This research focusing on the first thirty years of Turkish ballet aims to construct a body of memory about the state sponsored ballet inTurkey.  Perhaps because dance history and performance studies are fields which have not been sufficiently established in Turkey, there are very few sources which deal with the Western dance tradition of Turkey that connect it to relevant cultural debates.  There is not a single critical work that directly concerns ballet and contemporary dance inTurkeytracing the history from its beginning up until now.  Fortunately, Metin And, who is an expert in theater studies has given some attention to the subject concerning its beginning years.  However, later on, his interest diverted to other fields.  Jak Deleon existed as the only scholar writing about ballet in Turkey, yet his work is mostly descriptive and does not allow the reader to dive into a wider context of social, cultural and political debates in relation to dance.

Since my main interest lies in the contemporary performing arts scene both inTurkey and elsewhere, I believe, the memory gap concerning the history of Western-infused dance inTurkeyhas been one of the crucial obstacles in situating the contemporary dance works in their own framework.  In addition to that, the individual stories that built up the experiences and structures of Turkish Western dance environment have to be told in an academic framework in order to view Turkish Republican history yet from another angle other than the official discourse.  Dance history ofTurkeyis a very fertile field that has not been covered entirely. Ballet as a practiced art form since the 1930s offers an indispensable understanding with respect to nation-building, authenticity, modernization practices, and Westernization attempts inTurkey.  It is for these reasons alone that the state sponsored ballet institutions ofTurkeydeserve a detailed look. Although the scope of this thesis consists of only the first thirty years, one of the aims is to construct the main bridges and facilitating other studies to follow the trail in their own pursuits.

The study is divided into six chapters. An assessment of the foundation of institutional dance/ballet in the world is introduced in Chapter I.  While looking at the history of Turkish ballet, one has to be able to situate it in a broader framework.  Therefore, in this first chapter, the general history of ballet is explored through the basic phases of its journey and different national approaches are presented.  Chapter II contains a critical survey of dance scholarship inTurkey.  As the concept of dance brings on vast and varied examples in the Turkish context, one has to define the territories and clarify the kind of dance scholarship first.  To begin with, the written works based on the debate on folk dancing and revitalization of the field in the early Republican era has to be mentioned.  Although in the scope of this thesis one can’t attempt to cover the extensive debate based on the re-organization of the dance genre and the attempts to create national dances related to folk dance traditions in Turkey, it is important to recognize the studies in this field and the literature supporting this work.  Then, the written works connected to the Westernized dance are examined.  It is all the more exciting to discover that individual interests lied in more contemporaneous dance which existed in the 1920s, yet it could not be transformed into a systematized structure with its educational and performing institutions.

In Chapter III, a historical narrative of state sponsored ballet inTurkeyis told.  The first section focuses on the founding stories of educational and professional institutions of ballet.  It is stressed that in the beginning, the priority was given to the field of music and theater.  Institutions such as People’s Houses and Village Institutes undoubtedly were the main agencies of the early imaginary of Republican thought.  The establishment of People’s Houses had facilitated the building of a national cultural repertoire of dance in relation to folk traditions.  In addition to that, the state institutions in the field of stage arts were concentrated on music and theater, therefore, the founding of ballet institutions inTurkeyhad been postponed for almost twenty years.  The oral interviews contributed to the understanding of the initiation process of the ballet institutions.  Since the society was not familiar with this art form, it is vital to comprehend the process through which some Turkish families had decided to send their children to the conservatory of ballet.  Many contradictory emotions were revealed in relation to the implementation of new forms and their connection to wider social practices.  The chapter continues with a description of the early achievements of Ankara State Ballet Company and explores the debates in relation to the company’s practices.  Once again, the insights of the first generations of ballet dancers have been fundamental in forming an insider’s story related to these early years.

The second section of Chapter III examines the most influential actors of state institutions of ballet.  British teachers and choreographers as the founders, Turkish bureaucrats as agents acting between the state’s interests and ballet circles, and finally Turkish dancers as pioneers of ballet practices inTurkeyare introduced.  British experts are examined from the stance of building up a ballet tradition in a foreign country connected to national preferences, more precisely to the British school.  Turkish bureaucrats are analyzed in terms of their involvement with this new art form as their aspirations formed by the Republican ideology manifested itself in the ballet circles.  They represent the public face of the ballet institutions.  Their presence is connected to the specific political and cultural milieu of Turkish Republican history.  Lastly, by focusing on the Turkish pioneers of this field, their impacts are examined in terms of their growing artistic interests.  As the representatives of new role models for the Turkish society, their images are explored in between their national identity and a distant foreign aesthetic to be reached.

Chapter IV attempts to delve into the growing pains of institutionalization.  The first thirty years of Turkish ballet are indispensably attached to foreign experts, particularly to the British.  In this manner, the confined aspects of a distinctive relationship based on dependencies are contrasted with the affluent nature of affectionate interests.  There are many complexities to be analyzed.  Apart from the relational context, significant conflicts related to administrative qualities in Turkish ballet institutions are underlined in terms of their particularities.  The most visible conflicts can be seen primarily between different branches inside the same artistic structure such as music and dance, followed by the conflicts around artistic visions related to political frameworks, and lastly amongst the individuals.  The chapter stresses that the institutionalization of state sponsored ballet had its own weaknesses related to the local realities.

Chapter V seeks to consider the debates strongly attached to the inner problematic of Turkish culture following the foundation of the nation-state.  The search for ‘the national’ comprises the main axis of this chapter.  The aim is to show how the socio-political context of the educational process and the staging strategies relate to the concept of constructing a “national ballet”.  The intertwined history of ballet as an art form is situated in the context of the relevant historical and social framework of the 1960s and the 1970s ofTurkey.  The experimental and aesthetic aspects of the field were essential to find a refined balance between the local colors of the culture and the universal language of ballet.  It should be stressed that the recent debates on the concept of universality of ballet are left aside in this thesis.  Since the recent scholarly studies on dance anthropology and history have shown that there are justifiable questions on the perception of ‘universality’ of certain dance forms invented in European cultures, one should be careful about generalizations on this issue. However, this study is concerned with the practices and the perceptions of the first thirty years of Turkish ballet.  Therefore, the axis is constructed around the political context of those times.  Following a political framework of these thirty years as the next step, one can definitely get involved in more critical approaches towards these practices and debates. Definitely, this kind of study awaits further research.  In the last part of Chapter V, the ambiguous relation between the classical and modern approaches of dance in the Turkish context is analyzed.  The main argument is based on the fact that since the state companies were founded as classical dance companies, the tendencies towards modern dance and its creative space have been confined to certain levels.  This is analyzed within the debate of ‘the national’ by trying to depict the shortcomings.

In chapter VI, our attention is directed to the relation between memory and identity. Looking at diverse perceptions of gender and individuality in ballet practices, the main aim is to hear the interpretative voices of Turkish ballet’s subjects.  Oral history as source material can capture and preserve life stories, convey personality, reveal inner thoughts and perceptions.  As a much-valued historical approach developed in the middle of the 20^th century, it has been used in many different fields of study ranging from anthropology to media studies.  In general, scholars agree that oral history is not only a tool or a method, but “it is also a theory of history which maintains that the common folk and the dispossessed have a history and this history must be written”.[1]  In this case, it is the history of Turkish ballet dancers, their perceptions have not been expressed in any other written study until today.

To conclude, the focus of this thesis is centered upon the process of ballet’s introduction to the Turkish society as a Western dance form and its infiltration within the state institutions.  The primary debates are made visible by the oral interviews of ballet’s subjects through their own perceptions and experiences supported by the writings of the critics in daily media.