Modern dance in Turkey with Geyvan McMillen “Yıldız Technical University Dance Program, Cemal Reşit Rey Dance Theater Company and Istanbul Dance Theater Company”

Geyvan McMillen, who has made great contributions to the development of modern dance in Turkey, apart from her activities in State Opera and Ballets, has established her own independent companies and staged her own choreographies in every period of her life. For the sake of revealing the quality of movement she desires to use in her choreographies, Geyvan McMillen has given great importance to the technical training of her dancers. Based on bodies taught in line with these techniques, she has provided her choreographies with distinctive genuineness. Considering technical education and original production as integral, Geyvan McMillen has established the Yıldız Technical University Art and Design Faculty Dance Program in 1998 in line with this vision. This program is significant in terms of the artist’s artistic journey. In 2002, she has founded the first professional ensemble, Cemal Reşit Rey Dance Theater Company, made up of students trained under the technique she has developed. In 2005 the artist has further founded and directed the Istanbul Dance Theater Company. This article summarizes Geyvan McMillen's contributions to the art of dance in Turkey and the most important outputs of her art vision; namely the university program she has introduced and her work with independent groups she has founded in the 2000s.

Keywords:

Geyvan McMillen, Modern Dance, Turkey Dance History, Choreography,

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This article was compiled from interviews with Geyvan McMillen in 2020 and the personal notes of Geyvan McMillen. For photographs and visuals, the personal archives of Geyvan McMillen, Tan Temel and Sernaz Demirel Temel were used.
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