'VIZONTELE', made in 2001, was the most successful Turkish Film ever screen in the cinema. Why? Mainly, because it approached a lot of issues in the psyche of people in Turkey, namely: NOSTALGIA; CULTURE; TRADITIONAL DRESS; TRADITIONAL LIFE; LOSS OF TURKISH CULTURE; LOSS OF COMMUNITY; FAMILY LIFE; FEAR OF CONSCRIPTION; FEAR OF SEPARATION; GOVERNMENT CONTROL; ONE-UPMAN-SHIP; INSINCERITY; BETRAYAL; GOSSIP; DRESSING WESTERN; BEING 'FASHIONABLE; FALLING IN LOVE; LOSS OF LOVE; ARRANGED MARRIAGE; THE KURDISH WAR; CYPRUS; GREECE; REGRET; DEATH; SUPERSTITION; MELANCHOLIC; NAIVITY; KINDNESS; RELIGION; HOPE: CHANGE...All of these things make up People and Life in Turkey...

***SPOILER***[Don't read further if you do not want to spoil the film clip]

'VIZONTELE' was based upon writer, director, actor, producer Yılmaz Erdoğan's experience of growing up in the moutainous eastern extreme of Turkey's geography, Hakkâri, a predominantly Kurdish city on Iran's border.

The film is set in 1974 when electrification of East Turkey was complete and the govenment had a project to deliver a new television to the mayor of every city in Turkey to air Turkish Government Turkish Television Stations to the populous. However, the officials completing difficult drives to these remote places often were not keen to hang around. In the case of this television presented to the Mayor of Hakkâri, the government representatives only gave the mayor and villagers a quick description of this glass screened new machine that the people had never seen before..."Plug it in and set it up in a high place with the ariel plugged in"...Then they sped away into the hot distance in their dusty jeep...The locals were left with the...What?...What was it called?...The VIZONTELE? [Nobody remembered what it was called and they had never seen a maching like this one before that 'sent pictures' from an ariel]...

The suface story of the film is a bewildered Mayor and his staff's hilarious attempts and failures to demonstrate the working 'VIZONTELE' to the town, but not having any instructions or idea about how to get the machine to work.

The deeper symbolism of the television is the drastic changes that outside cultures have had on Turkish Life. Some good in terms of development and education, information and political change. But some bad, the erosion of Turkish Culture, the breakdown of family life, religion plus the imposition of a quickened pace of life that may not really suit the slower Middle Eastern nature of life in Turkey.

VIZONTELE CLIP
Our clip is the end section of the film...The bungling mayor and his companions have tried several times to publically demonstrate television to the townspeople and it has either not worked or generator burst into flames and so on, shaming the mayor. As the extract opens the mayor and co. have been up to the highest part of the town, i.e. the mountain, the television did actually work, however, it showed "Iranian VIZONTELE" not Turkish...So our would-be-TV-mechanics come down the mountain depressed...A local policeman fiddles with the television set on the back of the lorry and actually CHANGES CHANNEL, which nobody knew to do...Hey, presto, HARIKA! ...Black Sea Wedding Dances from Turkish Television...Suddenly, how to operate the VIZONTELE is understood!

The townsfolk gather at the mayor's house for an official first VIZONTELE evening...Latif, the local cinema owner is pessimistic about the television as his theatre is empty...Gathered together, the town watch the television news about War with Greece in Cyprus...A huge silence takes over the room as the mayor and his country bumpkin wife Siti realise that their worst fear has come true through dreaded CONSCRIPTION, their sun Rifat is pictured as one of three soldiers killed in Cyprus.

A dramatic scene shows the varying reactions to the deaths using a lot filming techniques like booms and sweeping shots that had rarely been seen in Turkish films before.

Siti then exposes SUPERSITION and evidence of the RELGIOUS vs SECULAR arguments of The Turkish Republic by taking the television, the last place she sees an image of her son Rifat's face, up to the mountain to bury it. Hence refering to some ceremonies and conventions of Islam and maybe some aspects of possibly SHAMANISM [ancient pre-Islamic religion of worshipping trees, wind, sun, etc.]...Siti sees the VIZONTELE as "the work of the devil" that "took her son"...The traditional vs the modern...

Rifat's fiance is then wed sadly in an arranged marriage...The television is then seen to be dominating life in the city, after only a short time...CHANGE and LOSS of CULTURE...

'VIZONTELE' was deeply successful because of its NOSTALGIA. A lost and lovely rural aspect, a slower life, a kinder gentler people.

Ive ENGLISH SUBTITLED this EGYPTIAN SONG 'WRONG PEOPLE' or 'AL NAS SHMEL'. "DRUGS MORNING"[instead of "GOOD MORNING"], or "MAZAG AL KHER" is the JOKEY TITLE for the ARABIC TV SERIES and uses SHA'ABI SINGER: BAHA SULTAN creating this DARK THEME TUNE to the TV SERIES DRAMATISING EGYPT'S DRUGS, PROSTITUTION and DANCING COMMUNITIES. SHA'ABI is a kind of PROTEST MUSIC with a SIMILAR PHILOSOPHY and FUNCTION to AMERICAN RAP. The VOICES of the POOR RING OUT in SHA'ABI ['Music of the People'] with its DARKLY 'LAUGHING' MUSICAL THEMES expressing the COMEDY and HORROR of the UNDERSIDE of EGYPTIAN SOCIETY. The CORRUPTION, the FAKE RELIGIOUS APPEARANCES of some COPTIC CHRISTIAN and MUSLIMS, the PROSTITUTION, the DRUGS that are MASKED by EGYPT'S CONSERVATIVE EXTERIOR. SHA'ABI MUSIC is a POPULAR FORM often using RURAL STYLE SINGERS and KEYBOARDS that REPLICATE the COUNTRYSIDE FOLK but in an URBAN SETTING.

KHAARTOUM_LETS_TALK - Politics and Silliness
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/EYb0GTLqGBqH/

KHAARTOUM_SINGS - Covers and Composition by K the 'Maestro'
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/khaartoum_sings/

FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES -FAIR USE

This is a stunning film performance of a snatch of the Zeybek 'Hawks' Anatolian folk dance from Western Turkey. The Zeybek is presented in the setting of a traditional Turkish wedding in the Eastern city of Diyarbakır, hence the Western dance is a special and unusual folk style for the marriage guests. The tableaux comes from the superb 2001 Turkish Cinema movie 'Deli Yürek' ['Crazy Heart'] and is performed by the heart-stoppingly stunning 6' 3" Turkish actor Kenan İmirzalıoğlu playing Yusuf Miroğlu. The Zeybek is insisted upon by the groom Cemal [Oktay Kaynarca] at his marriage party to his bride Leyla, played by the talented and innovative Turkish folk singer Zara. Cemal, Yusuf and many others at the wedding work in for the military. Cemal is a target for an assassin during the HALAY [folk dancing]. Yusuf begins a complex and dangerous mission in an unfamiliar area and culture of Turkey to bring Cemal's murderer to justice. The film is fantastic and gives so much insight and imagery of the beautiful Eastern city of Diyarbakır.
The Zeybek is an ancient warrior's dance from Western Turkey and may have some Hellenic [Greek] links. The dance is named after the Zeybeks, the Greeks have developled Zeibebekiko Dance from the Turkish Zeybek.
The RHYTHMIC PATTERN [number of pulses and patterns made across this] is characteristic set of slow 9/2 beats counted either: 2+2+2+3 or 3+2+2+2. There are some variations in different regions of the speed and some musical details.
MELODIES [tunes] then played on top can either be slow or fast.
The performers, often men, represent the movements of Hawks with their arms outstretched to represent the noble and courageous aspects of the Turkish character. The performers, either one after another, or two together walk around freely, indendently, and slowly as the rhythm begins and then begin to gain momentum and movements into the dance. The bravery of the Turk is shown even in the single performer of the Zeybek. There are some complex movements moving down to the ground, kneeling and posing with a return to the hawk pose which is performed with bold grace. The standing pose with the arms outstretched like the wings of the hawk is the dancer acting out heroism.
ORCHESTRATION
The ENSEMBLE [group of instruments/vocalists] is purely MONODIC [melody and drums with no bass or harmony]. The PERCUSSION [intruments you hit] are traditional large drums worn on a shoulder harness and struck with a stick. The TIMBRE [musical colour that identifies a particular instrument] is quite sharp and DOUBLED [the same thing played by several instruments] with a higher REGISTER [high, medium or low pitch] set of OVERTONES [high frequency noises that can sometimes be felt rather than heard]. The melody is provided by traditional reed WOODWIND [instruments you blow into, over or with a reed], the sound is very piercing and reedy which cuts through the outdoor scene and wedding guests chatter. The WOODWIND all play in UNISION [all playing the same tune] which thickens the melody. The melody is very simple with a narrow RANGE [span of notes] as the traditional instruments have few notes available to play. There is some addition of various folk vocal chants later during the dancing. The arranger has done this purely to add variety and a little 'atmosphere' into the end of the piece.
The music was recorded multi-track, played through a PA system on the set, then re-recorded onto the edited film.
VIDEO
'Deli Yürek' is part of the new 'Euro-Images' style of Turkish Cinema. Not the old Republican Matenee films with one camera and a lot of melodrama that were loved up to the 80s. This production has a lot of equipment, storyboard planning, booms, lighting plans, etc. Yet, it still retains a very 'Turkish' feel. The use of traditional wedding garb is quite rare in modern Turkey. This gave a lot of lovely shots of Zara and promoted lovely Turkish culture.
Kenan İmirzalıoğlu is perfect. His height, his looks, his profile all love the camera. He is dramatic and theatrical and makes the audience 'googly-eyed' for his performance. He was aware of the kind of proud, controlled, yet delicate projection of the Zeybek he was to create and he does it magically and creates a Zeybek that is pure magic! Teşekkürler!

NEW YORK is ALIVE with A MULTI-CULTURAL TROUPE of American Asian, African and East European INDIAN CLASSICAL DANCE: BHARATA NATYAM or 'DANCE OF INDIA'. It is the OLDEST KNOWN DANCE FORM in the WORLD. The BHARATA NATYAM is a HINDU RELIGIOUS DANCE that TOLD STORIES of the GODS through STYLISED STATUE POSES to AUDIENCES that COULD NOT READ the HOLY UPANISHADS. BHARATA NATYAM is an ATHLETIC DANCE that takes a minimum of 8 YEARS to TRAIN. 'NRITTA' refers to NON-STORYTELLING SETS of MOVEMENT to SHOW TECHNIQUE and PROFICIENCY.

See more at JIVA PERFORMING ARTS on YOUTUBE:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs4vucGaxRfhlgTRiju-M7g

USA JIVA PERFORMING ARTS made this STUNNING DANCE FILM "Turning classical dance into something modern like a pop video"

Jiva Dance's first short film, Urban Nritta (pronounced: nrit-thah), presents classical Bharatanatyam dance against the backdrop of New York City. Nritta is the expression of rhythm through the body in dance, and in this setting we express the rhythms of Indian classical dance and music as well as the beat of the city where we live and create.

The piece we perform is “Into the Battlefield,” excerpted from our original work “Mayura: Blue Peacock.” This scene depicts the dance of the mighty peacock, the vehicle of the Lord Murugan, as it prepares to go into battle.
Jiva Dance produces living, breathing classical art for our time and place, in harmony with the rhythms of New York City.

Concept and Choreography: Sonali Skandan
Director/Cinematographer/Editor: Jesse Newman
Production Design: Kaela Hill
Dancers: Kumari Mayshark Patel, Maya Kappil, Njideka Emenogu, Poulomi Das, Sonali Skandan
Music Composition: Rajkumar Bharathi
Sound Design/Music Recording: Sai Shravanam, Resound India
Rhythm and Music Direction Input: Bala Skandan
Makeup: Kennisha Clayton
Produced by: Jiva Performing Arts, Athena and Giri Devulapally, Ramya and Nandu Narayanan, Arpana Gollapalli and Hans Deyssenroth

Thank you to all or Wonderful Film Patrons who helped us create our first Film!
© Jiva Performing Arts 2016 All rights reserved
[FAIR USE - For educational purposes and for promoting Jiya Arts]

KHAARTOUM_LETS_TALK - Politics and SIlliness
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/EYb0GTLqGBqH/

KHAARTOUM_SINGS - Covers and Composition by K the 'Maestro'
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/khaartoum_sings/

KHAARTOUM_EAST - Ethnomusicological channel of Eastern Commercial Musics
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/khaartoum_east/

'AHMED AND MONA AND END OF THE FILM' song stars EGYPT'S 'LAST BELLY DANCER': DINA [red dress] appears with SHA'ABI SINGER: SA'AD SUGHAER [yellow shirt] and his brother: MOHAMMED ATAYA [blonded hair] from the 2009 Egyptian Musical SHA'ABI Film: 'ALA AL TARAB BI THALATHA' ['I SWEAR I WILL SING']. The song is actually a PARODY of a song from a classic black and white Arabic movie called, 'AGLA MIN AL HAYAT' ['MORE VALUABLE THAN LIFE'] where actor SALAH ZULFAKA and heroine SHAADIA shout, "Ahmed...Mona" over a mountain top to each other to sing a love song. This SHA'ABI pop belly dance song of that old song is a kitsch, colourful and bit of fun of that old melodramatic song.

SHA'ABI MUSIC
The music style here is SHA'ABI, 'sha'abi' meaning people, so the music form means a kind of URBAN FOLK MUSIC. SHA'ABI MUSIC may have originated with singers like AHMED ADEWEYAH in the 1970s during the waning years of the serious lyric oriental CONCERT STYLE Egyptian music like OUM KHILTHOUM, WARDA, NAGAT, etc. ADEWEYAH brought a more FOLKY style, initially with DRUMS and STRINGS but with more rhythmic and silly words. Over time and decline of sales of Egyptian Music the SHA'ABI MUSIC has become just KEYBOARD and maybe traditional drums. The SINGING style is RAW RURAL and words are nonesense or like RAP, obscene or impolite. SHA'ABI MUSIC is 'the music of the people' and Post Revolution Egypt's streets are filled with the sound of SHA'ABI MUSIC, even though the music is not permitted to be sold in shops by law due to its UNDERGROUND LYRICS and STATUS.

SHA'ABI CINEMA
SHA'ABI FILMS are Egyptian Cinema mimicking the 'sha'ab' in grotesque SATIRES of low class behaviour and middle class polite society corruption. On the surface SHA'ABI CINEMA entertains 'the masses' with Cairo slum dwellers and rural mad cap antics in Upper Egypt. A deeper analysis can maybe reveal an intentional or unintentional FARCE of serious corruption and entrenched problems and bad behaviour in Egyptian Society all pointed at indirectly through hilarious merciless comedies of the everyday behaviour seen of people in Egypt.

BI'A...'LOW ENVIRONMENT' SHA'ABI
"Bi'a" is the word that many will attack SHA'ABI with, meaning 'low culture' for 'low class people'. SHA'ABI MUSIC and CINEMA are generally loathed by the aspiring middle class due to the harsh countryside voices, simplistic lyrics, simple and 'belly dance' nature of the media plus the comedy made of the Middle Class, Religious Groups and Government direct and implied.

MUSICAL ANALYSIS of 'AHMED & MONA & INAHAYA' SONG
The song is based upon Western pop song FORM [sections over time]
INTRO [names unaccompanied + names & accompaniment]
CHORUS [names in MALE & FEMALE CHOIRS]
VERSE A [MOHAMMED ATAYA solo - electronic effect on voice for: style? poor voice?]
VERSE B [MALE & FEMALE CHOIRS together with SOLOIST join at times for variety]
CHORUS
BRIDGE 01 [DRUM MACHINE, SIMPLE BASS NOTES, ACCORDIAN, PERCUSSION]
VERSE A
VERSE B
BRIDGE 02 [TRADITIONAL DANCE PERCUSSION relief from ELECTRONIC SOUNDS]
VERSE A
VERSE B
CHORUS
CODA [mix of BRIDGES, ELECTRONIC & ACCOUSTIC DRUMS & ACCORDIAN SOLO]

The ENSEMBLE [group of vocalists and instruments] is not that large or greatly skilled. The song is sequenced on computer and recorded cheaply track by track on MULTI-TRACK RECORDER with electronic drums and BASS NOTES to 'warm' but this is NOT HARMONY, it is LAYERING effect to thicken the MONODY [single melody and drums] to make it more powerful for the CINEMA MEDIA.

ACCOUSTIC [live] instruments like TRADITIONAL PERCUSSION [instruments you hit] and the CHOIRS and soloists are all DOUBLE-TRACKED [they record their parts more than once then play it back to make five performers sound like fifteen to save money and add TONE MASS [thickness of tone].

MOHAMMED ATAYA'S voice has been heavily FLANGED and EFFECTED [USA Cher used this technique in the 1990s on her songs for a while]. This makes the voice more 'striking' and 'thicker' but also maybe sounds 'cheap' or 'artificial'. But it fits with the song, the comedy and gives TONE MASS POWER to the song to blast it through cinema speakers.

The ACCORDIAN player is talented and plays some instinctive fills, licks, small tunes and harsh CADENCES [musical full stops] at the ends of phrases and sections. The ACCORDIAN is a European squeeze-box organ with Western EQUAL TEMPERAMENT [a mathematical unnatural tuning system developed in the West dividing the scale into 12 equal half notes]. The ACCORDIAN has a distinctive sound and plays in DETUNED OCTAVES.
KHAARTOUM_LETS_TALK - Politics and SIlliness
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/EYb0GTLqGBqH/

KHAARTOUM_SINGS - Covers and Composition by K the 'Maestro'
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/khaartoum_sings/

KHAARTOUM_EAST - Ethnomusicological channel of Eastern Commercial Musics
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/khaartoum_east/

MUTLU YILLAR! HAPPY NEW YEAR from ISTANBUL and TURKISH TELEVISION with TURKEY'S GREAT BELLY DANCER: Asena! Inspiration for the New Year!
KHAARTOUM_LETS_TALK
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/khaartoum_lets_talk/
KHAARTOUM_SINGS
https://www.bitchute.com/channel/khaartoum_sings/

I've English subtitled the wonderful romantic Pakistani classic ghazal song of playback singer: AKHLAQ AHMED called 'SONA NA CHANDI', or 'I HAVEN'T GOLD OR SILVER TO GIVE YOU, ONLY MY LOVE'. The song is a evergreen classic composed by the Late Bengali film composer ROBIN GHOSH from the 1980 Pakistani Urdu language film 'BANDISH' or 'RESTRICTION'. The song is picturised on Pakistan's mantinee idol cinema pairing, actor NADEEM, and Bengali actress SHABNAM. The 'BANDISH' film is shot in Pakistan and Indonesia about a pilot [Nadeem] who crashes in the sea and spends time on an Indonesian island waiting to be rescued. Local girl played by DIANA CHRISTINA falls in love, NADEEM plays along, then gets rescued and goes back to his wife and air hostess SHABNAM in Pakistan. When the pair return to the island to meet the kind girl and her father, they find DIANA CHRISTINA has taken her life...'BANDISH' is probably the most beautiful family film that Pakistan ever made. Here is the link for 'BANDISH' FULL FILM on YOUTUBE [No English Subtitles...Sorry!]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNaIPNhKZbE

Indian Cinema once produced songs that were so magical and fantastical that they left an indelible mark on the audience for the rest of their lives. The sheer beauty and intense talent of the songs could never be forgotten or erased from memory...This is such a song...'My Love For You Is Like That Of...' - 'Hum Tumhain Chahate Hain...'

Actor VINOD KHANNA and actress ZEENAT AMAN mime the song in a silhouette against the sea that transcends language or nationality but is just the feeling of falling in love.

The singer Manhar Udhas with Music Directors Kalyanji-Anandji make a 'Modernised' GHAZAL [rhyming couplets and refrain expressing the pain of love or seperation] that is so moving and beautiful that it transcends language. The listener from any country can hear this song and understand its message...But here are lyrics in English and Hindi for detail...

LYRICS
Naseeb insaan ka, naseeb insaan ka. Naseeb insaan ka chaahat se hi sanwarta hai
[The fate of a human being is adorned by love]
Kya bura is mein kisi par jo koi marta hai?
[So what's wrong if someone gives his life for it?]

Hum tumhe chaahte hain aise (x 2)
[My love for you is like that of...]
Marne waala koi. Marne waala koi zindagi chaahta ho jaise.
[A dying man desperate for life]
Hum tumhe chaahte hain aise...
[My love for you is like that of...]

Rooth jaao agar tum to kya ho(x 2)
[If you turn away from me in anger]
Pal mein aise lage. Pal mein aise lage, jism se jaan jaise judaa ho.
[I feel like my life is draining out of my body]
Hum tumhe chaahte hain aise
[My love for you is like that of...]
Marne waala koi. Marne waala koi zindagi chaahta ho jaise
[A dying man desperate for life]
Hum tumhe chaahte hain aise
[My love for you is like that of...]

Zindagi bin tumhaare adhoori (x 2)
[Life is empty without you]
Tumko paaloon agar.Tumko paaloon agar, har kami meri ho jaaye poori.
[If I get you, every wish of mine will be fulfilled (there'll be nothing lacking in my life)]
Zindagi bin tumhaare adhoori
[Life is empty without you]

Le chalenge tumhe hum vahan par (x 2)
[I'll take you to a place]
Tanhaai sanam. Tanhaai sanam shehnaai ban jaaye jahan par.
[Where silence will become the notes of the shehnai* (*a musical instrument played at weddings)]

Hum tumhe chaahte hain aise (x2)
[My love for you is like that of...]
Marne waala koi. Marne waala koi zindagi chaahta ho jaise
[A dying man desperate for life]
Hum tumhe chaahte hain aise
[My love for you is like that of...]

ORCHESTRATION
The film 'Qurbani' ['Sacrifice'] is quite a Muslim themed film headed by actor, producer and director Feroz Khan. The majority of the actors are Muslim, as are the music artists. This maybe the reason for a more Middle Eastern music score.

The GHAZAL-like classic style of the lyric FORM [sections over time] and the rich velvet texture of the singer is much more common in Pakistani Film Songs of Mehdi Hassan and Ghulam Abbas that are more based upon Classical and Folk Music of The Subcontinent. It is difficult to think of another song quite like 'Hum Tumhain Chahate Hain' in cinema from India.

The film version of the song has been edited from the original studio recordings. The section of Asha Bhonsle's singing has been cut. This decision was possibly made to cut the SEVEN MINUTE length of the song, plus to retain the 'mysterious' quality of the Zeenat Aman actress' character. The male-only singing gives the effect of placing the loved female on a romantic pedestal.

The song FORM is odd. It is like two songs put together. The opening section is sung in with longer decorated notes in a different rhythm. It is like an ALAAP [opening to an Indian song] but also like a VARIATION of the main song as a sort of 'preview' of melodic material in a slightly different form.

The opening has a sort of Middle-Eastern 'lilt' with FINGER CYMBALS from BELLY DANCE on the first beat with ELECTRONIC KEYBOARD playing upward SCALES from note one [I TONIC] to note five [V DOMINANT]. The PERCUSSION [instruments you hit] are TABLA [Indian floor hand drums tuned to I & V].

After some bridging figures on the KEYBOARD, a new INDIAN RHYTHM is established in the 'song proper'. The drumming is provided by a number of TABLA players in unision offering TONE MASS [thick sound]. The PERCUSSION pattern is so regular and close-mic that is sounds like a drum machine! The drumming is unobtrusive to allow the glorious vocal and deeply moving words to work their magic and overwhelm the listener.

The 15+ WESTERN VIOLINS provide some LAYERING [playing at the same time behind repeated vocals for variety but there is no HARMONY]. The studio mix of the STRINGS is really subtle for Indian Cinema, a romantique whisper...

"Who's Coming!?"..."ASENA!"...This was the catch-phrase entrance of ASENA, Turkey's most well known and MODERNISING BELLY DANCER from singer host İBRAHİM TATLISES on his variety program 'The İbo Show'...

Like TURKISH FOLK star, SABAHAT AKKIRAZ, and Egypt's BELLY DANCER, DINA, ASENA lived ABROAD a lot as a child. Both SABAHAT and ASENA were Turks who lived in Germany and brought their own FOREIGN ideas, education and romantic 'oriental art' ideals to Turkey, unlike Turkey-born stars who wished to 'Americanise' everything.

Egypt's Dancer DINA lived extensively in Italy as a child and also brought a similar ideal to Egyptian BELLY DANCE, unlike the 'conservative' women of 1980s Egypt who would not consider Dance as a career or Cultural area for MODERNISATION.

BELLY DANCE is a somewhat difficult topic in The Turkish Republic. The political reforms of The Republic from 1923 were in place to make Turkey: "Turn to the West" in terms of Culture and Politics.

A serious argument in both Turkey and Egypt, particularly in these times of Piousness and Religious Fundamentalism: "Is Belly Dance Egyptian or Turkish?" This is the big question as neither country in the Pious Times seems to want 'responsibility' for the dance.

Turks will often say: "Belly Dance never existed in Turkey until The Ottomans colonised Egypt and it came from there".

Egyptians will often say: "Belly Dance is an 'oriental' style brought from India by The Ottomans and never existed in Egypt before The Ottoman Empire".

There is evidence that BELLY was originally ceremoniously done in all-female gatherings in Egypt during child-birth to distract the mother from the pain and anxiety in Egypt. There is some evidence that BELLY DANCE may have been performed in Turkish Palaces. There is also some speculation that this 'Women's Dance' was made into a dance for men by liberalisation under The British Empire.

One thing is clear, BELLY DANCE in Turkey and Egypt are in different styles with Turkish performers being more athletic with larger whole body moves. However, in Egypt, the dance is more static and un-athletic with more focus on hip shaking and certain stylistic movements that are not seen in Turkish artists.

MIDDLE EASTERN DANCE and MUSIC are something that that Modern Turkey had no real place for and for decades until the time of Cinema. Turkish Films tended to copy Egypt's Films with BELLY DANCERS that were imported from Cairo for a time then stopped as Arabic was a language that was 'forbidden' in The Turkish Republic. Turk Cinema employed BELLY DANCE numbers that were out of context with contemporary Turkish Culture but blindly followed Egypt as other film industries were not so similar in culture to Turkey.

BELLY DANCE became re-established in Turkey through Cinema but with an image of larger heavier ladies imitating Egyptian Cinema. BELLY DANCE became mainly a Tourist Culture done in night clubs or theatres. By the 1980s the interest in MIDDLE EASTERN ENTERTAINMENT had waned.

The rise of ARABESK CULTURE [Turkish Popular Music in the style of Arabic Music with a complex role challenging Turkish Republic Reforms] in the late 1980s brought a rise of mass cult rural Eastern Turkish singers like İBRAHİM TATLISES. These stars held and still hold unbelievable power over Turkish audiences.

TATLISES is a phenomenon, a Kurdish builder with an incredible singing voice who became ‘King of Turkey’. His whole style of rural moustachioed uneducated rags-to-riches went against the Army's Westernised Turkish Republic.

İBO and other ARABESK stars began an EASTERNISING CULTURE WAR against The Turkish Republic that used Art and Music as their mode of attack. ASENA, then only 18 was his BELLY DANCER.

ASENA, whose real name is Onur Çakmak, lived both in Turkey and Germany as a child. Virtually abandoned by her parents, she was brought up by her grandmother, but is not estranged from her parents. She studied at a Turkish university while getting a degree at the LCC Modelling and Entertainment College. She became a model and then an untrained nightclub BELLY DANCER.

ASENA refused the ‘fat-lumpy-middle-aged-woman-in-gaudy-nylon-net-costumes’ image of BELLY DANCE. ASENA changed: Body shape to slim; Costume to evening dress; Moves to elegance and athletic modernity; Hair to long straightened modern; Age to youth = NEW BELLY DANCE.

ASENA and İBO continued this professional arrangement for several years. ASENA was often involved in scandals of love affairs. Her relationship with TATLISES appeared to break down in 2001 and she was replaced on his shows with a newer, younger dancer. ASENA was SHOT shortly after the parting, gossip flew...

'Live By The Sword - Die By The Sword' İBRAHİM TATLISES was then critically shot in the head outside a TV studio in Istanbul in 2011. He was left partially paralysed and will never sing again. Strange how things happen.