ANTALYA
Named after the ancient Turkic and Mongolian healer and spiritual director, the Turkish dance troupe "Shaman" was on the stage Wednesday in the southern holiday resort city of Antalya, offering their audience a moving performance of Anatolia's folklore, culture and customs.
The show which the company calls "The Gathering" features a colorful array of choreographies from different parts of Anatolia as well as from the Balkans and Caucasus with their rich civilizations, languages and religions.
Cue a cast of 50 dancers, the dance troupe gets inspiration from many diverse sources including the Ancient Greece, the Ottoman Empire and Turkey's War of Independence as well as Anatolia's cultural riches such as the traditional Turkish shadow puppet theater Karagoz, the Ottoman Mehter and the traditional Turkish wrestling.
"We are depicting Anatolia as a huge plane tree with its roots buried deep in Mesopotamia, Asia and the Caucasus, and its branches stretching to the West," Shaman's art director Murat Uygun told the Anadolu Agency.
The company will perform every Wednesday until the end of October at Antalya's Konyaalti Open Air Theatre.
