Standardization process of dances staged by the Turkish State Folk Dance Ensemble and hybridization problems in current practices

In this study, firstly, the mission of the State Folk Dance Ensemble, which was established with the aim of promoting traditional Turkish culture and art in the right way, to be the carrier of intangible cultural heritage and to provide standardisation since its establishment, has been mentioned. After the establishment of the Turkish State Folk Dance Ensemble, the Anatolian movement tradition has been attempted to be dramatized through a number of practices as a representation of the nation. Such dances, which have been learnt spontaneously and by being inherited down from generation to generation, – as an example of intangible cultural heritage – have transformed from participatory dance form to that of performance dance; and while transforming, they have become subjected to various arrangements. The main focus of this thesis, which deals with the stages of change and improvement of the Ensemble in the historical process, is the problem of hybridisation in the productions, which may sometimes be depicted as populist, of the ensemble after 2010. In this context, the representations of '1915 Bir Hilal Uğruna (For the Sake of a Crescent Moon)' and '1919 Bitmeyen Yolculuk (The Endless Journey)' performed between 2010 and 2020 are discussed in this study, and the issue of hybridisation is tried to be justified through these examples. The performances were evaluated by video analysis method. In this research, in which it is attempted to be underlined that the Ensemble, which has been subject to different regulations within the process, has moved away from its founding purposes, it has been observed that the music, costume and movement phrases and even the texts in the two productions discussed in this study are patterned with contents appealing to popular culture. Based on the analyses, it is concluded that the Ensemble has adopted a populist approach in all artistic elements that make up the performance as well as dance in its stage adaptation practices and has produced works in hybrid forms.