Writings

Articles and interviews on dance, performance and dance education written by Pınar Özer.

This article was published in Kineo Magazine on June 21, 2023. Kineo Magazine is a website that publishes articles on dance and the body. Please find the original text in the link:

https://www.kineodergi.com/post/bir-bale-pedagojisi-ger%C3%A7e%C4%9Fi-baleyi-kendisinden-koruyan-%C3%A7ocuk

Pınar Özer

A Reality of Ballet Pedagogy: The Child That Protects Ballet from Her(him)self

Ballet... One of many structures, systems, and traditions created by the human mind and body, hence with no concrete barrier for alteration and transformation, in the world. Since ballet education begins at a very young age, ballet teachers become some children's first educators; they are the first team to welcome children into the world, saying "welcome." The warmth, coldness, harshness, and softness of those first "welcomes" are unforgettable. Greeting ballet, one of the world's most perfectionist languages... Actually, how this initial encounter unfolds is not about the child's teacher, but it affects the child's impression of themselves. And the first impression is unforgettable.

The spirit of the time leans toward creating individuals who do not reach an exhausting point but can sustain themselves. How successful this is and which groups of society can find their place in this mental and physical health circle are debatable, but it's crucial because it brings up many unspoken issues. Ballet's brand value is even built upon this: Beauty with its difficulty. However, ballet, in its initial form during the 15th century Italian Renaissance, was a social dance type performed by the nobility at royal gatherings and weddings. In that era, where there were no grand leaps, leg extensions, or multiple turns, ballet was just one of the elements for a certain group's socialization.

With the marriage of Catherine de' Medici, a member of the Florentine Medici family, to the French king Henry II, ballet reached France in the 16th century. Art festivals were organized in palaces, including theater, music, décor, and ballet. By the 17th century, King Louis XIV of France added a dimension to ballet, transforming it from a social dance to an academic dance. The king, who himself loved to dance ballet, opened the world's first ballet school in 1661. Thus, at the top of the ballet teaching lineage, there was a king who deemed himself suitable for the title of "Sun King" and signaled absolute monarchy by saying, "The state is me." For the Sun King, ballet was crucial as an experience to overcome the helplessness and inadequacy of being human to achieve divine perfection, inviolability, and power. His period of helplessness, of course, was his childhood. Due to his ascension to the throne at a very young age, his mother, Queen Anne, a strict Catholic, ruled in his place. The opposition of the Paris parliament, composed of nobles, against the queen's policies led to intense internal conflicts, an uprising of the economically troubled people of Paris, the assassination of the queen's chief minister, and the house arrest of the royal family. Witnessing all this chaos, the helpless, observer child, Louis, grew to hate Paris and its people due to what was done to his mother. Upon ascending the throne, his first act was to move the capital from Paris to Versailles and transform the Versailles Palace into a symbol of Baroque magnificence. His personal reputation was one with the nation. He pursued an aggressive foreign policy. At the same time, he worked with some of history's most important artists: writer Molière, composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, and choreographer/teacher Pierre Beauchamps. The Ballet de la Nuit (Ballet of the Night), where the king danced as the sun god Apollo, lasting for 12 hours from sunset to sunrise in darkness, symbolized the country's salvation from darkness with the king's appearance and the illumination of the space. The helpless child had now become the unbreakable central figure of absolutism; the one beyond questioning, exclusion, attack; the epitome of perfection and savior. The unbreakable child who moves with grace, does not get upset... A resilient child... The performance of resilience...

The endurance performance of ballet dancers is not akin to that of a weightlifter who doesn’t need to hide great breaths and a flushed face. Classical and romantic ballet pieces have specific stories and characters like in theater. To embody a period or a ghost with the effort of an athlete... The hidden performance of endurance... To transcend the suffering mortal body...

Ballet, a tradition with many physical, cultural, and philosophical elements like this, has rapidly evolved in terms of the athletic development of dance movements. However, progress in physical and mental health measures to keep up with this athletic evolution has been very slow. Institutions such as the Russian Vaganova and the English Royal Ballet Academy lack a dominant interest and approach in their globally implemented curricula and examination systems toward the physical and mental health of their students. Rather than being dynamic structures capable of taking action according to the need, these institutions remain in an inspecting position. They are resistant to many perspectives and visions that could be adapted from other traditional or innovative dance genres, as well as child-centered educational approaches. The oxygen level of the pedagogical atmosphere in ballet studios, a panoptic space where the observed and observer, controller and controlled, corrector and corrected coexist, is left to the teacher's discretion. When dancers, who have strived for years in an atmosphere of physical and psychological violence, become educators, what they leave behind and what they transform and carry forward from this tradition is left in their hands. Yet, feedback that is not expressed correctly, regardless of age, can impact an individual's self-perception. For children, this can leave an impression of an entirely flawed existence. For a child who comes into the world ready for unconditional love, attachment, and trust, adults are the objects of trust and love. To survive, they might prefer to view themselves as faulty beings to avoid breaking that connection and conflict. If healthy communication dynamics have not been formed with the caregivers, even in ballet lessons, receiving attention and care, albeit as someone "attempting to be corrected," might create an unhealthy dynamic of "I exist."

Dance education is one of the areas where mirror neurons work most actively. Mirror neurons enable one to perceive and feel the emotions, thoughts, and movements of others through empathy or mirroring, and are the most important factor in learning by imitating choreographies. This situation creates an intense kinesthetic communication and bond between the teacher and the student. Information flows about how the teacher's arm, leg, neck stand at which angle, their inner energy tone, their use of time, and many other details. The student seeks, finds, places, and reflects all this information internally. This entire kinesthetic bond can also lead to confusions such as the student not knowing how much of the teacher's emotional state of that day should be taken on. It's crucial for this framework to be established as healthy as possible. Every dance not carried out in an atmosphere filled with love and trust will consist of steps taken out of fear of exclusion from life or not being taken due to that fear.

"Teacher, I'm very excited but a bit overweight, I might not be a good dancer, should I still come?" A sentence spoken by an 8-year-old student in the early moments of our first lesson, expressing an anxious yet embarrassed statement to protect the dance world. (Despite being a beautiful dancer.) Perhaps thousands of children abandoned dancing due to such fears and similar ones. Ballet, dance, for whom are these? Aren't they for the child saying, "I'm very excited"? Children are already protecting ballet sufficiently, so how much does the ballet system protect them?

With the world of ballet, known for its perfectionism, where even the tutus need to be identical to the millimeter, there is still a long way to go to be perfect. There should be a holistic approach to both students and professional dancers. More pedagogical tools should be offered to many teachers who try to create a healthy educational environment by trial and error. The ballet world needs to free itself from the ruthless dictator dynamics fighting its own inadequacy.

This interview was published in Kineo Magazine on October 29, 2023. Kineo Magazine is a website that publishes articles on dance and the body. Please find the original text from the link:

https://www.kineodergi.com/post/idf-de-bir-yans%C4%B1ma

"Reflection" in the IDF

During the III. Istanbul International Improvisational Dance Festival, contemporary dance artist, instructor, and choreographer Cansu Ergin performed her work "Reflection" alongside musicians Sami Hosseini and Serdar Kastelli. Ergin shared her festival experience, improvisational production, and a conversation about contemporary dance in Izmir.

Pinar Ozer: Your improvisational dance performance "Reflection" with musicians Sami Hosseini and Serdar Kastelli at the III. Istanbul International Improvisational Dance Festival at Arter Contemporary Art Museum was delightful to watch. How was this experience for you?

Cansu Ergin: It was a very enjoyable experience. Sami primarily played instruments such as the def, cajon, tombak, and cymbals. Instructor Serdar also played the ney, flute, and added electronic music elements. They created different ambiences. In an art gallery with sharp thoughts and lines, accompanied by music made with instruments carrying cultural significance and history, I found a sense of identity within myself. This identity felt independent of me, as if it emerged through a conversation between all these elements.

P: You have been producing improvisational performances with musicians for many years. When did this collaboration start for you, and how have the thoughts and experiences of the musicians you work with changed regarding contemporary or improvisational dance?

C: As part of my education abroad in improvisation, contemporary dance, and choreographic creation, I started improvising and exploring various methods with musicians. While studying there, I began experimenting with a musician and performance artist friend. Later, upon the invitation of a German soprano saxophonist friend, I toured in Europe and worked with many musicians, from double bass players to vocalists, drummers, and guitarists. This invitation continued for years, and I realized how much I enjoyed improvisational performances and how much depth it added to my work. The path opened up by my musician friend was very instructive. I thought, "This is a beautiful path, and I want to do this in Turkey too." My collaboration with Sami Hosseini has reached its 10th year. We performed in many cities such as Mardin, Istanbul, Izmir, and Denizli. After working with musicians who already knew improvisation, working with a musician who played his music using his own talent was a different, long process of introducing improvisational performance. Sami became the backbone of improvisation, and as his self-confidence grew, the path began to open. In recent years, we've started inviting highly skilled, internationally acclaimed musicians to Turkey, and they have been very open and accepting. People like Erkan Oğur, Can Çankaya, Turgut Alp Bekoğlu... They were not traditionally known for accompanying improvisational dance with music. Getting them involved and contributing in their own field of music to deepen this path in Izmir has been a significant and groundbreaking development. I can say they performed improvisational dance alongside me for the first time. Of course, this was fortunate for me.

P: Is there a desire beyond mere accompaniment in artists' recorded work, a desire to create together simultaneously, more than just support, as an artistic conversation ?

C: I have always had the idea of inviting musicians whose music I admire; I feel an urge to collaborate with them while listening. The idea of creating something together with them arises. In this respect, Sami was supportive, and we invited Erkan Oğur in this way. They accepted because they were not only masters in their field but also open-minded. Fazıl Say, in an amazing interview, says, "Composing is the sibling of improvisation. Improvisation is like composing; if you don't record it, you're serving improvisation, but if you record it, it becomes a composition." This applies to choreography as well. By improvising, we create movement material, compose, and solidify it. As a choreographer, the excitement I experience during improvisation is unparalleled for me. For now, improvisation gives me more joy because it keeps me on the edge.

P: So, the audience is also invited to witness the moments where the artist choreographs or composes in real-time.

C: In our last performance with Erkan Oğur, Can Çankaya, Turgut Alp Bekoğlu, and Sami Hosseini, with the presentation by actor Bahadır Yüksekşan, we conveyed to the audience that “music will be a composition, and dance will be a choreography, and today, we will create and the audience will witness”. It's as if we call upon the audience to witness. And at the end, we ourselves sometimes can't believe what we did.

P: You have been continuing contemporary dance and improvisation technique lessons in Izmir for ten years. In the initial years of this process, you were traveling between cities for your academic studies and performances in Istanbul while simultaneously sharing and spreading contemporary dance in Izmir. Looking back, how was this process like building a structure, layer by layer, akin to lacework?

C: After various educational processes and experiences, I returned to Izmir and wondered, "How can I do this work in Izmir?" I started running on the beach, with no studio or anything. I remembered some associations from the past and applied to use their halls, asking if I could work there. I was creating my own works as a dancer. It seems quite naive when I think about it now. One day, I saw an advertisement for dance teaching in Canakkale, I applied, and the course owner and me, were both very enthusiastic, so we set off on a journey together. At that time, before the closure of the contemporary dance program at Istanbul Yıldız Technical University, I started teaching, and in the second year of that, I began my master's at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University. The tuition fees were very low, and I was getting a salary from Çanakkale, which was supporting my travels to Canakkale, but there was no money left for my travels from Istanbul to Izmir. One day, while on a bus trip, someone asked if I was giving private lessons. This covered the remaining part of my trips. Indeed, every step was made meticulously. As you said, I was patching this and that, making it a patchwork of things. This situation started to help me develop. After finishing my master's, I entered the proficiency in art program. During this process, I used to say that I was very proud of Izmir, but very few people believed it. "You are wasting your efforts; it's an easy city; you should be in Istanbul..." But I believed a lot. People who initially attended my first classes in Izmir, whom I have become very close friends with now, either with me or in other cities, have come to deeply explore contemporary dance in the most honest and deepest ways. Despite not knowing yet, their minds and hearts were very open, and through them, I learned a lot and developed myself. I was researching how to establish the right communication and convey information to individuals who have never had the chance to engage with the performing arts due to various misfortunes. This situation turned into a personal investigation of my own essence. I was exploring both cultural and communicative channels. The classes progressed as follows: I would exhaust them, then give them a break, and then lift them up into improvisation. In the most meditative moments, I would use Turkish Classical Music to both relax and invigorate them. Turkish Classical Music had a profound impact on our hearts, touching us and igniting something within us. I encountered people with whom I could discover this, and I considered myself fortunate; it was a teaching beyond the confines of schools for me.

P: What was the response to contemporary dance classes in Izmir? What kind of profile and dynamics do you observe?

C: The interest is good, and I'm very happy, a conscious group started to form, and for about six years now, people preparing for contemporary dance departments both nationally and internationally have been there, and their numbers have begun to increase. In addition to this, people from very different backgrounds, ranging from architects to educators, dancers, and various other professions, show interest. While it's not yet fully popular, I can say that it's quite popular. There is an increase in those who want to join and participate.

P: Your teaching approach seems to involve a quest for an inclusive channel specific to each individual, which makes it accessible. You've also conducted improvisation technique lessons with guest musicians.

C: Those sessions were fantastic last year. Musicians like Sami Hosseini, Korkut Peker, Cansu Nihal Akarsu, and Uğur Erdoğan joined, and we had vibrant, highly attended improvisation classes with live music. It coincided with the earthquake disaster in the southern part of the country, and we gathered our strength for that purpose. I felt like a community was formed during that time, and I plan to continue it this year. There was another deepening and integration in those meetings because after improvisation classes that lasted for almost one and a half hours, at the end, we formed a circle with the participation of musicians and had discussions that lasted up to two hours. I am very happy about it.

P: To what extent is there support from public and private institutions for contemporary dance in Izmir? What have your experiences been in this regard?

Occasionally, we have produced performances with some sponsorship support. The most recent example of this was the Feminine Dance Project, which I choreographed. In terms of visibility in my personal performances, municipal support has been present. The Foundation for the Assistance of State Theatre Opera and Ballet Employees (TOBAV) has contributed significantly to me. For instance, we presented the choreography I created for the individuals I collaborated with at the Aziz Vukolos Church with the support of the foundation. Such institutional support has played a part in our progress. Additionally, I absolutely desire to organize a festival. I've made attempts in the past on a meeting and discussion scale, but unfortunately, due to disagreements between institutions, it couldn’t be completed. There have been instances where support was promised but left incomplete. I find it normal as the contemporary dance culture is still in its early stages of establishment and expansion, therefore not fully comprehended. Institutions tend to look at the number of people involved, and since a guarantee cannot be made that 1000 people will attend every event, there's a difficulty in commitment…

P: To look at the dimension of cities branding, contemporary dance could be one of Izmir's symbols. In 2021, Izmir became the world's first Cittaslow (Slow City) Metropolis. Your work in contemporary dance that brings about positive changes in societal networks by delving deeper into a shared, open, and sensitive channel aligns well with the spirit of the "slow city." We could invite Izmir's private and official institutions to look at this aspect. As a final question, you've had the opportunity to observe many people's mental, physical, and spiritual transformations. What, in your opinion, is the unchanging constant in humanity's common ground?

C: The people who come to the classes are generally very sweet, open, and ready to open up. They come from various circles, with differences in professions, positions, and social classes. They also have different backgrounds and teachings due to the lack of social justice in our society. At the same time, they notice that they are among people with different ages and behaviors. Later, these differences seem to dissolve within themselves and form something that moves vertically upward, like a part of the sky. Every group has this. There have been very few people who didn't like or couldn't get along, you don't have to love each other, but respect and giving space have always happened. Understanding and respect develop among them, and our lessons continue within the framework of respect and love. But if I have to give a shorter and clearer answer to this question, I would like to share this saying of Erkan Oğur's: "Our shortcomings are in our essence."

Cansu Ergin

Having completed the 10-year basic ballet education at the MEB Ulis Private Aesthetic and Ballet School and earning the MEB certified instructor certificate, Cansu Ergin pursued education in Izmir Bornova Anatolian High School and the Biology Department, Microbiology Sub-branch at Ege University. She then received scholarships to study at Danceworks in Berlin, the Duncan Centre Contemporary Dance State Conservatory in Prague, and the Choreographic Creation and Dance Research Program (PEPCC) at the Lisbon Forum Dança. She completed her Master's in Modern Dance at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University's Fine Arts Institute in 2017 and the Modern Dance Art Proficiency/Doctorate program in 2022. Her solo performance "Gliding," showcased in 2010, was awarded the "Best Performance and Choreography Award" at the 2011 Szolo Duo Budapest International Dance Festival. In 2012, this solo was preserved by J'ardin d'europe as an "Artwork." In 2017, she won the 3rd prize at The New Europe Dance Festival and Jarmila Jerabkova Awards Choreographic Competition in Prague with her choreographed performance "The Well and The Everlasting." She is a member of "Departs," one of Europe's most important contemporary dance networks. From 2017 to 2018, she served as the dance/project coordinator for the Portizmir/Nefes International Izmir Contemporary Art Triennial. In 2023, the Feminine Dance Project, for which she served as choreographer, was exhibited at the 30th Izmir European Jazz Festival. Ergin provides contemporary dance training at Istanbul Yıldız Technical University's Contemporary Dance Department and at the 9 Eylül University State Conservatory Ballet Department, and she continues her lessons at Izmir Collective Studio, producing solo and collective dance projects.

This essay was published in Kineo Magazine on January 11, 2024. Kineo Magazine is a website that publishes articles on dance and the body. Please find the original text from the link:

https://www.kineodergi.com/post/yakas%C4%B1zlar

No Collar Workers: On the Professional Positioning of Dancers

Pınar Özer

The term "collar," used to symbolize the definition of the work domain of social classes or to refer to a group in academic or contemporary expressions, has a history of about a century. The industrial revolution gave rise to economic injustices among the new social classes. The imbalance in the distribution of shares from the emerging production led to the occurrence of many historical events, both in the intellectual sphere and in schools, squares, and factories. In this historical period, in which Turkey was heavily involved, the demands and actions for the establishment of a just system by many young, old, student, and worker have resonated significantly, but unfortunately, this voice has been punished with severe methods.

One of the first to use the term "collar" in a class sense was Upton Sinclair, an American writer from the early 1900s who came from a wealthy family but held socialist views. Sinclair, who also attempted to establish a socialist colony, wanted to implement his views politically, but despite his efforts, he could not enter the House of Representatives. He summarized the communication process with voters as follows:

"The American people will choose socialism, but not by that name. I proved this in the 'End Poverty!' campaign. When I ran as a socialist candidate, I received 60,000 votes, but when I said 'End Poverty in California!' I got 879,000 votes. I think the big lies our enemies spread about us were successful. Instead of attacking this lie head-on, it should be circumvented."

Sinclair's proposal, labeled as "bourgeois pacifism" by Lenin, also worked on film scripts in addition to his literary works on workers' rights, and one of the people he collaborated with was Charlie Chaplin. The "blue-collar" term, used for manual labor in factories, workshops, or construction, was complemented by the "white-collar" term representing office and administrative workers, also introduced by Sinclair. The collar system not only symbolized the socio-economic characteristics of groups but also provided insights into their rights and struggles, creating a new framework.

As the punishment of socialist youth and workers, along with the attempts and collapses of socialist states to test their power on their own people, capitalism became a widespread system. Many newly emerging occupational groups that did not fit into the definitions of "blue-collar" and "white-collar" were included by various economic forums and platforms, expanding the scale. Now there is a wide collar scale containing many creative color-job pairings such as pink, orange, gold, steel, brown, gray, green, red, black. However, among all these social classes, there is a collar designation that stands out as unique. This classification, representing a certain social security and rights, seems to have freed artists from all guarantees, applauded them with envy as the wind of freedom lifted their collars, and marked them as follows: Collarless.

The groups covered by the Collarless (No Collar Workers) are explained as follows: "Free spirits who prioritize passion and personal growth over financial gain, more than artists and financial profit, fall into this category. Voluntary workers who do not receive a specific fee and the educated but unemployed are also included in this segment." Apart from being a categorization that would be ineffective from any perspective, this naming of collars draws attention to a distorted perception of artists, their education processes, and their working disciplines. Unfortunately, a realistic reflection of life about the considerable material and spiritual investment made by an artist in specializing in their field is overlooked. Considering that art education often begins at a very young age, it is evident that it requires more effort and sacrifice than any other profession. It also involves a serious mental organization because it encompasses not only Apollonian analysis but also the Dionysian inspiration as part of the creative process. Looking at this reality, when it is time for someone who has gone through the most traditional and perfectionist mills of the system with all the education, experience, and accumulation of an art student to establish a working life for themselves, instead of being considered as an adult trained in their field, they are evaluated as someone who has avoided working on other things, unjustly pushed out of some of the system's guarantees.

Dance, due to the intangibility of its produced work, the lack of comfort due to the concept of permanence, and its physical responsibility, is at a more disadvantaged position in this regard compared to other art forms. Since economic value is measured with the concept of utility in work, let's eliminate the frequently asked question: "What is the use of dance? Is it saving lives?!" Any discussion entering this pit stops at historical, anatomical, psychological, philosophical, and cultural stops and emerges from the pit again with the clearer definition of its own underline: "Yes, dance saves lives." It has been one of the rare phenomena that humans have sustained uninterruptedly since primitive societies. This is a mutual spark of life... Therefore, the field it covers, including its study, diversification, research, and, consequently, the work area it covers, is a legitimate, worthy, and respectable field. Just like many valuable fields left in the corner...

When individuals who have received dance education enter the workforce, they often create a "working menu" for themselves by making "choices" among the following options: the entertainment industry (dance in music videos, concerts, films, TV programs, etc.), teaching, academia, production under the roof of EU projects, public or private group dancing, independent creative productions, and performances... The chain of "decisions and behaviors against workers" present in almost every sector is carefully applied to individuals who have received art education, with one difference: "They are free spirits who willingly choose this type of work, aren't they?" In no other sector are injustices legitimized with such a perception. The chain of unfair treatment in almost every sector is not legitimized with such a perception. The employment of dancers, who are included in the same category as "volunteer workers," being burdened with the role of "savior" by the EU cultural and artistic components is not a coincidence. (Since this savior cape is attempted to be put on from the outside, it is far from the conditions of the Sinclair, Chaplin, or Brecht era in every sense.) Most of the funding calls for dancers in Turkey are made with titles like "climate crisis, gender inequality, minorities," which are like composition assignments. (I'm putting aside the fact that artists have historically been among the first to point out and not ignore these issues.) Among these titles taken from the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the UN, the first goal of the list, the article "End Poverty," seems to be constantly overlooked. This article, which directly concerns departments that work with artists as their field of work, is the most relevant one... While it is possible to support free production in content by making practices related to resource consumption in the production process, gender equality and diversity in employment, just like in other sectors, it seems absurd to expect dancers to produce simultaneously for all disadvantaged groups. A savior with an invisible cape...

When an artist is unaware of their mental and physical existence and production processes, a perspective that devalues their entire accumulation and assigns an NGO mission begins to emerge. Moreover, a production frenzy area is created that remains extremely superficial about the supposed problem, has no productivity, and may even be harmful. This is precisely the issue of misusing resources... When tasks, responsibilities, and experiences that belong to a group with a different type of education, approach, experience, and responsibility are assigned to another group, sustainable use of human resources is not created. Perceiving a person as a value production mechanism distortedly means the waste of their experience in the field, and this is an "unsustainable" situation. Not only plastics but also people are wasted.

Undoubtedly, no one with merit in Turkey receives the value of their labor. The injustices experienced by every segment contain both similarities and differences. The unstable and unproductive working lives of artists who practice one of the existential roots of humanity, which has historically been a prestigious element for institutions and states; turns them into ghosts. Art exists, but the artist does not; the cape exists, but the collar does not. The absence of the collar is filled with economic and psychological patches. It seems necessary for dancers to regain their professional credibility.