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Dance & Music Performances |
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The Bluestar Dance Troupe was founded almost a year by the leadership of Zeki Maviyildiz who has been sharing his vast experience and talents with
his friends. Despite being a relatively new dance group, Bluestar Dance
Troupe introduced Turkish Folk Dances to many audiences. They present a
variety of Turkish folk dance pieces from traditional dances to modern choreographies keeping the spirit of the dance. Bluestar Dance Troupe currently resides in Raleigh, North Carolina.
For more info visit: 
Formed in April of 2006, Ishtar is a five
piece band from Pittsburgh that specializes in traditional bellydance songs from the 1920’s through 1970. While Ishtar focuses primarily
on Turkish music, they also perform songs from the Balkans, Greece, Spain, Israel and Egypt. Around the Pittsburgh area, Ishtar has played
in such varied venues as rock clubs, Middle Eastern restaurants, nightclubs, jazz bars and art galleries. Ishtar features Melissa Murphey
on clarinet, Rob Metil on Fender Stratocaster guitar, Mark DeFilippo on darbuka, Beth DeFilippo on riq and Jeff Chmielarski on fretless
electric bass. For more information visit
Kardelen Turkish Dance Ensemble is a group of dancers dedicated to promoting the culture of Turkey through dances the dances from the region. Kardelen Dance Ensemble takes its name from a resilient Anatolian mountain flower that survives under hardship and severe weather circumstances. The group members are committed to helping underprivileged children in developing countries who survive under difficult circumstances just like the Kardelen flower and therefore donate a portion of revenues to organizations that are engaged in education and health of children. For more information visit:
Ilhan Sami Özulu is currently celebrating his 39th year anniversary in music. He was born and raised in ?stanbul, Turkey and started his music education in 1966 at ?stanbul Municipal Conservatory of Music when he was at middle school. After his graduation from Kültür Koleji, in 1972, he enrolled at the University of ?stanbul’s School of Economics. At the same time, he started to play guitar at various hotels, nightclubs and casinos in ?stanbul and participated in several tours in Europe and all around Turkey. Even though he changed his daytime career, Dr. Özulu still plays all kinds of Turkish and international music in the Washington D.C.
Metropolitan Area. He established and directed Turkish Music Choir in 2001, and supported Turkish Folklore Troupe of Washington, DC. For more information visit:
Silk Road Dance Company 
Turkish Folk Music Group consists of all volunteer musicians and singers.
One of the members of the group, Zeki Findikoglu, was also founder of the first Turkish Folk Music Group in Washington, DC, which was
called as Koylu Saz Group. The other members of this group were two former Peace Corps volunteers Alex Vogel and George Park, and
Gokalp Babaoglu. Today’s group has been organized and performed about a year. Main purposes of the group are to keep Turkish Folk
Music alive, to practice and to educate. The group is a non-profit organization and also opens to everyone who wants to learn and practice
Turkish Folk Music without any restrictions. For more information, please visit
TURKU plays music from the western half of the Silk Road. They have played for audiences as large as 8000 people and as far away as
Ever since its creation in 1998 by several devoted Turkish/Turkish-American
individuals, Washington, DC Turkish Folk Dance Troupe (to be confirmed) has been a part of numerous social, educational,
cultural, and recreational events. With over 60 performances in its record, the troupe continues to grow both in terms of size
and repertoire. Anyone, regardless of his/her past experience with dancing, is welcomed in the group. The troupe,
as a whole, serves for the purpose of promoting and broadening the awareness of Turkish culture in the U.S. through performances of
various Turkish folk dances; whereas, for the individual’s standpoint, it is a friendly and social environment where learning and
teaching of Turkish folk dances are made possible through voluntary work. The troupe meets every Sunday afternoon to
practice the dances.
For more information, please visit 
Turkish Folk Music Group Mora is a vibrant
Turkish folk music group performing the sounds of various
regions of Turkey. The musicians in the group each have diverse experience and
styles. They blend the dynamic sounds of different instruments; accordion,
kemence, baglama, guitar, flute and davul. For more information, please visit