Turkish Cypriot Folk Dance Project

Folk Dance sessions for young people have been running at the TCCA were first introduced to TCCA in March 2019. These sessions are held on Mondays from 17.00-18.30, which are divided into the following age groups 5-8 years and 9-12 years.

The aims of the sessions are to teach young people about their Turkish Cypriot Culture and Heritage and give them an opportunity to take part in a healthy after school activity, as well as developing many other key skills.

All sessions begin with a warmup and then a recap of the dances and moves learned from the previous week. The session then continues were the kids learn new dance moves. Each dance is explained in both English and Turkish. Although it is a dance session, speaking in both languages can also be beneficial to young Turkish Cypriots to expand on their language skills also.

Staff

Ahmet HAVALI
Ahmet HAVALI
Folk Dance Teacher

Week by week the children are developing, and many positives changes of the children have been identified over time. All the children have grown in confidence and learned skills such as being able to work as a team, learning Turkish, becoming fitter, becoming more flexible in movements, learning the importance of choreography in dance and increasing their social skills by making new friends.

Families are so frilled and excited about the sessions and have noted how beneficial they have been for their children with the positive reviews made;

‘A wonderful opportunity for my daughter to learn about our heritage by attending the FREE Folkdance sessions that were held at TCCA in 2019’. Parent

‘The kids made friends and even requested the teacher speak Turkish to add to their learning’. Parent

Children currently attending are of a mix ability with some that had never tried Turkish Cypriot Folk Dance before. All of them are very enthusiastic and willing to learn new dance techniques!

These sessions are advertised using Turkish media and are offered to the children for free. It would be great to be able to continue with these lessons in the future, however for more young people to benefit from these lessons, other promotional avenues should be targeted. For example, linking in with primary schools would make families aware of the free activities we are providing to the community, through the school’s social media and newsletters.