| Region Detail | Western Anatolia |
|---|---|
| Alternative Names |
'Ege Kaşılaması' is the original spelling. 'Ege Kasilamasi' is it reduced to ASCII by missing off the accents. |
| Formation | Circle. No hold. |
| Dance Structure | (A x 2) + (B x 5) + (C + (D x 2)) x 3 + B. |
| Music Structure | 5 counts/bar, 4 bar phrases. |
| Music Rhythm | "One two three, tey tey". |
| Music Speed | 96 counts/min. |
| Props | Two scarves. |
| Choreographer | Ersin Seyhan. |
| Source | Ersin Seyhan in his 2002 Bognor Regis Turkish dance course. The simpler versions are from Ersin Seyhan at the Zetten Balkan Festival in 2005 & Jan Knoppers in the 2007 Eastbourne International Folkdance Festival. |
Disclaimer: Mistakes are quite likely in the notes and no guarantees are made as to accuracy. There may be other versions of the same dance or other dances with the same name. Music may differ, particularly in speed, introduction and duration, between performers. The division into parts, bars & counts might not be standard. These notes of the dance are freely distributable (under GPL or CC-by-sa) in so much as the note's author's contribution but the choreography and/or collection were by other people and so their copyright might apply to the dance itself. Better than using notes, go to a dance class where it is taught by Ersin Seyhan.
A dance with an unusual foot motion and a dramatic (but in keeping) scarf use to slow atmospheric music. It was a bridal dance with the scarves infront of the face representing the trepidation of the bride (I don't know what the outgoing scarf swinging of Part D represents).
The scarves are each held by a corner, one in each hand, between middle & forefinger (or tied to middle finger) with remainder on the palm side. Hands are open.
I don't know what the rhythm officially is but I count it as "One two three, tey tey" which works well because it is always three steps then something. There is not much of a clue in the music as to where one is the dance so the leader has to do a lot of counting.
Style: Slow & subdued. Sober expression. Heavy yet graceful. Flat footed low small steps. Bent knees & slight cowed forward lean.
Summary: 2 bars.
2 bars.
This unusual step is the most distinctive feature of the dance. The following describes (what I call) a L Snake Step (which starts off with a R step but has the prominent bit done with the L foot); a R one is the mirror image of it.
Summary: 3 steps then move raised foot in figure of eight beside other leg.
| 1 |
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This requires the stance to have slightly bent knees so to give enough manoeuvrability of raised foot and enough adjustment in balance for the supporting leg. To keep balance whilst doing this, the way weight is supported varies quite a lot - even though the snaking foot appears to be doing all the work, the supporting leg is also having to do complicated actions, albeit with the result of keeping still.
Summary: L & R Snake Steps in place.
| Start | Facing the centre. Hands close infront of brow. Elbows out horizontally to the sides. |
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| 1 | L Snake step in place. |
| 2 | R Snake step in place. |
Summary: 3 steps back, 2 lifts. 3 Snake Steps forwards.
| Start | Facing acw around the circle. R hand & arm and L upper arm as in Part A. L hand out to the side infront at same height as R hand with elbow bent 45 deg. | ||||||||||
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| 1 |
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| 2 | R Snake step in travelling forwards. | ||||||||||
| 3 | L Snake step in travelling forwards. | ||||||||||
| 4 | R Snake step in travelling forwards. |
Summary: 3 steps forwards, 2 lifts, repeat twice, reverse to place.
| Start | Facing the centre. Hands as in Part B. |
|---|---|
| 1 | As Part B bar 1 but forwards instead of backwards (forwards with 3 steps and 2 lifts starting R). |
| 2 | Repeat bar 1 on opposite feet (forwards with 3 steps and 2 lifts starting L). |
| 3 | Repeat bar 1 (forwards with 3 steps and 2 lifts starting R). |
| 4-6 | Repeat bars 1-3 but travelling backwards instead of forwards and opposite feet (three sets of 3 steps and 2 lift starting L, R & L travelling backwards). |
Summary: 3 sways in place with big circling arms ending with a big lift. Mirror.
| Start | Facing the centre. Torso leaning forwards. L hand down behind, R hand up infront. Arms straight. | ||||||||||||||
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| 1 |
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| 2 | Repeat bar 1-2 in mirror image (3 sways and lift starting R with circling arms). |
Summary: 3 steps & 2 lifts to face centre.
| 1 | Do the first bar of Part B (step R, L & R and lift L twice) turning to end up facing the centre. Pause 1 bar for the music to end. |
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Summary: Do only one Part A, end with (B x 2).
I found by accident that it can end with the end of the music coinciding with the end of a dance phrase by doing only 1 of Part A. This leaves enough music to do 2 complete of Part B at the end and one can turn in to face the centre on the last bar of music. I.e. A + (B x 5) + (C + (D x 2)) x 3 + (B x 2).
Summary: Replace Snake Steps with lifts in Part B.
In Part B, replace all the Snake Steps with lifts (as in bar 1). The dance was shortened to (A x 4) + (B x 2) + (C + (D x 2)) x 2 + B with the ending being a fade-out.
This was taught by Ersin at Zetten in 2005.
I prefer the original (but some people find the Snake Steps difficult).
Summary: As Simpler Version 1 but fluid styling, original music & more repeats.
Shorten the main sequence to (Bx2) + C + (Dx2) and use the original longer music so that it goes through more than once. Make the styling more fluid (in particular reducing the big arm circles of Part D to more like figure-of-eights in a horizontal plane).
This was taught by Jan at Eastbourne in 2007. It was based on Ersin's teaching (presumably the Simpler Version 1).
Summary: Move bar 1 of Part B to the end.
Do the 3 forwards snake steps bars of Part B first ending with the backwards step & double lift bar (3 Snake Steps forwards, 3 steps back, 2 lifts).
This I did by accident and found it looked virtually the same but was easier to silently lead (a subtle hand signal pointing acw around the circle works for signalling this altered Part B whereas signalling that one is facing acw but immediately move backwards is more confusing).
Summary: (A x 2) + (B x 3) + (C + (D x 2)).
Reduce it to (A x 2) + (B x 3) + (C + (D x 2)) & shorten the music to fit (by tidily removing material from the middle not simply cutting off the end).
This is a shortened version I made when Sally Fletcher's social dance group were asked to perform in the high street of Felixstowe, UK, 2009/8/22 and Maureen Felton realised that this dance, due the props & weird music, can be simple, showy & tolerant of errors for a lay audience.
Summary: A + (B x 3) + (C + (D x 2))x2 + B.
Reduce it to A + (B x 3) + (C + (D x 2))x2 + B & shorten the music to fit (by tidily removing material from the middle not simply cutting off the end).
This is a shortened version I made when Sally Fletcher's social dance group were asked to perform by owners of the hall the group met in for an open day. This time I made it not quite as short as before so as to repeat the spectacular part D and have a tidy gentle ending befitting matching the ending music.