Sezai Karakoç, Bahaettin Karakoç, Ümit Yasar Oguzcan,
Orhan Pamuk .
The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2006 is awarded to the
Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk "who in the quest for the
melancholic soul of his native city has discovered new symbols
for the clash and interlacing of cultures".
Note
: quoted from goturkey.com