Turkish Ballet Ambassador Ceyhun Ozsoy, Founder, Ozsoy School of Ballet in Texas.

Pride of Turkey: The Turkish Ballet
Ercument Kilic, ATAA President-Elect - Thanks to the leadership of Ataturk, his vision, and the laws that he had the Turkish Grand National Assembly pass back in 1934, ballet, theater, opera, symphony, and chorus schools were founded in the young Republic of Turkey. These were very important steps taken in the name of performing arts in Turkey with the arrival of the modern republic of Turkey.

The first initiatives were taken in Yesilkoy, Istanbul and a ballet school was founded in 1947. Founder of British Royal Ballet, Dame

Ninette de Valois, who also led The Sadler's Wells Theater in England, was invited to Turkey as the founder of this school and the first ballet instructor, and the ballet school began accepting its first students in 1948. During first year, the school had 18 male and 11 female dancers.

Since than there have been instated two additional ballet schools and tree additional ballet performance groups within the capacity of State Ballet -- Devlet Balesi.

In later years, other famed teachers such as Ms. Joy Newton came to Turkey as instructors. Ms. Newton, who was a Valois protégée, was also a world renown dancer in such countries as France, Belgium ,Germany and Holland. Under her leadership, such works as:Bir Orman Masali",

Saatci Dukkani", and "Bora" were successfully staged in Istanbul by students only into their 5th year, in this 9-yr ballet school.

Later, Molly Lake and husband Travis Kemp also came to Turkey as instructors. At the end of their 20th year in Turkey, they were saying: "… and we thought we were coming to Turkey for a year... Turkish dancers truly inspire us. They take this dance form from a repetition of movements to an expression of their soul. The spark that creates this talismanic mood is ever present in Turks." Molly and Travis are also credited for their exuberant work to take ballet on a tour all over Anatolia, offering an unending series of performances.

Turkish Ballet Ambassador Ceyhun Ozsoy, Founder, Ozsoy School of Ballet in Texas.

Acclaimed instructor Beatrice Fenmen who followed Joy Newton to Turkey in 1951, still lives in Turkey.

Later, in her memoirs, Ninnette de Valois, who always took great pride that England was responsible for the inception of ballet in

Turkey, recollected: "It was very surprising when I first arrived that the Turks at the time knew nothing of ballet and none was exposed to this art form. Beginning a job under such circumstances meant that I had no idea as to what the outcome would be after nine years of teaching, training, dress rehearsals of children, and endless hours of worrying. At the end of the nine years, we could have found them to be exceptional talents, or somewhat the opposite could have been the case. This was a major risk I was taking."

Today however, the future generations of ballet dancers in Turkey are proud to declare to Dame Valois that what she took was a risk but a good one. Turkish ballet today is well excepted for its success around the world, and has produced many world class exceptional dancers dancing with

other professional ballet companies around the world in such countries as Germany, the Unites States, and the Russian Republic.

Valois also wrote: "The Turks were among the most talented group of people to whom I was ever exposed. They of course embellish on the heritage of their wonderful national dances, for there is found the national style of every state ballet company. They are also quite remarkable when it comes to the study of choreology. They took to different dance notations faster than the English ballet students. Now they have their own very knowledgeable teachers and students following our work. All the other foreign teachers and choreographers have had nothing but the highest praises for the Turks and their dancing."

"Yoz Dongu" - a Turkish ballet.

In ballet schools today, students graduate as well rounded people as they are also thought such courses as Turkish language, Science, Mathematics, Foreign languages, history of reforms in the new Turkish Republic, Social Sciences, physical Education, Theology, and art history, end up being well rounded persons by the time of graduation.

Countless names to be mentioned are to be credited for the success of Turkey ballet today. Some of these names are:Tenasüp Onat, GülOya Gürelli, Evinç Sunal, Hüsnü Sunal, Sait Sökmen, Duygu Aykal, Suna Senel, Güzide Noyan, Erhan Ergüler, Oytun Turfanda, Saruhan Gazne, Üstün Öztürk, Müride Aksan, Efza Kipçak, Meral Tunali, Can Odabasi, Altan Tekin, Ayfer Sardag, Sema Erinç, Özkan Aslan, Sadan Aydemir, Cevat Aydemir, Engin Akaoglu, Meriç Sümen, Jale Kazbek, Binay Okurer, Gülcan Tunççekiç, Ferit Akin, Cantürk Sakarya, Zuhal Atatural, Taner Akakça, Yalçin Bayram, Shirley Subasi, Suna Çubukçu, Deniz Olgay, Mehmet Balkan, Tanju Tüzer, and Ceyhun Ozsoy.