My dance life started at an early age, with classical ballet training in Vaganova Technique. I continued my training at Dilek Ballet School, Ozlem Odabasi Dance School and Art Academic Istanbul. In 1998 I was accepted into the Modern Dance Program in the School of Art and Design Faculty, Music & Performance Arts Department in Istanbul's Yildiz Technical University (B.F.A.) While earning my Bachelor's degree (BFA) I had the opportunity and honor to work with both Turkish and international pioneering dance artists and choreographers from around the world such as Geyvan McMillen, Zeynep Tanbay, Kaya Ilhan, Ugur Seyrek, Oktay Keresteci, Nur Berkan, Aydin Teker, Beyhan Murphy, Prof. Alev Tokgoz, Prof. Nasuh Barin, Douglas Dunn, Grazia Dunn, Ismael Ivo, Nicole Caccivio, Helen Omand, Lutz Forster, Dominique Mercy, Paul Clayden, Juan D.K. Gariaesnaola, Gary Galbraith, Karen Potter, Tetsuro Fukuhara, Paul Ibey, Frey Faust, Edna Lima, David Dorfman, Lisa Race, Rebecca Lazier, Peter Kalivas, Suzanne Linke, David Zambrano, Bruce Taylor, Joe Alegado, Milton Myers, Mathew Hawkins, Hilke Diemer and Loretta Livingston... I was trained in many dance techniques, art history, art and design, stage & lighting design, music appreciation, acting, massage therapy, martial arts, capoeira, psychology, philosophy, kinesiology and human anatomy.
During the years of 2002 and 2004 I was the stage manager and assistant to well known Turkish modern dance choreographer Geyvan McMillen, working with her Istanbul-based company, Cemal Resit Rey Dance Theatre also know as Istanbul Dance Theater. Between 1999 - 2004 I performed in professional dance theater productions at the Istanbul State Theatre and I performed in Yildiz Technical University Dance Theatre Laboratory.
In 2004 I moved to southern California, USA, to begin pursuing my Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A) degree in the Dance Department at the University of California, Irvine, with an emphasis in Dance and Technology. My responsibilities included being a graduate research assistant (GRA) in the costume department, video/multimedia department, along with a graduate teaching assistantship (GRA) position to teach modern dance technique, choreography and film making. In the dance and technology field, I have worked and focused specifically on choreography for the camera, dance for camera/screendance, motion capture technique, film production, green screen technique, video editing, lighting techniques, live performance based on multimedia art such as telematic performance and active space projects by multimedia artist and professor John Crawford.
Through out the two years at UC,Irvine I had the privilege to work with many acclaimed dance professionals on the diverse faculty, including Loretta Livingston, Lisa Naugle, Leslie Peck, Dianne Diefenderfer, Eloy Barragan, Israel (El) Gabriel, Gerri Houlihan, Donna Faye Burchfield, Yvonne Rainer, legend American dance artist Donald McKayle, and as well as media artist John Crawford and brilliant musician Alan Terricciano. Additionally, I built collaborations and associations with fellow UCI Dance M.F.A candidates and emerging American choreographers such as Deidre M. Cavazzi, Kara Miller, Jennifer Zmuda, Vindhya Warakagoda and Minerva Tapia.
In addition to my academic studies I participated to national and international festivals as a dancer and a choreographer. A few of the places I was trained include; Vienna: Impulstanz Festival, Germany: Pact/Zolverein, Holland: Rotterdam Dance Academy, Dance Festival, Turkey: International Dance Platform I / II - Ankara, METU Contemporary Dance Festival, International Istanbul Dance and Music Festival, Aspat-Bodrum Ballet & Modern Dance Festival, Haci Bektas Festival - Cappadocia, Nevsehir and more...
Following my MFA graduation, I further extended my artistic relationship with Los Angeles-based American choreographer Loretta Livingston, dancing in her 2005 site-specific choreography in Los Angeles," June Moon (Dressed in White)", as well as being a performer in her video project "Persuasion" and dancer&producer of "Surface" a multimedia dance project specifically created for a very old historical building in Istanbul, Turkey in 2009. I also served as Livingston's project assistant in Istanbul during the April 2007 Dance Camera Istanbul Festival.
My diverse teaching experience includes artistic residencies, visiting guest artist, lecturing and faculty positions at Festival Internazionale Delle Abilita' Differenti- Italy, Arts For All Tuscon, AZ, visiting artist at Thomas Dale High School - Virginia, Atlanta's Emory University Dance Program and P.E. Department, visiting guest artist&choreographer at University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University, Roswell Dance Theater, Pera Dance Studio Atlanta, GA, Southern Arc Dance Center Newnan,GA, Dancer's Studio/Backstage Roswell,GA, Teaching Assistant position at the University of California, Irvine Dance Department, Kabatas High School (Istanbul-Turkey), Eminonu Public Education Center - Community College (Istanbul-Turkey), Dance Academy (Istanbul-Turkey), Yildiz Technical University (Istanbul-Turkey), as well as many workshops and master classes teachings & coaching.
I have professionally performed as a company member, dance artist, guest choreographer and filmmaker for FULL RADIUS DANCE for seven seasons,I am also part of a project based site-specific performance company "BEACON DANCE" and creative partner/choreographer/filmmaker for ZOETIC DANCE ENSEMBLE. I have been collaborating, creating and dancing with/for other local and international artists - companies, teach as a resident or visiting artist lecturer at national and international schools, companies and universities. In addition to these, I am completing both the "Core Dynamics" Pilates Teacher Training Certification Program and "Resistance Flexibility and Strength Training (RFST) & Meridian Flexibility System (MFS). I have apprenticed and taught Pilates at the "Body Awareness" studio. I was the Coordinator of DanceATL non-profit service organization to Atlanta's dance community and currently I serve at DanceATL's education and production committees. Recently I have completed a curatorial process and mentorship journey for Atlanta's inspiring group of artists as part of the project called A.M. Collaborative: Taste-2021.
I am honored to be part of Walthall Artist Fellowship and have created an original multi sensory site specific body, object & movement installation work "Resist" in support with Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs, Gallery 72 and Kennesaw University Zuckerman Museum's curatorial team. In 2013 I have received Idea Capital 2013-14 Grant for the HYMHOUSE collective project along being a recipient of with 2012 Gabriela Tudor Foundation Fellowship for Dance Managers in Romania with the support of European Union Culture Commission E-Motional Bodies & Cities Program. My site specific choreographic works have also been supported and commissioned by Atlanta's Art On The Beltline performance series and ELEVATE Arts Festival Atlanta and mentioned as part of "4 Women To Watch" with the real time multimedia project project "Live From Istanbul". As of April 2021 I was selected to be part of IMMENSIVA Artist Residency Program in Barcelona and also as part of Atlanta team. This special residency was and eye opening learning and exploring process of the extended reality (XR) technologies in collaboration with a diverse group of creative minds and implementers.
In 2022 I am beyond excited and honored to be selected for two important projects. I am now one of the Arts Leaders of Metro Atlanta (ALMA) members curated by the Atlanta Regional Commission. As the diverse group of artists, planners, civic leaders, and local government officials we work together to tackle real-world community planning challenges through an arts and culture lens. ALMA Workshop participants work in teams and present their final projects to a panel of experts on the public and civic design.
In 2022 I focused more on dance and Extended Reality (XR) technologies. Awarded by Arts & Entertainment Atlanta (A&E Atlanta) with a $10,000 grant to create my new project. The program furthers A&E Atlanta’s mission of enhancing the vibrancy of Downtown by championing local arts and culture. We bring together an intercontinental, multidisciplinary remote-collaborative dance performance supported by XR (extended reality), Virtual Reality (VR) and also exploring Augmented Reality (AR) technologies where dancers, from Atlanta and Istanbul remotely collaborate to build a choreographic design and perform in a public space both in Itsnabul and Downtown Atlanta as a physical/in-person and digital public installation and an immersive VR experience onsite.
As a performing and multimedia artist I am interested in exploring, teaching, performing and learning more about modern&contemporary dance techniques, improvisation, filmmaking, dance & technology with the new media & new realities in the XR world, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human interaction as well as continuing to explore ways to create multidisciplinary dance and multimedia art collaborations. In addition to all that, I am the director & curator of DANCE CAMERA ISTANBUL International Dance Film Festival and Dance Camera PandeMANIA, screendance curator for Istanbul Improvisation Dance Festival and American Dance Festival (ADF) Movies By Movers 2023 adjudicator. For many editions I have also been curating and judicating EnCORE Dance on Film Festival as part of the Decatur Arts Festival in collaboration with CORE Dance and have been invited to curate Emory University's Dance For Reel screening event.
Besides my creative works in dance, film and technology, I am a mother since 2015 to an amazing daughter, Selin Ela. I also work in the education field as a school administrator and an educator. I am a passionate sea lover, defender for animal rights, human rights, equality, sustainable non GMO food and I am a true believer of arts make this world a better place to live in!
During the years of 2002 and 2004 I was the stage manager and assistant to well known Turkish modern dance choreographer Geyvan McMillen, working with her Istanbul-based company, Cemal Resit Rey Dance Theatre also know as Istanbul Dance Theater. Between 1999 - 2004 I performed in professional dance theater productions at the Istanbul State Theatre and I performed in Yildiz Technical University Dance Theatre Laboratory.
In 2004 I moved to southern California, USA, to begin pursuing my Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A) degree in the Dance Department at the University of California, Irvine, with an emphasis in Dance and Technology. My responsibilities included being a graduate research assistant (GRA) in the costume department, video/multimedia department, along with a graduate teaching assistantship (GRA) position to teach modern dance technique, choreography and film making. In the dance and technology field, I have worked and focused specifically on choreography for the camera, dance for camera/screendance, motion capture technique, film production, green screen technique, video editing, lighting techniques, live performance based on multimedia art such as telematic performance and active space projects by multimedia artist and professor John Crawford.
Through out the two years at UC,Irvine I had the privilege to work with many acclaimed dance professionals on the diverse faculty, including Loretta Livingston, Lisa Naugle, Leslie Peck, Dianne Diefenderfer, Eloy Barragan, Israel (El) Gabriel, Gerri Houlihan, Donna Faye Burchfield, Yvonne Rainer, legend American dance artist Donald McKayle, and as well as media artist John Crawford and brilliant musician Alan Terricciano. Additionally, I built collaborations and associations with fellow UCI Dance M.F.A candidates and emerging American choreographers such as Deidre M. Cavazzi, Kara Miller, Jennifer Zmuda, Vindhya Warakagoda and Minerva Tapia.
In addition to my academic studies I participated to national and international festivals as a dancer and a choreographer. A few of the places I was trained include; Vienna: Impulstanz Festival, Germany: Pact/Zolverein, Holland: Rotterdam Dance Academy, Dance Festival, Turkey: International Dance Platform I / II - Ankara, METU Contemporary Dance Festival, International Istanbul Dance and Music Festival, Aspat-Bodrum Ballet & Modern Dance Festival, Haci Bektas Festival - Cappadocia, Nevsehir and more...
Following my MFA graduation, I further extended my artistic relationship with Los Angeles-based American choreographer Loretta Livingston, dancing in her 2005 site-specific choreography in Los Angeles," June Moon (Dressed in White)", as well as being a performer in her video project "Persuasion" and dancer&producer of "Surface" a multimedia dance project specifically created for a very old historical building in Istanbul, Turkey in 2009. I also served as Livingston's project assistant in Istanbul during the April 2007 Dance Camera Istanbul Festival.
My diverse teaching experience includes artistic residencies, visiting guest artist, lecturing and faculty positions at Festival Internazionale Delle Abilita' Differenti- Italy, Arts For All Tuscon, AZ, visiting artist at Thomas Dale High School - Virginia, Atlanta's Emory University Dance Program and P.E. Department, visiting guest artist&choreographer at University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia State University, Kennesaw State University, Roswell Dance Theater, Pera Dance Studio Atlanta, GA, Southern Arc Dance Center Newnan,GA, Dancer's Studio/Backstage Roswell,GA, Teaching Assistant position at the University of California, Irvine Dance Department, Kabatas High School (Istanbul-Turkey), Eminonu Public Education Center - Community College (Istanbul-Turkey), Dance Academy (Istanbul-Turkey), Yildiz Technical University (Istanbul-Turkey), as well as many workshops and master classes teachings & coaching.
I have professionally performed as a company member, dance artist, guest choreographer and filmmaker for FULL RADIUS DANCE for seven seasons,I am also part of a project based site-specific performance company "BEACON DANCE" and creative partner/choreographer/filmmaker for ZOETIC DANCE ENSEMBLE. I have been collaborating, creating and dancing with/for other local and international artists - companies, teach as a resident or visiting artist lecturer at national and international schools, companies and universities. In addition to these, I am completing both the "Core Dynamics" Pilates Teacher Training Certification Program and "Resistance Flexibility and Strength Training (RFST) & Meridian Flexibility System (MFS). I have apprenticed and taught Pilates at the "Body Awareness" studio. I was the Coordinator of DanceATL non-profit service organization to Atlanta's dance community and currently I serve at DanceATL's education and production committees. Recently I have completed a curatorial process and mentorship journey for Atlanta's inspiring group of artists as part of the project called A.M. Collaborative: Taste-2021.
I am honored to be part of Walthall Artist Fellowship and have created an original multi sensory site specific body, object & movement installation work "Resist" in support with Atlanta Office of Cultural Affairs, Gallery 72 and Kennesaw University Zuckerman Museum's curatorial team. In 2013 I have received Idea Capital 2013-14 Grant for the HYMHOUSE collective project along being a recipient of with 2012 Gabriela Tudor Foundation Fellowship for Dance Managers in Romania with the support of European Union Culture Commission E-Motional Bodies & Cities Program. My site specific choreographic works have also been supported and commissioned by Atlanta's Art On The Beltline performance series and ELEVATE Arts Festival Atlanta and mentioned as part of "4 Women To Watch" with the real time multimedia project project "Live From Istanbul". As of April 2021 I was selected to be part of IMMENSIVA Artist Residency Program in Barcelona and also as part of Atlanta team. This special residency was and eye opening learning and exploring process of the extended reality (XR) technologies in collaboration with a diverse group of creative minds and implementers.
In 2022 I am beyond excited and honored to be selected for two important projects. I am now one of the Arts Leaders of Metro Atlanta (ALMA) members curated by the Atlanta Regional Commission. As the diverse group of artists, planners, civic leaders, and local government officials we work together to tackle real-world community planning challenges through an arts and culture lens. ALMA Workshop participants work in teams and present their final projects to a panel of experts on the public and civic design.
In 2022 I focused more on dance and Extended Reality (XR) technologies. Awarded by Arts & Entertainment Atlanta (A&E Atlanta) with a $10,000 grant to create my new project. The program furthers A&E Atlanta’s mission of enhancing the vibrancy of Downtown by championing local arts and culture. We bring together an intercontinental, multidisciplinary remote-collaborative dance performance supported by XR (extended reality), Virtual Reality (VR) and also exploring Augmented Reality (AR) technologies where dancers, from Atlanta and Istanbul remotely collaborate to build a choreographic design and perform in a public space both in Itsnabul and Downtown Atlanta as a physical/in-person and digital public installation and an immersive VR experience onsite.
As a performing and multimedia artist I am interested in exploring, teaching, performing and learning more about modern&contemporary dance techniques, improvisation, filmmaking, dance & technology with the new media & new realities in the XR world, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human interaction as well as continuing to explore ways to create multidisciplinary dance and multimedia art collaborations. In addition to all that, I am the director & curator of DANCE CAMERA ISTANBUL International Dance Film Festival and Dance Camera PandeMANIA, screendance curator for Istanbul Improvisation Dance Festival and American Dance Festival (ADF) Movies By Movers 2023 adjudicator. For many editions I have also been curating and judicating EnCORE Dance on Film Festival as part of the Decatur Arts Festival in collaboration with CORE Dance and have been invited to curate Emory University's Dance For Reel screening event.
Besides my creative works in dance, film and technology, I am a mother since 2015 to an amazing daughter, Selin Ela. I also work in the education field as a school administrator and an educator. I am a passionate sea lover, defender for animal rights, human rights, equality, sustainable non GMO food and I am a true believer of arts make this world a better place to live in!