Opera-Ballet company breaks record

ANKARA

The Turkish State Opera and Ballet staged 842 performances in the 2013 2014 season and it was the peak time for it, breaking a new record.

The 2013-2014 art season in Turkey hosted the highest number of art lovers ever, according to State Opera and Ballet (DOB) General Arts Director Rengim Gökmen.

“Ankara DOB has already broken the record for audiences. It equalized its own record in İzmir, Istanbul, Mersin, Antalya and Samsun, too. When the season is finished, a record will be broken,” said Gökmen.

Gökmen said the DOB staged 842 performances in the 2013-2014 season. “It hosted nearly 400,000 people from Oct. 1, 2013, to the end of May. It was the peak time for us.”

The director said he tried to bring a new dimension to opera and ballet over the past year.

“Opera and ballet is one of the development signs for world countries. Repertoire is also important and we have made some changes in the selection of the works to be staged. We have [stopped operating according to] random and arbitrary thoughts when making the repertoire. And we got the results because of it,” he said.