Ala Turka! Modern Turkish Oryantal and Flexibility Workshop

I will be in the States from late December to late January.  Can’t wait!  During this time I will be giving the following workshop in the DC/Maryland area.  (See below.)  If anyone else would like to sponsor me to teach a similar workshop in your area, please contact me.  Cheers!

Lara Adrienne (Oryantal Lara) has been dancing in Turkey since 2011 in a variety of cities and venues. She has performed at five star hotels in Bodrum, on national Turkish and Israeli television programs, and in upscale nightclubs in Istanbul and Adana. She has performed in concerts with psychedelic Turkish band Baba Zula in Istanbul as well as in Lefkoşa, Cyprus, with clarinet virtuoso Hüsnü Şenlendirici in Washington, DC, with pop singer Atilla Taş in Van, and with the late great Müslüm Gürses in Istanbul and Bodrum. Additionally, during the past three years living in Turkey, Lara has been called on to perform in Alanya, Dalaman, and in Montenegro and Greece. Lara currently is a resident dancer at Al-Araby in Istanbul. Lara also has a life-long and ever-growing love for stretching, flexibility and body conditioning, fueled by her training in several dance forms and gymnastics, and a dedicated yoga practice.

Modern Turkish style is full of flash–fast turns, crisp hip work, clean upper and lower body isolations, kicks, rolls, and spins, short but showy taxims and floorwork, powerful shimmies, and daring backbends–all done in heels. Modern Turkish oryantal has been highly influenced by two famous dancers–the ground-breaking Asena and the poised and precise Didem Kınalı.

This two-part workshop with Lara Adrienne will cover the above aspects of modern Turkish dance, beginning with part one–a flexibility and muscle awareness segment to prepare and condition the body to safely and skillfully execute these flashy moves, followed by part two–drills and combinations “ala Turka”.

Turkish people are also known for enjoying a chat and a “çay,” so please feel free to ask Lara any questions about her experience as a foreign dancer in Turkey and Europe over tea after the workshop at a nearby cafe in Takoma Park.

**When**
Workshop: January 11th, 3:30pm – 5:30pm
Tea Q&A (optional): after for an hour or so

**Where**
Roda Movements
7014 Westmoreland Ave.
Takoma Park, MD 20912
www.rodamovements.com/

Tea Q&A (optional): location at a near-by cafe TBA

**Cost**
$30 in advance, $40 at the door
Send payment via Paypal: indrazaira@gmail.com
*Note “Ala Turka Workshop with Lara Adrienne” in comments

Or e-mail indrazaira@gmail.com for other arrangements or questions.

Adventures in Danceland

So, my mother came to Turkey for the first time.  Yay!

Mom and me. Do we look alike?

We had a great time and did lots!  Here is one of our adventures:

A talent manager/agent contacted me to discuss at length (ad nauseum?) an opportunity to perform at hotels in Alanya, but I turned it down.  What he’d described  didn’t seem like a good fit.–It sounded very similar to what I’d done in Bodrum two summers ago, which was only wonderful until I got fed up with it.  Plus, I’d already been to Alanya to perform with another agent, (just briefly, before I escaped to Bodrum) and what a fiasco that was!  Besides, I’m quite happy in Istanbul.

To my surprise, he contacted me again to introduce me to a colleague of his.  The second agent proposed my performing nightly in a beautiful, historic venue in Alanya.  Still not a perfect fit–he wanted me to start work mid-April, but I have obligations here until at LEAST May.  I thought if I went anywhere to dance this summer, it would be to Fethiye for three months, starting early June or so.

He told me to think about it and he would call me the next morning at 9:00.  If I’m not mistaken, my mother and I were enjoying some homemade carrot cake pancakes (YUM!) when he called the following day 9:01 am.  He listed all the reasons I should take this job, offered to postpone my start date, and asked if he could fly me down to Alanya so I could “see the venue, the city, and how he operated.”  The answer to that was “Of course!”

I told him I could make the trip the following weekend, after my mother’s visit had finished.  After all, she and I were hanging out in Istanbul!

But since he preferred to meet this weekend, he suggested that he send for both me and my mother.  Soooo. . .  my mother and I were flown to sunny Alanya and put up in a nice hotel, visited the beach, and also met the very professional, persistent and polite manager, his supportive and hardworking wife, and their charming, cheerful 4 year old daughter.  We were thoroughly introduced to the venue–

Beautiful and old!

its grounds, stage, staff, food, and owner are all very lovely–and shown the apartment in which I’d be living were I to take the job.  The venue is open 11 months a year, so my mom and I also got a chance to watch the winter/off-season program, which was highly entertaining.

Between what seems like a most pleasant workplace, and a south facing, sea-view apartment situated right across, and I mean right across the street from the beach, I must say I’m enticed.

My mom is already planning to come back.

Dance Life

After long post-New Year’s hiatus during January and most of February, my performance schedule started to pick up toward the third week of February, starting with my show in Van, then the listening party for a pop singer called Arman, where I performed with incredible percussionist Bünyamin Olguncan, and some other great musicians at Ghetto Music Lounge.  (Don’t ask me why it’s called that, but it’s a cool place.)

This Friday and Saturday past, I performed with Besidos, the Balkan-gypsy-pop quartet of Germany in their shows at Nublu Istanbul.  It was so much fun!  Here’s a video from Saturday:

Yesterday was pretty cool, too.  I, along with 29 other dancers, performed an oryantal choreography in a music video for Israeli singer Dudu, to be released this summer in Israel.  We also had to sing a bit.  In Hebrew!  The filming took place in a beautiful hotel on the Bosphorus in the Tarabya area of Istanbul and lasted allllllll day.  I met some cool dancers, and a few weird ones, too.

So much fun!  What’s next?

Night Out with a Belly Dance Legend

I slept in this morning after a late night out with party animal Sema Yıldız.  A busy dancer in Turkey, Europe, and throughout the Middle East in the 70s, 80s, and into the 90s, Sema is retired from regular performances and now teaches workshops in Europe, Asia, and North America.  Still, to see her flirt and party on a Saturday night, you’d think she was 22 years old. . . .

She invited me to a late dinner at Gar Gazino, where I had the privilege of watching Gül Nihal and two other dancers perform.  After that, we headed to Sultana’s to meet Didem, who is certainly recognized as the most popular dancer in Turkey, and known as an icon to dance enthusiasts around the world.  I’m a big fan of hers, myself.  To my delight, I found out she is pretty cool in real life.

The three of us headed to the Parisienne after that.  Another dancer, Kumsal, performed a pop-and-lockish, Asena– and Rachel Brice-inspired (at least from our point of view) belly dance, which was followed by a racy Russian revue show.

After that, the party continued.  Didem was tired from a round-trip flight to Bodrum earlier that day and couldn’t hang, but for Sema and me, the night was still young.  We stopped at a nearby club, but didn’t stay long (apparently, it wasn’t happenin’ enough for us), then headed to a swankier place with a band and singer performing beautiful Georgian and Turkish music.  We danced to a few songs and hopped in cab.  In my naivete, I thought I was being dropped off at home.  Nope!  Off to Beyaz Bar, where Sema pushed me onto stage for an impromptu performance to live music.

I dropped into bed at about four.