Sulukule: Istanbul Inner City Roman (Gypsy) Karsilama

Sule Kule: Istanbul Inner City Gypsy Karsilama

This urban Karsilama (9/8) of the poor, much-harrassed inner-city Istanbul Roma combines tableau elements with authentic dance movements. It is not your tambourine-shaking, skirt-flinging Hollywood fantasy – this Romany woman is “fed up” with dancing for tourists, but the joy in the music finally takes her with it – until she remembers where she is…

The more than 600 year old Roman neighborhood of Sulukule in Istanbul, where performing families of singers, dancers and musicians had lived & worked, was recently torn down for “urban renewal”, and some of its traditional families scattered among the huge new apartment blocks. There’s an article about it in my blog.