Blog
Talking Turkey
WELCOME TO TALKING TURKEY – HOŞGELDINIZ!
Here we’ll cover All Things Turkish: Culture, History, Food & Recipes, Travels to Turkey, Music, Lessons Learned from our travels and performances, and Important Individuals in Turkish history, music, and dance – plus whatever strikes Amina’s Fancy!
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Vaccination ties to Turkey
According to the CDC website, smallpox has been documented since the 3rd century BC. By the 6th Century smallpox had spread across India, Asia, Africa, and Turkey; from the 11th... -
Turkish Mehter Bands Influence on the West
I waited to post the June blog until close to the end of the month, as we're coming up on the Fourth of July Celebration here in the U.S. The... -
MENAHT Instructors – A New Term For How We’ve Historically Learned?
What is MENAHT? It's an acronym for Middle Eastern, North African, Hellenic (Greece) and Turkish. And, whether intended or not, it's become a marketing catch-phrase that implies 'if you... -
Turkish National Sovereignty & Children’s Day
April 23rd is National Sovereignty and Children's Day in Turkey - two separate holidays which became one. Let's take a peek into this unique holiday, as we in the West... -
Zills – The Endangered Species
Something's happened over my dance career...it doesn't receive any press coverage like global warming does, but it is still a change in the bellydancing environment that concerns me. While students in... -
Does Dancing to Tarkan’s Music = Turkish Oryantal Style?
Turkish Pop Singer Tarkan The Tarkan Enigma: He's created a compendium of very catchy, very danceable pop Turkish songs since the 1990s. He dances, he plays zills, and many... -
Swishing Skirts to 9/8 music is not turkish oryantal dance
The scene: You're sitting in a restaurant, and the bellydancer is introduced as a 'Turkish style dancer." The 9/8 time signature song 'Rompi, Rompi' begins, and you see... -
Merhaba! Ben Minneapolisli Amina Beres – Hoşgeldiniz!
Hello! I'm Amina Beres in Minneapolis - Welcome! I'm a Minneapolis-area dance instructor and the Artistic Director of Dans Askina Turkish Dance Ensemble. I began my Middle Eastern Dance journey in...