Dancers stranded in Antalya stay fit with practice

ANTALYA – Demirören News Agency

Forty-five acrobats and dancers from six countries, who came to Turkey’s top tourism destination Antalya to perform night shows, are stranded in the Mediterranean city due to the coronavirus pandemic.

They are now practicing all day in a warehouse which they have converted into a stage.

They came from Cuba, Argentina, Colombia, Ethiopia, Georgia and Ukraine and were planning to perform in the hotels.

Due to COVID-19, all hotels were closed, flights were cancelled, and organizations were suspended. They neither could do their business nor fly back to their homelands.

However, this should not be a time of grieve, they thought.

“We had to practice and keep fit,” said Georgian dancer Nana Modebadze, while explaining the reason to use a warehouse as a practice hall.

“We love dancing, we are very sorry that we will not be able to perform. But we keep practicing all day as if show begins tomorrow. We look forward to performing on stage,” added the Argentinian companion Julieta Sgarlatta.

For now, the small warehouse is their arena. Acrobats dance on ropes tied to the ceiling, walking on steel rope and dancers perform their choreography in front gigantic mirrors.

Not only them, but also organizers ambitiously wait for the day the tourism season will resume.

“We expect July as the starting month for tourism. So, performers should be here these days to start practicing. Normally 800 dancers were supposed to come. But we have only 50,” said Halis Altay, the head of Seans Organization.

“The entertainment sector would not open up immediately,” added the organizer.