Aspendos Festival spreads over two months in 2012

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

The 19th Aspendos Internaitonal Opera and ballet Festival will take place in June and September. Hürriyet photo

The Aspendos International Opera and Ballet Festival will be organized during two different months for its 19th edition in 2012.

Tourism officials requested that the festival be shifted to September because of concerns for their industry. The festival will take place in June and September in 2012.

“The festival is a very important event for us,” said State Opera and Ballet (DOB) Director Rengim Gökmen recently told Anatolia news agency. “This year we will do something new during the festival and spread it to two different months.”

The first part of the festival will start on June 14 and will continue until July 4, while the second part of the festival will be held between Sept. 3 and 15.

“We are trying something new. We will evaluate the interest of the tourists during different periods of time,” said Gökmen. Based on the success of the venture, Aspendos will determine a new festival period in subsequent years, added Görkmen.

The festival will host international groups and dancers this season, said Gökmen, adding that tourists would also have the chance to see the program this year.

The festival will again host various groups and dance shows during the second half in September.
This year, audiences will have the chance to see the “Turandot” opera, the “Rigoletto” opera by the Estonia Opera and Ballet Company, the “Prince Igor” opera by The Yekaterinburg State Opera and Ballet Company and others.

South Korea’s Daegu Opera will also take part in the festival; the Antalya State Opera and Ballet and South Korea Opera and Ballet will perform the “La Traviata” opera together. Meanwhile, a Chinese company is scheduled to perform a rendition of “Madame Butterfly.”

The festival will further host the Mersin and Trabzon state operas’ ballet programs.

Gökmen said the DOB worked 12 months of the year, making it one of the hardest working institutions in Turkey.

Noting that the dancers were a very important part of the institution, Gökmen said, “Ballet is hard work, and we have also decreased holidays to one month.”