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A Real
Romany Experience in Turkey!
2 - 6 May 2013
Learn Romany Dance in
ISTANBUL Celebrate Hidrellez in EDIRNE Are you ready to experience a glimpse of the Romany culture in Turkey? Oriental Istanbul is taking you to a wonderful and unique journey in Turkey where you will enjoy a great week full of Romany dance, culture and street parties. You will be taught the technique and style of the Romany dance from master teachers Artemis Mourat and Reyhan Tuzsuz. After going through an intense course in Istanbul, we will travel to Edirne, the heart of the Gypsy community in Turkey to celebrate Hidrellez together with the locals in town. Enjoy dinner with a local Gypsy family in their own neighbourhood in Edirne! What is Hidrellez and how is it celebrated?Hidrellez is the traditional early spring festival, celebrating the awakening of the nature, every year throughout Anatolia. It is believed that every wish you make tonight will be accepted, as tonight prophet Hizir comes to give help to those who need it. Hidrellez is a very important day for Romanys and is celebrated all through the night with street parties. The streets bustle with Gypsy music bands and crowds dancing to the 9/8 rhythm. The tradition is to jump over a fire and make a wish. You can also write or draw your wish and bury it under a plant or tie it on a tree branch. Also in Edirne, the Romany people have the tradition to go by the river very early in the morning to take a ritual dip in the cold water.
Teachers:Learn the technique and the spirit of Romany Dance during intense workshops with;
Program:May 2, Thursday Welcome to Istanbul. Upon your arrival, you will be collected from the airport and transferred to your hotel. Tonight we will enjoy a welcome dinner in famous fish restaurant district of Istanbul, Kumkapi. You will meet your teachers and the rest of the group tonight as well as enjoying a lovely dinner and live music from Gypsy musicians. May 3, Friday Today we will begin our classes, learning techniques and styles of Romany dance. You will be transferred to our modern and large studio to spend most of the day dancing, dancing and dancing..
09:30 - 11:30 Introduction to Turkish Romany with Artemis - 2 hours
Turkish Romany is a street dance in dance. Experience authentic Roman dance that people actually dance at weddings and parties! We know you could handle more, but we will leave it here for the day and start enjoying delights of Istanbul. Our licenced tour guide will take us to Sultanahmet to take a peek at the old city where the Byzantine and Ottoman Palaces were located. We will spend the afternoon visiting Hippodrome (where chariots used to race during Byzantine times), Blue Mosque (imperial mosque with beautiful blue tiles and 6 minarets) and Ayasofia (once a church, then a mosque and finally now a museum). Optional Field Trip: Tonight, you have the option of joining us for a dinner at Gar Restaurant and watch some of the best Turkish belly dancers and Turkish Folk dancers in town. May 4, Saturday
The first part of our day will be indulging in shopping. Our guide will take us to Grand Bazaar where you will have the opportunity to get lost amongst thousands of shops to buy souvenirs, spices, ornaments and belly dance costumes. 13:00 - 15:00 Turkish Oriental Combiniation & Zill - with Artemis - 2 hours Learn specific zill patterns to the combinations from their famous master, Artemis. After our class, we will be on our way to Edirne. Along the 3 hour trip, Artemis will lecture us the history and culture of Turkish Romany people and the history of Turkish Oriental dance and how they are related. Upon our arrival and check in to our hotel, we will be heading to the area where the Gypsy community lives and we will be the guest of a Gypsy family for dinner. This will be a fun night as the Romany people are always ready to play music and dance, and so we can join them tonight. We can also join the concert in the town hall at night time. May 5, Sunday We have a big day ahead. This morning we will have a final class with Artemis before starting showing off our skills in the festival. 10:00 - 12:00 Romany choreography for stage with Artemis - 2 hours Artemis's Romany choreography for stage ---- Turkish Romany is NOT a skirt dance! After the class, we will start with a guided sightseeing tour of Edirne. Once the capital of Ottoman, Edirne is famous with its Selimiye Mosque by Architect Sinan. The celebrations will start in the afternoon. We will enjoy the local horse race, concerts of Mehteran Band (Ottoman Army Band) and will move to Sarayici to witness the starting of the famous Hidrellez fire. Jump over the fire 3 times and your wish will come true! This is the real thing! You will spend tonight amongst the Romany locals of Edirne dancing, having fun and celebrating the major event of the year, Hidrellez. There is no limit to the fun tonight. Go to bed anytime you feel like as our hotel is within walking distance. May 6, Monday We are rising very early this morning as one of the most important rituals of all Gypsy communities takes place. Just before the sunrise, we will arrive by the river to witness the purity ceremony. Young Gypsy girls come along with their wedding dresses and young Gypsy boys dip in the cold river. Write your wish on a piece of white paper and throw it in the flowing river to make sure it comes true. This morning, according to the flight times of the passengers, we will leave Edirne and drive back to Istanbul. Those who are leaving today, will be transferred to the airport. If you want to extend your stay, you can book extra accommodation for tonight. IMPORTANT: Please book an afternoon flight, preferably after 4 pm if you are returning on the 6th of May. If you are not able to book an earlier flight, then please arrange your stay until 7th May. How did we plan our program?Romany dance is a street dance so people usually learn it by watching others dancing from childhood, but for us adults ( AND foreigners! ) it is not easy to master in a short time. So, we have Artemis Mourat who can breakdown basics and techniques in English, then, we have Reyhan's lesson to experience authentic dance while we can implement what we have learned in previous lessons. However, again, Romany dance is an improvisation, but we understand people want to learn a choreography that they can perform on stage. That's why our final lesson is a Roma choreo by Artemis, that people can put all what they have learned into this choreo and take it back home as the best souvenir of Turkey! Not enough dancing? We can also arrange private/semi private lessons for you. Hotels:Konak Hotel
Edirne Palace Hotel
Tour Price:
PP in DBL: € 750 Extra Night in Istanbul: PAYMENT IS SIMPLE WITH CREDIT CARD OR PAY PAL! Price Includes:
Price does not Include:
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Oriental Istanbul is operated by Unison Turkey.
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