ÇATI
Contemporary Dance Artists Association
Was founded in order to support and encourage creative efforts within the field of contemporary dance. Its goal is to cater to dancers, choreographers, set/sound/light/costume designers, theoreticians, critics, technicians and audiences. It aims to enable creative collaboration between these artistic elements, realizing this in sync with other related organizations and/or venues.
From TAL to ÇATI
'TAL Dans' was founded in 1996 by Mustafa Kaplan as an experimental movement and dance research group under the Theater Research Laboratory of the City Theater of Istanbul Municipality. It consisted of a core group of 7 persons ( Ayşe Orhon , Aydın Silier, Filiz Sızanlı, Mustafa Kaplan , Ömer Uysal, Özlem Alkış, Talin Büyükkürk ci yan) coming from very different backgrounds and from various disciplines who had demonstrated committed and genuine interest in dance and movement related explorations who wanted to keep this interest alive in a non-commercial and alternative setting.
The explorations that were carried on with the material (in terms of providing space, technicians, etc) and intellectual support of Aylan&Beklan Algan thrived further as members of the group traveled abroad for educational and/or professional purposes and came back to share their new insights and knowledge with the community. This enrichment required that the group would have an independent space of its own, so, TAL Dans moved to its current home at Istiklal Avenue , Sadri Alışık Street , No 33 in September 2001.
In this new space, explorations were run collectively as the rent for this new studio was also collectively shared. Some members of the initiative transmitted their knowledge they had gained from their education abroad to a community of interested people from different walks of life in the form of workshops, classes and in less formal gatherings.
This studio space was thus the first independent venue that worked on contemporary dance, performance art, and contact improvization, and it was the only one as such without a �name� and without and commerical interest. Yet, the studio needed first and foremost the heatlhy conditions to be able to work in - such as warmth in winter, isolation for the roof, etc. The roof was literally leaking in the first fall showers of its establishment, and Aydin Teker , an internationally reknown Turkish choreographer and professor of modern dance at Mimar Sinan University proposed the idea of a benefit night of performances in order to have the roof of the studio repaired. This benefit night was organized with French Cultural Center as the host in the November of 2002, and thus, ÇATI, which means 'roof' in Turkish became the name of this new studio. It was also conceptually and metaphorically suitable for the projects it hosted and has been willing to support ever since.
Since then, Çatı Dance Studio started to be used by both amateur and professional dancers, and with new participants, there had been novel issues raised as to conjure up a framework for the identity, and aesthetic vision of the members of the studio. Although there were many different voices as to what this ÇATI exactly was, and what it was not, what was commonly held was that it was neither an educational nor a commerical space.
With the increasing communication network and international projects and collaborations through friends and members of the studio who have been involved in dance, and with the increasing interest in dance in general public, ÇATI sought a different organizational framework: It was decided that, it would be more feasible to form an association ( dernek ) that could establish a bridge between contemporary dance and civil society, so, ÇATI Contemporary Dance Artists Association was founded in the winter of 2004.
GOALS
1. O ffering studio and rehearsal space to those concerned with contemporary dance and provide a platform for public debate about related issues.
2. Providing a venue of collaboration for scholars and artists of different disciplines.
3. Affirming the rich historical and cultural heritage of the local context of Istanbul , it aims to facilitate discussions and projects concerning this heritage and its implications for contemporary dance in Turkey , and to carry these discussions and their creative results beyond major urban centers of Istanbul and Ankara .
4. Supporting and establishing exchange projects realized at and by CATI with international artists and sharing them with international audiences through being a node of an international network of organizations, projects.
5. Realizing these goals through an accessible method that would not be exclusive of the general public.
MEMBERS
Dancers, choreographers, film makers, visual artists, critics, scholars, technicians and costume/sound/light designers who would like to meet under the rubric of contemporary dance.
Students of performing arts and related fields.
Anyone who is interested in contemporary dance, movement related arts and the body either as audience or as an enthusiast of dance.
METHODS
1. Organizing local and international dance projects in collaboration with various organizations and venues.
2. Establishing networks with local and international organizations of similar interest, and realizing projects in collaboration (such as Mediterranean Basin for Dance, Roberta Cimetta, et al) with them.
3. Forming and maintaining an audio-visual and literary archive.
4. Facilitating discussion and collaboration among Turkish and international dancers., choreographers, and scholars; organizing meetings and seminars in order to do so.
5. Providing a platform for the discussion of local and global politics and their implications for a politics of the body, education and project development concerning dance and related fields.
6. Implementing a portal on the internet about contemporary dance and to initiate the participation of different populations and groups in dance and related issues.
7. Publishing periodicals, articles and books on dance and dance related fields
PROJECTS PRODUCED BY ÇATI
"SEK SEK" TAL Dans; Mustafa Kaplan & Filiz Sizanli
"Turkish Terminology Guide for Contemporary Dance" Ayse Orhon
"Why Do We Dance" Research Project by Omer Uysal
PERFORMANCES AT ÇATI DANCE STUDIO SINCE 2002
March 30, 31 2005 Solum , Filiz Sizanli/ Mustafa Kaplan
March 1, 2005 Collective Performance , Mustafa Kaplan /solo, Stephanie Parent, Talin Buyukkurkciyan , Aytul Hasaltun/ my hand and me , Omer Uysal , Vivian Saragosi /duet
December 7, 2004 Proje Tension choreography by Elif Saran Heyse, Aydan Turker, Ufuk Senel
November 15, 2004 Morsures ch. By Jann Marush/Switzerland
October 23-25, 2004 X4Legs , ch: Martin Sonderkamp/Germany
May 14, 2004 ÖP by Dilek Dervisoglu
November 13-15, 2004 SEK SEK by Mustafa Kaplan & Filiz Sizanli
November 11-12 ÇATI by Martin Sonderkamp, Aydin Teker , Zeynep Tanbay, Frederic Cornet, Naoko Noshiro, Mustafa Kaplan
WORKSHOPS ORGANIZED AND REALIZED BY ÇATI
August 1-5, 2005 Dance and Communcation, Kroot Juurak , Estonia
July 19-23, 2005 Technique Jurij Konjar , Slovenia
June 7-12, 2005 Composition through Improvization, Yanael Plumet , France
December 3-11, 2004 Space Dance/Butoh, Tetsuro Fukuhara (Contemporary Japanese Dance), Japan
November 14-16, 2004 Body Mind Centering and Contemporary Dance Technique, Jan Burkhardt, Germany
November 9-13, 2004 Autobiographical Movement Dramaturgy, Yann Marusch , Switzerland
October 14-22, 2004 Words and Action, Bruno Marin, Belgium
July 8-10, 2004 Istanbuldanse, Julie Noche, Turkish-French Contemporary Dance Festival
July 4-6, 2004 Istanbuldanse, Christian Rizzo, Turkish-French Contemporary Dance Festival
July 1-3, 2004 istanbuldanse, Nuno Bizarro , Turkish-French Contemporary Dance Festival
July 2003 Space Dance/Butoh, Tetsuro Fukuhara (Contemporary Japanese Dance), Japan
May 2003 Contemporary Technique, Martin Sonderkamp, Germany
April 2003 Choreographic Research. Emmanuel Hyun, France
May 2002 Contact Improvization, Ray Eliot and Allison Waddell, USA
April 2002 Body Installation for Dancers, Sabine Jamet , France
STAFF
Founding Members
o Aydın Silier
o Ayşe Orhon
o Filiz Sızanlı
o Gurur Ertem
o Mustafa Kaplan
o Ömer Uysal
o Sevi Algan
o Özlem Alkış
Executive Committee
Yönetim Kurulu
o Sevi Algan Başkan
o Filiz Sızanlı Başkan Yardımcısı
o Sezen Tonguz Sekreter
o Mustafa Kaplan Veznedar
o Ömer Uysal
Denetleme Kurulu
o Cumhur Kocalar
o Mümtaz Yaşar
o Nadi Güler
Volunteers
o Ayse Orhon Dancer
o Aydan Türker Dancer
o Ekmel Ertan Web Designer
o Işın Hancıer Graphic Designer
o Nadi Güler Arts Consultant
o Serap Öztürk Project Consultant
o Vivian Saragosi Dancer
o Özerk Sonat Pamir Dancer
o İdil Kemer Dancer
o Özlem Kaya Dancer
o Defne Erdur Bekdik Dancer
o Erdem Gündüz Dancer
o Özlem Alkış Dancer
o Lerna Babikyan Dancer
o Talin Büyükkürkciyan Dancer
o Lerna Babikyan Dancer
o Su Güneş Mıhladız Dancer
o İrem Çalıkuşu Dancer
o Elif Işıközlü Dancer
o Bahar Vidinlioğlu Dancer
o Serap Meriç Dancer
o Gaye Atay Dancer
o Esat Ataç Dancer