Mission & History

The internationally acclaimed Collage is one of Boston’s advocates for multicultural collective expression. Exemplifying  their mission to promote harmony between people from different cultural and social  backgrounds, Ahmet Lüleci integrates Eastern European traditional performance with modern Western techniques.

Collage grew out of Ahmet Luleci's goal of making folk dance and music more accessible and interesting to a general audience. The company presents a range of pieces, from traditional choreographies to more modern interpretations that remain true to the spirit of the dance. Using music that makes people want to jump out of their seats and join the dance, the company showcases the beauty, energy and passion of these neglected dance forms as well as the cultural heritage they represent.

Ahmet made important progress in this goal with Eastern Tides, a piece created for the most recent Boston Moves event, commissioned by Dance Umbrella. His recent works, Balkan Blues, Passing and Duality, continues this choreographic direction.When he moved to Boston in the late 1980s, Ahmet founded Turkish traditional dance group called Kemence. As the company became more experienced and more professional, he brought in non-turkish material and ultimately changed the name to Collage Dance Ensemble. Today Collage features 20 + dancers, performing in the US, Canada, and Turkey.

 

 

Awards / Grants / Commissions

Crash Arts', Dance Straight up  2006

Crash Arts', Ten's the limit  2005

DRP, Crossing  2005

Crash Arts', Dance Straight up  2004

Golden Karagöz Dance Competition, Bursa, Turkey 2003

Boston Cultural Arts Council grant 2002

Dance Umbrella, Boston Moves 2001

Boston Cultural Arts Council grant 2001

Boston Cultural Arts Council grant 2000

Event of the Year Award, Boston University, Boston, MA 1998

Event of the Year Award, Boston University, Boston, MA 1997

Ahmet Lüleci / Artistic Director A native of Turkey, Ahmet is an accomplished choreographer, dance teacher and performer as well as a researcher of Anatolian culture. Collage allows him to further his goal of making folk dance and music accessible to a wider audience. Ahmet was presented with the 2002 Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts & Humanities by the Assembly of Turkish American Associations.

His choreography was awarded the gold medal at the Hong Kong Open dance competition in 2004 (performed by Budlet Dance Company) as well as the first prize at the ethnic dance competition in Germany in 2005 (performed by Elvan Dance Company).

Since arriving in North America in 1985, he has taught many workshops and camps throughout the United States as well as Canada, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Holland, England, Switzerland, Brazil, Argentina, Germany, Norway, Italy and Australia. He has set innumerable suites of dances for the stage working with dance organizations around the world. Some of the notable performing ensembles with whom he has worked include AMAN of Los Angeles, BYU dancers of Provo, BUDLET of Hong Kong, LES SORTILEGES of Montreal, and VINOK of Edmonton. In his native Turkey, he choreographed for HOYTUR, TURHOY and GEHEM of Ankara, ANADOLU UNIVERSITESI of Eskisehir, BUTFOD of Bursa and FOLKTUR of Istanbul. In 1991 Ahmet joined the Artistic Staff of AMAN as resident choreographer.

Prior to his departure for the US, Ahmet also served as Director of Dances for HOY-TUR, long considered Turkey's leading dance association. Since the age of eight he has danced with numerous school ensembles and private associations, many of which won outstanding awards in city-wide and National-International competitions. Between 1973 and 2003 he participated in International dance festivals & competitions throughout Europe and North America. In edition, him and his ensembles appeared in more than 60 programs broadcast nationally in countries such as Turkey, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, USA, Canada, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan and Germany.

His college major was music, Ahmet's fascination with dance led him to conduct scholarly research into the historical, social and cultural background of the costumes and spoon dances from Turkey's Mediterranean coast. His efforts resulted in an exhaustive, 400 page study for which he was awarded First Place in the 1985 national competition in research on the folkdances of Turkey by the Turkish ministry of Youth, Sports and Education. In 1997 Ahmet completed a second degree in Fine Arts.

Campbell Keatinge-Clay  /  Soloist  Campbell has been dancing ever since she could walk. As a child, she twirled and tapped her way across stages in her hometown of Houston, Texas. She moved out to California to study Computer Science at Stanford University, where she performed and taught couple dances with world-renowned dance historian Richard Powers and was awarded the Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts for her achievement in dance. Campbell has credits with several San Francisco Bay Area companies, including Swing Cats Rhythm Revue, Academy of Danse Libre, and Knotts Dance Company. She currently teaches Waltz, Swing, and Blues, along with solo dance forms such as Tap and Jazz. When she is not wearing her dance shoes, Campbell works as a user experience design consultant and a math tutor.

The Company

Anna Angelova  Anna's obsession with dancing led her to Collage, where she found the energy, consistency, and motivation she searched for. Her passion for folk rhythms goes back to her high school years when she performed with the "N. Vaptzarov" Folk Dance Ensemble in her hometown of Cherven briag, Bulgaria.After obtaining a degree in applied linguistics, Anna flew to Boston to pursue her master's degree in education. Currently, she is enjoying her role as a a special educator in the Boston Public Schools.

Tugba Bagci is a native of Turkey, has been dancing with Collage since 2003.  With a big passion for science, she moved to Boston to pursue her PhD degree in Neuroscience at Tufts University Medical School. Joining Collage, she discovered another excitement, which expands at every moment she spends exploring new rhyhtms. She loves to be part of this original company, where she can express herself in a platform which is extremely different than what she experiences every day in the science world.

Ann Wicks Cox began dancing at age 13 and is always interested in exploring different styles of dance. A native of New Hampshire and owner of a vast shoe collection, Ann holds a degree in Archaeology from Boston University and now works in communications for the New England Foundation for the Arts. Someday she hopes to return to Brazil where she once danced with the winning samba school in the carnival parade. Ann has been dancing with Collage since 2001.

Meiver De la Cruz  Born and raised in the Dominican Republic, Meiver has been studying multiple dance styles for 10 years. She is an accomplished performer of Raqs Sharki (Oriental Dance) and has been teaching dance in the Boston area for 3 years. She holds a double B.S. degree in International Business Management and Economics, and is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Gender and Cultural Studies. She dances and teaches with the belief that dance is a source of solidarity, cross-cultural understanding, inner-strength and self-knowledge.

Kate Engle is a graduate student in the Social Work department at UNH, and works as an intern with children and their families. She has been dancing since she was 7 and has a passion for foreign languages and cultures. She enjoys combining these interests as a member of Collage.

Basak Ülker Karbeyaz A native of Turkey, Basak holds a PhD in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University. She has been dancing with the company since 2003 and is addicted to Collage's energetic atmosphere. Between rehearsals, Basak works for a medical imaging company as a development engineer.

Taner Oktar a native of Turkey, Taner works for a billing software company. He holds two master's degrees from Northeastern, in electrical and computer engineering and in management and information systems. Taner's interest in dance goes back to his undergrad years at the Middle East Technical University and continued when he came to Boston and took tango lessons. He found his true dance passion when he joined Collage. He enjoys Ahmet's and the group's motivation, energy and discipline as well as their companionship.

Onur Özcan can't live without music and dance. Prior to joining Collage, Onur studied Salsa Rueda and Salsa. In addition to his many other endeavours, he is trying to obtain a PhD in physics from MIT.

Özgür Sahin Prior to moving to Boston, Özgür danced with the Yöre Folk Dance Ensemble in the San Francisco Bay area. He enjoys the new dances that he is learning with Collage. When he is not dancing, Özgür does scientific research as a junior fellow at the Rowland Institute at Harvard.

Angela Amarillas Roth Growing up in Southern California, Angela Amarillas trained and performed in classical ballet, modern dance, and Spanish dance with the West Coast Ballet Theater and Festival Ballet. At Stanford University, she expanded her dance experience into social couple dancing. During her freshman year, Richard Powers, an internationally acclaimed master in historic and living traditions of social ballroom dance, invited her to be his performance and teaching partner. Since then, Angela has been teaching, choreographing, and performing in the Bay Area, nationwide, and internationally. She lives in San Francisco and works in health education with the California Healthy Kids Resource Center, which is administered for the California Department of Education.

Ronit Ronen Tamir Dancer and Dance Educator, holds and BA degree in Dance from the Rubin Academy of music and dance in Jerusalem and a BA in Education from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as well as an MA degree in Dance Education from Columbia University NY. Currently pursuing her PhD degree in Educational Studies at Lesley University. Ronit has extensive dance teaching background with children and adults in Israel as well as in the United States. Ronit has been performing with leading Israeli folk dance companies like Karmon Dance Company and 'Hora' Jerusalem in Israel and around the world and is currently performing with  'Collage' Dance company in Boston.

Timo Lüleci van Dam has been a member of Collage since he was born. He never misses any rehearsals or shows, and during shows he is in charge of the dressing room areas. He loves improvisational dancing, and his goal is to be a soloist/lead dancer of the company, and eventually, its leader.

Dancers Emeritus

Collage generally holds open auditions at the beginning of
the dance season, in late August or earlySeptember.

If you are interested in being notified of the date of our next audition,
or if you would like to discuss a private audition, please contact
Ahmet Luleci at 617-795-2468 or info@collageusa.org