A Turkish-American from Adana Re-Visits MidWest
Kaya Arikoglu, Architect and Urban Designer, Adana, Turkey-Special to The Turkish Times - As a U.S. born architect who has lived and practiced in both Turkey and the U.S.A. I have carried the feelings of an expatriate in both countries. More often than not, this has been a handicap for me. It is not unusual that I often feel out of sync in both environments. Read More

From Anatolian Fire to Anatolian Voices
The Song of a Thousand Years
Yuksel Oktay, Special to The Turkish Times, Istanbul, 5 October 2002 - "The Song of a 1000 Years," organized by the Federation of Alevi Bektasi Associations and the Assembly of Alevi Bektasi Associations in Europe was staged at the Apdi Ipekci Sports Arena accross the famous city walls of Istanbul on Saturday night, October 5. Read More

"Rooms" Whose Walls Seem About to Explode
Review of "The Silicon Dance Project"
Jack Anderson, The New York Times, October 1, 2002 - Program note for "The Silicon Dance Project" defined silicon as "a nonmetallic element occurring in a combined state in minerals and rock." That note served as an unnecessarily contrived introduction to the fascinating performance offered on Thursday night as part of the Dance: Access series at St. Mark's Church in the East Village. The presentation, however, did involve combining, for it was a collaboration between the Chimaera Physical Theater, a dance company from Amherst, Mass., that has visited Turkey, and Modern Dance Turkey, a troupe that is part of the State Opera and Ballet of Ankara. Together, the American and Turkish dancers offered some gutsy choreography.

The evening's overall tone was established in the first dance, "I Don't Want You," a tumultuous piece filled with abrupt falls choreographed by Dieter Baumann and Jutta Hell. It seemed appropriate that all the other dances had the word room in their titles. Each showed troubled people struggling in emotionally charged spaces.

"The Dark Room," directed by Kelly Parsley, combined movement with a text by Mollye Maxner and Mikal Evans. In this solo, Ms. Evans portrayed a physically handicapped woman twisting in a chair and desperately trying to communicate with the outside world. Ms. Maxner and Mr. Parsley met in violent encounters in their collaboratively created "Living Room."

The space that Alpaslan Karaduman, Burge Ozturk and Ms. Maxner choreographically constructed in the third piece, "Room," was haunted by a spirit of unrest. Dancers hurled themselves wildly about, sometimes eyeing one another with suspicion. It was an evening of one theatrical storm after another. As a result the proceedings sometimes became slightly monotonous and aroused curiosity about what these performers might be like in works emphasizing other moods. Nevertheless, the intensity of the American and Turkish dancers made the choreographic thunder powerful.

TURKISH CINEMA COMES TO NY
THE MOON AND STARS PROJECT PRESENTS THE FOURTH ANNUAL NY TURKISH FILM FESTIVAL
•Twelve full-length feature films, including Zeki Demirkubuz’s Fate/Yazgi, Turkey’s first digital film 9, Osman Sinav’s Wildheart/Deli Yurek, Handan Ipekci’s Hejar/Buyuk Adam Kucuk Ask, and Sinan Cetin’s Commisar Shakespeare/Komser Sekspir
•8 short films from young Turkish directors
•Spotlight on Debut Films, featuring In Spite of Everything/Herseye Ragmen
•A tribute documentary on Nazim Hikmet, one of the greatest international poets of the 20th century
•Tribute to Atif Yilmaz, Turkey’s beloved master director

OCTOBER 18TH THROUGH OCTOBER 27TH!
For program information, visit www.moonandstarsproject.org
Tickets: $8 General; $5 Student, Seniors & AFA Members
For advance ticket sales, please call 212.218.7665 or
visit www.moonandstarsproject.org.
All screenings will be held at Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second Avenue at 2nd Street, New York City. 212.505.5181 or www.anthologyfilmarchives.org

Reviewed by Sema Karaoglu
Daughters of Ataturk www.DofA.org, Daughters_of_Ataturk@yahoo.com

Leyenda de una Lingua - Haketia - Kuentos - Memorias - Meliselda -Oki Oki
Tekstos kontemporanos en Djudeo-Espaniol
Editado por Gad Nassi
Isis Publishers, Istanbul 2002
It has been a long time since I have read and enjoyed a book as much as this one. Beautifully written and edited in Ladino (Djudeo-Espaniol), En tierras ajenas yo me vo murir is reminiscent of the works of the great French writer Alfonse Daudet. When the Jews were expelled from Spain and Portugal, they brought with them a beautiful and rich culture to the lands of the Turkish Ottoman Empire where they were welcomed by Sultan Bayazit II. The Sephardic Jews have influenced the Turkish Ottoman Language of the day and the music of the royal court of Ottoman Empire. Their language Ladino (Djudeo-Espaniol) is a rich mixture of Hebrew, Castilian (Spanish of the day) and Arabic. En tierras ajenas yo me vo murir is captivating, enchanting, at times nostalgic, still very easy to read and identify with whether or not the reader is from Turkey and/or Sephardic, it does not matter. It infiltrates the conscience, awakens the senses, and transports the reader through time to days gone forever.

Ladino (Djudeo-Espaniol) is still spoken today by the Sephardic Jews. At first, it was written in Hebrew characters and later in Latin alphabet. Consequently, today, it is very easy for a Spanish speaker to be able to read Ladino. I highly recommend this book not only to Ladino (Djudeo-Espaniol) speakers but to Spanish speakers as well.