I have just finished my first week at the dance school in Turkey. I have taken part in several classes this week including, Ballet, Zeybek, Muğla, Denizli, Afyon and photography/film. The school day runs from 8.30am-5.00pm, however I am living an hour away so I have to wake up at 6am (4am UK time). I had the option to live closer but the swimming pool (Photo above) helped make my decision. The Students have a mix of dance, music and theory lessons, however I am mainly participating in the dance classes which means I am in class with first, second and third years to allow me to do as much as possible.
My first class was ballet which was quite a nice way in, as although it is certainly not my forte, it is the dance genre I can relate to most at The Turkish Folk Dance School. Although it was evident that the majority of the first years had never done ballet before, this didn't stop the teacher from going straight in at full pace. It was rather intense but still pretty enjoyable as it felt good to be dancing again after a long four months off!
It took a little time to get into the swing of being back in full time training. And starting to learn a completely new way of moving was more hard work than I may have initially anticipated. After a few of the classes I felt frustrated with my performance, but I have always been told I'm too hard on myself and I didn't feel like this for too long. By Wednesday afternoon my thighs were aching like never before and I struggled to walk (especially on stairs). I thought a nighttime swim would help ease the pain but 12 lengths later it was ten times worse! The folk dance class I enjoyed the most was Afyon, I'm not sure why, maybe because it was slightly easier than the others, so I didn't feel completely out of my comfort zone.
I took part in a photography/ film workshop for dancers. The class was really interesting and it was good to learn camera techniques and how to actually work a camera properly. This class was just theory but next week we will all be going out to take photos together. I'm surprised more dance courses don't offer this as it seems like a good subject area to support the arts based nature of contemporary dance. It also helps when it comes to carrying out research for assignments such as dissertations.
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