Opera and Ballet attempts to heal wounds of quake in Van
ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency
The State Opera and Ballet General Directorate regularly organizes tours to sister cities, says general director Rengim Gökmen.
One of the projects aimed at helping the eastern province of Van heal the wounds of last year’s earthquake is the formation of the Van State Opera and Ballet. Works are set to begin next year, according to the State Opera and Ballet General Director Rengim Gökmen.“A couple of projects will be realized for Van to become stronger than it was before the earthquake. I think that the Van State Opera and Ballet will make big contributions to the city,” Gökmen said.
Speaking about the Pilot Cities Project, which is carried out by the State Opera and Ballet, Gökmen said tours were regularly organized by general opera and ballet directorates to the sister cities of Ankara, Istanbul, İzmir, Mersin, Antalya and Samsun.
“The sister cities of Ankara State Opera and Ballet are Kayseri and Sivas, Mersin’s are Gaziantep and Adana, İzmir’s is Denizli, Antalya’s is Konya, Istanbul’s is Bursa, and Samsun’s is Trabzon,” he said. Tours to those cities are continuing and people have asked them to form opera and ballet general directorates in their cities.
The State Opera and Ballet General Directorate has planned a number of sister cities next year, thanks to the success of the Pilot Cities Project, said Gökmen. “In this way, we will organize performances in 18 cities. We will also have tours to 81 cities but our audiences will be able to view the performances of the State Opera and Ballet in 18 cities permanently,” he said.
Gökmen said that one of the goals was to form an opera and state general directorate in eastern Turkey.
“We have to do something for this city,” Gökmen said about the general directorate they plan to form in Van. “After searching for opportunities to form a theater, we will start working in 2013. We are working on it now. The Culture and Tourism Ministry gives special importance to the city, too. There will also be other projects to revive the city too. One of these is an art center. And I am sure that there will also be a ballet hall in this center.”
Pilot cities project
As part of the Pilot Cities project, the Ankara State Opera and Ballet (ADOB) performed “Seslerle Anadolu” (Anatolia with Sounds) in January in Sivas. It also performed the “Harem” ballet in Kayseri and Sivas in February.
All three performances were fully attended, with a total of more than 1,500 viewers. ADOB will go on a tour with a children’s musical this month, and in May again visit Sivas and Kayseri.
The Istanbul State Opera and Ballet (IDOB) was on stage in Bursa in February with the “Othello” opera, which was viewed by 900 people. It also staged “The Ears of Midas” in the same city in March, which was viewed by 1,300 people. The IDOB will return to Bursa to perform two plays in May.
The İzmir State Opera and Ballet has performed a few plays in Denizli to a full audiences, and it will also go on a tour with “Kösem Sultan” this month. Also, the Antalya State Opera and Ballet has drawn big interest in Konya with a modern dance show “Güldestan.”
