Call for submission: The Society for Dance Research with C-DaRE, Coventry University and Candoco ... more Call for submission: The Society for Dance Research with C-DaRE, Coventry University and Candoco Dance Company welcome proposals for "Inclusion and Intersectionality Symposium 2021." (Deadline: 31 May)
The Mevlevis are one of the best known Turkish Sufi orders on an international scale. This thesis... more The Mevlevis are one of the best known Turkish Sufi orders on an international scale. This thesis offers a historical reconstruction of Kemalist political attitudes towards religion and investigates how the laicity-oriented ban forced some mystical orders to disappear while others transformed their rules and rituals in order to survive in an atmosphere of clandestineness. Mevlevis reshaped their structure by reducing their rituals to the essential and, especially after the new liberal climate of the 50s, they earned global attention becoming a folkloric group. After a partial reconstruction of a Mevlevi ritual and a review of some articles produced during the last decades by ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ scholars, the thesis focuses on the contemporary composition of such groups. It therefore analyses both the multimedia shapes that the Mevlevi embraced through their public placement on the market, and the recent touristic arrangements of their dances in the cities of Istanbul and Konya.
The use of Kinetography Laban in my study of the Alevi semah opened up some opportunities as well... more The use of Kinetography Laban in my study of the Alevi semah opened up some opportunities as well as dilemmas. Despite its vast benefits, notation only partially helps to shed light over native understandings and interpretations of movements and ritual actions. My engagement with this tool becomes a resource for questioning the local strategies that have been used in the past to conceptualize and represent the body and its movements in an Alevi context. In a self-reflective mode this paper discusses my choices in producing a handmade poster while presenting some of the kinetographs produced as part of my fieldwork research.
Questo articolo presenta la metodologia multidisciplinare che ho seguito nell’analisi etnografica... more Questo articolo presenta la metodologia multidisciplinare che ho seguito nell’analisi etnografica dello spettacolo di teatro sperimentale Samah – Kardeşlik Töreni. Realizzato a partire dagli anni 1980 dal gruppo amatoriale Ankara Deneme Sahnesi, questo spettacolo mette in scena il rituale Ayin-i Cem degli Aleviti, un rilevante e spesso misconosciuto gruppo etnico-religioso della Turchia contemporanea. Pur presentando alcuni degli elementi che compongono il rituale, lo spettacolo enfatizza il ruolo cruciale che il semah, qui analizzato in quanto «sistema strutturato di movimenti», ricopre all’interno di questa tradizione. In questo senso, Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni può essere ritenuto un «archivio dinamico-corporeo», per la sua ambizione a documentare il semah.
This text relates about the trans-disciplinary methodology which I have adopted for the analysis of the experimental theatre performance Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni. Put on stage since the 1980s, this piece was produced by the amateur group Ankara Deneme Sahnesi in order to present the Ayin-i Cem ritual of the Alevis, an important and often misrecognised ethno-religious group of contemporary Turkey. Even presenting many ritual features, the performance emphasizes the crucial role the semah (which is here analysed as a «structured movement system») plays in this tradition. In this sense, Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni may be considered as a «dynamic bodily archive» because of its strong ambition to document the semah.
Ce texte expose la méthodologie multidisciplinaire que j’ai suivie dans mon analyse ethnographique du spectacle de théâtre expérimental intitulé Samah Kardeşlik Töreni. Cette pièce, réalisée par le groupe amateur Ankara Deneme Sahnesi à partir des années 1980, met en scène le rituel Ayin-i Cem des Alevis, une importante et peu connue composante ethnico-religieuse de la Turquie contemporaine. Tout en présentant plusieurs éléments qui composent le rituel, le spectacle met en exergue le rôle crucial que le semah, qui est analysé ici en tant que « système structuré de mouvements », occupe au sein de cette tradition. En ce sens Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni peut être conçu comme une « archive dynamique corporelle », par son ambition à documenter le semah.
Rather than a legal recognition as religion, Alevism in France has been pursuing a public type of... more Rather than a legal recognition as religion, Alevism in France has been pursuing a public type of commitment that is different from the past and from elsewhere. The Franco-Alevi novelty presented here reveals important peculiarities that differ from common academic representations of Alevism in Turkey as well as in European articulations. Such a peculiarity relies mostly in an endorsed public collaboration of the federation of French Alevi associations (FUAF) with ecologist organizations operating in France as well as in Turkey. Such collaboration was achieved thanks to the adoption of an environmental discourse overshadowing canonical framings of Alevism as an oppositional and secretive religious movement. Focusing on a specific event as an ethnographic case study, in this paper I wish to highlight the 'permeable' character of Alevism in this recent French articulation.
L'article discute des postures spécifiques dans les rituels alévis (dâr) et leur représentation s... more L'article discute des postures spécifiques dans les rituels alévis (dâr) et leur représentation scènique et sous des formes visuelles.
Éditions du CN D Centre national de la danse Collection « Recherches »
In this article, I examine how the semahs, a genre of choreo-musical forms performed within the r... more In this article, I examine how the semahs, a genre of choreo-musical forms performed within the rituals of the Alevis from Turkey, were reinvented into a more contemporary movement and performance vocabulary. As part of a larger investigation on staged representations of Aleviness in theatre and dance, I focus here on the individual and embodied reworking of the semahs by the Istanbul-based choreographer Bedirhan Dehmen, and especially on his production for three male dancers with the title “biz” (Turkish for ‘we’). Staged about twenty times from 2014 to 2017 in Istanbul and elsewhere, “biz” incarnated human bonding and vulnerability during and after the Gezi Park upheaval that rocked Turkey in 2013–14. Devised for the most part through contact improvisation technique, the movement forms in “biz” instigated the dramaturgy of an event which allowed the commemoration of those who were recently killed during the protests, all of whom had an Alevi background. The term ‘hybridity’ was used by many to refer to the way the choreography merged several aesthetic and social influences. What I suggest here are some other notions that may complement the category to attain a more nuanced understanding of this complex performance piece. Accordingly, by accompanying hybridity with concepts such as individualization, resonance, multivalence and compositionality, I propose an appraisal of the perceptual ‘re-organizations’ embodied by the dancers to then excavate the political and historical repercussions of this bodily emergence on its encompassing cultural contexts.
Call for submission: The Society for Dance Research with C-DaRE, Coventry University and Candoco ... more Call for submission: The Society for Dance Research with C-DaRE, Coventry University and Candoco Dance Company welcome proposals for "Inclusion and Intersectionality Symposium 2021." (Deadline: 31 May)
The Mevlevis are one of the best known Turkish Sufi orders on an international scale. This thesis... more The Mevlevis are one of the best known Turkish Sufi orders on an international scale. This thesis offers a historical reconstruction of Kemalist political attitudes towards religion and investigates how the laicity-oriented ban forced some mystical orders to disappear while others transformed their rules and rituals in order to survive in an atmosphere of clandestineness. Mevlevis reshaped their structure by reducing their rituals to the essential and, especially after the new liberal climate of the 50s, they earned global attention becoming a folkloric group. After a partial reconstruction of a Mevlevi ritual and a review of some articles produced during the last decades by ‘Western’ and ‘Eastern’ scholars, the thesis focuses on the contemporary composition of such groups. It therefore analyses both the multimedia shapes that the Mevlevi embraced through their public placement on the market, and the recent touristic arrangements of their dances in the cities of Istanbul and Konya.
The use of Kinetography Laban in my study of the Alevi semah opened up some opportunities as well... more The use of Kinetography Laban in my study of the Alevi semah opened up some opportunities as well as dilemmas. Despite its vast benefits, notation only partially helps to shed light over native understandings and interpretations of movements and ritual actions. My engagement with this tool becomes a resource for questioning the local strategies that have been used in the past to conceptualize and represent the body and its movements in an Alevi context. In a self-reflective mode this paper discusses my choices in producing a handmade poster while presenting some of the kinetographs produced as part of my fieldwork research.
Questo articolo presenta la metodologia multidisciplinare che ho seguito nell’analisi etnografica... more Questo articolo presenta la metodologia multidisciplinare che ho seguito nell’analisi etnografica dello spettacolo di teatro sperimentale Samah – Kardeşlik Töreni. Realizzato a partire dagli anni 1980 dal gruppo amatoriale Ankara Deneme Sahnesi, questo spettacolo mette in scena il rituale Ayin-i Cem degli Aleviti, un rilevante e spesso misconosciuto gruppo etnico-religioso della Turchia contemporanea. Pur presentando alcuni degli elementi che compongono il rituale, lo spettacolo enfatizza il ruolo cruciale che il semah, qui analizzato in quanto «sistema strutturato di movimenti», ricopre all’interno di questa tradizione. In questo senso, Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni può essere ritenuto un «archivio dinamico-corporeo», per la sua ambizione a documentare il semah.
This text relates about the trans-disciplinary methodology which I have adopted for the analysis of the experimental theatre performance Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni. Put on stage since the 1980s, this piece was produced by the amateur group Ankara Deneme Sahnesi in order to present the Ayin-i Cem ritual of the Alevis, an important and often misrecognised ethno-religious group of contemporary Turkey. Even presenting many ritual features, the performance emphasizes the crucial role the semah (which is here analysed as a «structured movement system») plays in this tradition. In this sense, Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni may be considered as a «dynamic bodily archive» because of its strong ambition to document the semah.
Ce texte expose la méthodologie multidisciplinaire que j’ai suivie dans mon analyse ethnographique du spectacle de théâtre expérimental intitulé Samah Kardeşlik Töreni. Cette pièce, réalisée par le groupe amateur Ankara Deneme Sahnesi à partir des années 1980, met en scène le rituel Ayin-i Cem des Alevis, une importante et peu connue composante ethnico-religieuse de la Turquie contemporaine. Tout en présentant plusieurs éléments qui composent le rituel, le spectacle met en exergue le rôle crucial que le semah, qui est analysé ici en tant que « système structuré de mouvements », occupe au sein de cette tradition. En ce sens Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni peut être conçu comme une « archive dynamique corporelle », par son ambition à documenter le semah.
Rather than a legal recognition as religion, Alevism in France has been pursuing a public type of... more Rather than a legal recognition as religion, Alevism in France has been pursuing a public type of commitment that is different from the past and from elsewhere. The Franco-Alevi novelty presented here reveals important peculiarities that differ from common academic representations of Alevism in Turkey as well as in European articulations. Such a peculiarity relies mostly in an endorsed public collaboration of the federation of French Alevi associations (FUAF) with ecologist organizations operating in France as well as in Turkey. Such collaboration was achieved thanks to the adoption of an environmental discourse overshadowing canonical framings of Alevism as an oppositional and secretive religious movement. Focusing on a specific event as an ethnographic case study, in this paper I wish to highlight the 'permeable' character of Alevism in this recent French articulation.
L'article discute des postures spécifiques dans les rituels alévis (dâr) et leur représentation s... more L'article discute des postures spécifiques dans les rituels alévis (dâr) et leur représentation scènique et sous des formes visuelles.
Éditions du CN D Centre national de la danse Collection « Recherches »
In this article, I examine how the semahs, a genre of choreo-musical forms performed within the r... more In this article, I examine how the semahs, a genre of choreo-musical forms performed within the rituals of the Alevis from Turkey, were reinvented into a more contemporary movement and performance vocabulary. As part of a larger investigation on staged representations of Aleviness in theatre and dance, I focus here on the individual and embodied reworking of the semahs by the Istanbul-based choreographer Bedirhan Dehmen, and especially on his production for three male dancers with the title “biz” (Turkish for ‘we’). Staged about twenty times from 2014 to 2017 in Istanbul and elsewhere, “biz” incarnated human bonding and vulnerability during and after the Gezi Park upheaval that rocked Turkey in 2013–14. Devised for the most part through contact improvisation technique, the movement forms in “biz” instigated the dramaturgy of an event which allowed the commemoration of those who were recently killed during the protests, all of whom had an Alevi background. The term ‘hybridity’ was used by many to refer to the way the choreography merged several aesthetic and social influences. What I suggest here are some other notions that may complement the category to attain a more nuanced understanding of this complex performance piece. Accordingly, by accompanying hybridity with concepts such as individualization, resonance, multivalence and compositionality, I propose an appraisal of the perceptual ‘re-organizations’ embodied by the dancers to then excavate the political and historical repercussions of this bodily emergence on its encompassing cultural contexts.
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This is a call for contributions video-recorded by Sinibaldo De Rosa, Executive Member of the Society for Dance Research. Details of the call can be found on the website of the Society for Dance Research: http://societyfordanceresearch.org/wp/inclusion-and-intersectionality-conference/
This text relates about the trans-disciplinary methodology which I have adopted for the analysis of the experimental theatre performance Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni. Put on stage since the 1980s, this piece was produced by the amateur group Ankara Deneme Sahnesi in order to present the Ayin-i Cem ritual of the Alevis, an important and often misrecognised ethno-religious group of contemporary Turkey. Even presenting many ritual features, the performance emphasizes the crucial role the semah (which is here analysed as a «structured movement system») plays in this tradition. In this sense, Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni may be considered as a «dynamic bodily archive» because of its strong ambition to document the semah.
Ce texte expose la méthodologie multidisciplinaire que j’ai suivie dans mon analyse ethnographique du spectacle de théâtre expérimental intitulé Samah Kardeşlik Töreni. Cette pièce, réalisée par le groupe amateur Ankara Deneme Sahnesi à partir des années 1980, met en scène le rituel Ayin-i Cem des Alevis, une importante et peu connue composante ethnico-religieuse de la Turquie contemporaine. Tout en présentant plusieurs éléments qui composent le rituel, le spectacle met en exergue le rôle crucial que le semah, qui est analysé ici en tant que « système structuré de mouvements », occupe au sein de cette tradition. En ce sens Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni peut être conçu comme une « archive dynamique corporelle », par son ambition à documenter le semah.
Éditions du CN D Centre national de la danse Collection « Recherches »
This is a call for contributions video-recorded by Sinibaldo De Rosa, Executive Member of the Society for Dance Research. Details of the call can be found on the website of the Society for Dance Research: http://societyfordanceresearch.org/wp/inclusion-and-intersectionality-conference/
This text relates about the trans-disciplinary methodology which I have adopted for the analysis of the experimental theatre performance Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni. Put on stage since the 1980s, this piece was produced by the amateur group Ankara Deneme Sahnesi in order to present the Ayin-i Cem ritual of the Alevis, an important and often misrecognised ethno-religious group of contemporary Turkey. Even presenting many ritual features, the performance emphasizes the crucial role the semah (which is here analysed as a «structured movement system») plays in this tradition. In this sense, Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni may be considered as a «dynamic bodily archive» because of its strong ambition to document the semah.
Ce texte expose la méthodologie multidisciplinaire que j’ai suivie dans mon analyse ethnographique du spectacle de théâtre expérimental intitulé Samah Kardeşlik Töreni. Cette pièce, réalisée par le groupe amateur Ankara Deneme Sahnesi à partir des années 1980, met en scène le rituel Ayin-i Cem des Alevis, une importante et peu connue composante ethnico-religieuse de la Turquie contemporaine. Tout en présentant plusieurs éléments qui composent le rituel, le spectacle met en exergue le rôle crucial que le semah, qui est analysé ici en tant que « système structuré de mouvements », occupe au sein de cette tradition. En ce sens Samah - Kardeşlik Töreni peut être conçu comme une « archive dynamique corporelle », par son ambition à documenter le semah.
Éditions du CN D Centre national de la danse Collection « Recherches »