ADOB prepares for second half of ballet season

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

The Ankara State Opera and Ballet staged 68 performances and hosted 36,000 viewers in the first half of the 2011 to 2012 art season, according to Erdoğan Davran. AA photo

The Ankara State Opera and Ballet (ADOB), which staged 68 performances and hosted 36,000 viewers in the first half of the 2011 to 2012 art season, increased its occupancy rate by 6 percent. 

“We opened the season with ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ and continued with the Turkish opera ‘Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.’ We also staged the opera ‘Tosca’ which we premiered last season. All of our performances were full,” ADOB Director Erdoğan Davran told Anatolia news agency. 

Davran said participation in culture and art events generally declined in October, the opening month of the season, because of the start of the school year. But this season was different and they played to a full house in October last year, he said, adding that the occupancy rate of October through December increased by 6 percent compared to the same period in 2010. 

“We performed 68 shows through the end of December. Our national and international tours are not included; it means 23 shows each month. Our number of viewers was 36,000,” Davran said. 
Despite the removal of 100 seats during the restoration in summer, there were 4,500 more viewers, he said. “Ankara Opera makes its name heard through newspaper ads and the support of media. We successfully stage works.” 

Tickets now become sold out as they are put on sale, Davran said, adding that he was both happy and sad about this. “This is the signal of success. Our opera hall has a capacity of 600 people. Tickets are sold out on the same day they are put on the Internet.” 

Davran said the number of performances increased compared to previous seasons and they have reached their limits. “The hall belongs to us four days a week. This is why we cannot stage more shows than 16 [in a month]. The operetta stage belongs to us on Tuesdays and Sundays. We can put on eight shows at most in that time,” he said. 

Number of children’s plays will increase 

Davran said they thought the number of children’s plays was low so they started working to increase that figure. “Our occupancy rate shows that interest in children’s plays is high. The artists in the children’s plays also perform in other shows and are very busy,” he added.

ADOB has a soloist, a choir, an orchestra and a ballet staff as well as a modern dance group, a dance theater and a children’s choir, Davran said. “We will make the premiere of an opera, a ballet production, a modern dance show and a children’s play in the second half of the season,” he said.