Turkish contemporary dancer Yildız Guventurk narrates a story. “It is not ‘ha ha funny’ but interestingly funny,” she reveals. “I was wearing a dress and walking around with my sunglasses like a tourist at Lumbini Park. Some woman came up and asked if she could take a picture of me. I looked at Prithvi (Steps Dance Studio) and wondered if I was famous. After sometime, another woman said she wants to take a picture with me; this time her family was also waiting. I excused, saying my friend is waiting and she made a face! I felt bad that I had offended her. But I didn’t want to take a picture with everyone either,” she laughs. Her first trip to Hyderabad is filled with some funny and heart-warming memories. “People here are very hospitable and helpful. The only thing I could not get on is people staring at me on the street. I felt like an American visiting Turkey,” she smiles.
Being a teacher
The two-week contemporary workshop at Steps dance studio that brought her to the city and it culminated in a spectacular show at Ravindra Bharathi recently. “Teaching is one of the best experiences,” she states. “Teaching kids is fun but dancing sessions with adults was more interesting because they are not professionals but love to dance and are so eager to learn.”
Having grown up in Turkey and studied dance, Yildiz is new to teaching. She has travelled all around the world, meeting other dancers and experimenting with different techniques. She is into body awareness and finds it helpful to dance, understand the movement and make her a better artiste/teacher. “What I’ve discovered is that when I move, I try to observe where the movement starts from — is it from the elbow, knees or the head. One tries to understand why one is moving in such a way. When you understand it, you realise it is not about imitating and following the instructor,” she explains.
Travel to discover
Travelling and meeting many people helps one to reflect and grow, observes Yildiz. “You begin to know yourself while meeting other people and cultures; you see yourself in them because they are reflecting who you are,” she shares and adds, “I felt closest because I got to myself and as I was alone, kept changing places so frequently. I didn’t have time to hold on to anything and that made me available for everything. For these two years, I felt like one big chunk and it has been moving at different speeds.” Her experience at a small town in Germany helped her perceive dance and movement in a different way. “The technique and teaching was intense and detail-oriented. It was very challenging but I am so grateful that I went through it because it made me the person that I am today. It helped me dance and look inside to become simpler and just let the movement speak for itself,” she recalls.
Yildiz’s is also a windsurfing instructor. Windsurfing has many similarities to dancing, she feels. “It is about movement awareness. I also discovered weight shifting is also similar to dance,” she adds. Her dream is to be like her teachers and pass on the craft.
