Celebrated Turkish dance group to perform in Kyiv
The Fire of Anatolia dance group, the pride of Turkey which has performed live for more than six million viewers in more than 40 countries around the world, will perform a magnificent show in Kyiv this weekend.
The Fire of Anatolia is a leading Turkish dance troop that aims to introduce to the world the fire that arises from “the ancient mosaic of love, culture, history and peace of Anatolia.” Comprised of 120 dancers, guided by choreographer Mustafa Erdogan, the dance troop fascinates the viewers with hundreds of folk dance routines originating from mythological and cultural history that date back thousands of years and compiled from all of Turkey’s regions.
The Fire of Anatolia, previously called the Sultans of Dance, was founded by Erdogan in 1999, when the 90 most talented young members were selected from a crowd of 750 dancers.
The masters of the dance company educate their dancers themselves, teaching them the basics of ballet, modern dance and folk dance. The group had its first performances in 2001 and started a world tour a year later, under the name The Fire of Anatolia.
While The Fire of Anatolia tells the ancient history and mythology of the Turks’ ancient country, Anatolia, the new production represents the modern age. The music of the performance offers an interactive, variegated rhythm; it evokes the simultaneously laid back and energetic Turkish lifestyle, the simultaneous presence of progressive thought and the conservative bigotry, and the unique atmosphere of the Oriental bazaars.
The loose threads of the story display different situations of everyday life. The group of drummers playing a variety of drums provides the background for a love duet and expresses the emotional crisis in the trial and demonstrates the two sides of the world: East and West.
The Fire of Anatolia claims two Guinness world records – its rhythmic tension pushes the limits of dance at 241 steps per minute, and the troop allegedly performed before the largest ever concert audience – 400,000 people in the Turkish Black Sea coastal town of Eregli.
The group is now working on a new project called “Troy.”
Palats Ukraina (103 Chervonoarmiyska, 247-2316)
April 20, 21, 7 p.m.
Tickets are Hr 60 to Hr 700
www.palace-ukraina.kiev.ua
