Artists in Diaspora Series: Turkey
Ballet’s role in Turkey’s revolution (in honor of its 100th birthday) and an interview with the US’ only Turkish ballerina.
What does ballet have to do with the development and reputation of the Turkish Republic?
Ballet and the arts in general have been used for centuries as a way to communicate to the public the power, sophistication and ideals of whoever is in power, be it a pope, a prince, a queen, a ruling party or a nation. Many great works of art have come out of this relationship between those holding power and the artist, a famous example is of course Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel commissioned by the church.
This was also a part of the story when the Turkish Republic was formed 100 years ago, in 1923. Following the end of WW1 the remaining parts of the empire had been given to Greece, France, Italy and Britain. This occupation prompted the formation of the Turkish Liberation Movement.
When Atatürk, a leader of the movement united the country from the remnants of the Ottoman Empire was quoted as saying: “The basis of Turkish Republic is culture”. The arts were supported as a way to lift the society and tell a public story about the nation being as culturally sophisticated as its European counterparts.
He set about to create or recreate a productive modern society that would have an artistic and cultural heritage comparable to Europe’s. Now, this is not to say that there wasn’t previously a rich and dynamic artistic history in Turkey. It is after all in the place of one of the oldest cultural, financial, historical and political hubs in the world, not to mention Mesopotamia in general being the birthplace of civilization. But this particular time period had a similar western looking gaze in the vein of when Peter the Great in Russia adopted European styles and arts for Russia. Ballet being one of them, and of course Russia took ballet and made it inarguably her own. It was in this spirit that Ninette de Valois was brought in to develop a national ballet school and company for Turkey.
Ninette de Valois is a legend in the ballet world. Most notably she founded the companies that were later to become The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet and their respective schools thus making one of the most impactful contributions to the development of the art form as whole and on a world scale.
There had been other ballet teachers in Turkey, some had come in the Russian diaspora following the 1917 revolution, but it was de Valois who was tasked with organizing and developing the national school and company. Which became a part of a network of national conservatories for the arts and with school and ballet companies in each major city.
Auditions were held for the first class at the school, children were only taken who were thought to be candidates for a full professional career. 11 boys and 18 girls were accepted. De Valois remained involved for more than 2 decades, establishing and developing repertoire and developing the pedagogical methods. The repertoire under her was a mix of classical works and newer works that were based on traditional regional folklore and blended traditional folk dances to encourage the art form becoming truly a representative of the people rather than a copy and pasted European import.
What about ballet in Turkey today? The schools and companies set up by de Valois are still in existence and the dancers are on a very high level however internationally neither the dancers nor the companies are well know either within or without the dance world.
Come with me to the next episode where we’ll speak to the only Turkish ballerina in the US. Buse Babadag, began her training in Istanbul and is now a soloist with Ballet San Antonio under Sofiane Sylve. She is also an entrepreneur with her own coffee company: Buse and Rose. Come on over to the podcast to hear Buse’s story.
Buse Babadag. Photo by Jeremy Kyle, courtesy Babadag