At present a majority of the audio-video materials that feature belly dance performance highlight theatrical and “made for the stage” performances that are geared for a global consumer audience. Too frequently this genre of popular audiovisual belly dance material ignores the larger social context in which community participants generate folk performance. This Audio Visual presentation will focus on Modern Turkish formal and informal dance events and highlight the role of that Rom people play in perpetuating and innovating belly dance traditions in contemporary time. Interviews with dancers, musicians, and community members in addition to the filmmaker’s narration shed light on screened footage and the significance of dance within the unique Rom culture.
Dr. Jaynie Aydin is a folklorist, visual anthropologist, and world dance researcher. She received her PhD from UCLA’s department of World Arts and Cultures in 2007. She has professed in institutions such as UCLA, The UCLA Fowler Museum, California State University Northridge, The Ventura Community Colleges, Istanbul Technical University, and the State Performance Conservatory at Aegean University in Izmir, Turkey. She has been an international professor in residence at Turkey’s premiere college of interdisciplinary studies, Yasar University, where she taught courses such as Dance, Humanities, and Cultural Anthropology in the Department of Visual Communication and Design.