Dutch performances in Turkey

In May 2008 a Tango dance workshop was held at the Green Beach Resort, an all inclusive hotel on the Aegean coast near Gundoğan, just across the Greek island Kos. Tonny van 't Hoff, from Tangoschool Rotterdam together with ten dancers organized a one week workshop. The group practiced on average three hours per day and danced three hours every evening. Tonny van 't Hoff contacted the tango community in Bodrum. Three Newspapers and one local TV channel ‘Bodrum TV’ showed up for a performance were Dutch and Turkish dancers danced together.

Frans Custers

Frans Custers is a Dutch performer who has been visiting Istanbul on and off since 1997, and since 2001 regularly. On average he stays about 3 months a year in Turkey. During his stays, he gave workshops, daily (either lasting a whole day or two hours) lessons and has made two experimental dance projects with Turkish dancers and actors. His dance project ‘Dancing on the Edge of the Border’ which he created in 2006-07 with two Turkish dancers (members of CATI Contemporary Dance Artists Association Istanbul, (www.catidans.org). His dance form affiliates to Butoh.

In 2007, March, he formed a cooperation between himself, a Turkish dancer, a Dutch computer animation creator and a Polish electronic musician on a science of art title.

In the years 2005, 2006 and 2009, he has given workshops and the last years he has been bussy giving daily lessons in CATI Contemporary Dance Artists Association. In his classes and workshops, he teaches a method to the dancers or actors how to express the ‘archaic’ and what they have within as a dance form. Moreover he gave some advice to some projects by Turkish artists and gave a seminar on his street theatre performances in Mimar Sinan University.

The Dutch computer animation creator is artist Halina Witek who used to be a dancer and currently has a studio at the TUe, Technical University in Eindhoven. Her animations allow professors to explain Nanotechnology to commoners. www.projectklein.com