Review of crashART's "Dance Straight up!" May 13, 2006 "AN ELECTRIC JOURNEY AROUND THE WORLD" The spirited folk performers of Ahmet Luleci's Collage Dance Ensemble can flat-out dance. As Luleci's ambitious choreography taps folk traditions from around the world, feet stomp and legs kick with impressive power and precision. Hips swivel and shoulders shimmy, legs swing side to side from well-oiled knees, and rapid-fire footwork sends the dancers skimming across the floor. What's seductive is that the dancers make it seem so easy you want to join them. After all, folk dance has always been about regular people commemorating life's special moments. But pay close attention, and you can see the complexity within the pieces. The group's Thursday night program for CRASHarts' ''Dance Straight Up" featured five new and recent group works that ranged from flashy celebratory step dances to graceful rituals for the women that recalled the sustaining power of community. Lee Sunday Evans contributes solo interludes between the big group numbers. At first, these fusions of folk and modern dance seem out of place. But gradually it becomes clear that they serve a dual purpose. One is Luleci's goal is to make ''folk dance and music more accessible and interesting to a general audience," and (...) The second half started with a commanding, beautifully tempered solo by Luleci himself, followed by
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Preshow review of "Veloci ty II" September 17-19, 2005 (...) Boston's rousing Collage Dance Ensemble, whose artistic director, Ahmet Luleci, is one of the area's most important experimenters though he's rarely recognized for his invention because he works within folk idioms. Past, present and future converge brilliantly in his fiery dances.
Preshow review of "Velocity II" September 17-19, 2005 (....)
The always dynamic Collage offer its trademark fusion of folk and contemporary
dance.
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Review of crashArt's "Ten's the Limit" May 14, 2005 Limits are good for choreographers both fledgling and full-fledged. If one aspect of a work is a given, their creative juices can be chaneled into others. The given in "Ten's the limit" is time. Eight Boston-area choroegraphers or companies had 10 minutes each to convey whatever they wanted in the Green Street Studios. (...) Three of the eight pieces - Debra Bulth's solo "Dodge," AKRNYM's duet "Stack," and Collage Dance Ensemble's "Duality" - rose above the rest. (...) Ahmet Luleci. a Turkish-American, founded the Collage Dance Ensemble to explore and expand his heritage. "Duality," his work on this program, reads like a series of rituals that may be incomprehensible to most viewers but engaging nonetheless. It's got a whirling dervish, a ritual with dancers running under billowing cloths, and a number with men wearing fur costumes and beaked masks, stomping fiercely. (...) Luleci's on to something here. He, Bluth and AKRNYM are worth tracking.
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Review of DRP "Crossing" February 19, 2005 (....) Turkish-born Ahmet Luleci's expertly crafted and beautifully performed suite of Balkan folk-inspired dances provided a colorful, rousing finale.
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Review of MMDC's "Velocity" September 14, 2004 (...) the internationally acclaimed Collage is a hard act to follow. Under the visionary leadership of Ahmet Luleci, the company's choreography infuses traditional movement with contemporary flair, and the first-rate dancers perform with vibrant energy, impressive precision, and heart. In the rousing "Eastern Tides," fusing dances from Spain, Hungary and Turkey, the dancers' terrific technical facility shone not only in the crisp footwork of high kicks and swivels, but also in seamless glides, gentle hop turns, and deep bends, arms stretching upward to the sky. Luleci gives the moving "Balkan Blues" a theatrical context, with dancers gathering as a community for a wake. He fluidly melds dance styles from different traditions while evoking a sense of ritual mourning and celebration.
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Review of crashART's "Dance Straight up!" January 14, 2004 Straight up!' but never narrow night of thrilling work. Dances that are over-intellectualized are rough-going for the audience. Dances that start with an ecstatic body in constant motion, on the other hand, are always exhilarating. This is the primary lesson to be learned from "Dance Straight Up!" -- a program of four premieres presented last night by CRASHarts at the Tsai Performance Center at Boston University. While all the works were beautifully produced and danced with commitment and precision by local artists, only two managed to provoke that part of the brain that resides in seventh heaven. The first of those was Ahmet Luleci's breathtaking "balkanBLUES," performed by the glamorous men and women of his Collage Dance Ensemble. This emphatic work harmonizes such diverse elements Schumann's music, Shakespeare's "Sonnet 147 (Desire is Death)" and an assortment of Turkish, Hungarian and Balkan folk tunes and steps. The scenario is simple -- the dancers bring a young woman out of the paralyzing throes of passion. The patters are also simple (either lines and circles or groups of couples) but the resulting spectacle is astonishing. Luleci's clever explorations of the common denominator in various forms of folk dancing make him unique in this area. Meredith Monk is the only other artist I can recall who has searched as deeply in this vast territory.
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Review of crashART's "Dance Straight up!" January 23-29, 2004 There was a mysterious corpse who came to life in balkanBLUES, by Ahmet Luleci and the Collage Dance Ensemble. (...) The piece mostly consisted of folk dancing, in captivating Eastern European rhythms, a slow step dance for women, couple dances, and fast line dances for men and women. I loved the heeled boots pounding into the floor, the easy torque of hips and swinging legs, the sudden squats and equally sudden jumps, the hypnotic circlings and gradual accelerations. Especially I loved the corporate energy that linked them into the patterns.
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Turkish dancer Ahmet Luleci is no ordinary folk dance company director merely adapting quaint village numbers to the concert stage. He is a real choreographer whose interest in the underlying structure and approach of traditional Anatolian choreographies gives rise to new works that can be legitimately called contemporary.
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BAY WINDOWS | Theodre Bale Review of Dance Umbrealla's "Boston Moves" January 18, 2001 Ahmet Luleci's Stunning "easternTIDES" was the only large ensemble work on the program. Combining elements of Spanish, Hungarian and Turkish folk dance, the piece knew exactly what it wanted to be: an exuberant manifestation of joyousness. Free narrative, the inventive choreography was primarily concerned with rhythm (bearing a strong resemblance to the uncredited recorded music) and organized formal patterns, and was thoroughly exhilarating to experience. Luleci's choreography for "easternTIDES" is comprised mainly of clapping, stamping, and stylized walking presented in unison by both man and woman. The effect is like watching the most accomplished folkdancer through the clearest kaleidoscopes. The third part, "Moheuri dance tune" bore a close resemblance to Riskin and Keinane's "Vise Versa" in its ability to look Jungian (the section featured a corps of woman in luminous, floor length purple velvet gowns and large silver belts). With their feet obscured by the fabric of the gowns, they floated around the stage, hands splayed and heads erect, in the most simple and profound gestures. An impressive flamenco episode followed, and the brilliant dance ended with a rousing mix of Hungarian and Spanish movements blended with dances from Turkey's black sea region. It was the perfect ending to an evening of sensational world premiers.
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Review of Dance Umbrealla's "Boston Moves" January 18-25, 2001 Ahmet Luleci's Collage Dance Ensemble concluded the program with a miniature revue of folk dances from Eastern Europe. It was entertaining to see these stamping, kicking, clapping rhythms arranged in line-ups. The Music combined traditional instruments and melodies with electronic effects. In one number, eight woman in long purple velvet robes glided into interweaving lines, circles and a giant wheel formation. With their feet hidden and their upper bodies immobilized, they almost seemed not to be moving at all. Luleci and two other man did a vigorous, bouncy dance with accelerating, figure-eight leg gestures. Four woman in black Spanish pants and shirts initiated a flamenco-like stamping dance that eventually brought on the whole company of 16 for a big number of counterpoint clapping and foot rhythms.
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Review of Dance Umbrealla's "Boston Moves" January 13, 2001 Ahmet Luleci runs Boston's Collage Dance Ensemble, and the new work he's created for the 16-member troupe is indeed a collage. He's woven Spanish, Hungarian, and Turkish folkdances together to create a modern, original piece, that stresses similarities, rather than differences. The four-part work is rhythm driven, relying heavily on stomping, clapping and slapping, as dancers use their bodies as percussion instruments. Luleci builds the piece beautifully, giving each section a different tone, from somber to exhilarating, grouping dancers in unexpected formations and making the transitions as inventive as the main event. A dance for woman in floorlength purple gowns turns them into smoothly floating angels and provides respite from the ruggedness of the rest of this work, which culminates in a dazzingly simple unison.
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Olay Newspaper | Ibrahim Yesiltan Review of Dance Competition in Bursa, Turkey July 10, 2003 Very interesting events took place during the performance of the American folk dance team at the Amphitheater the evening before. The American team danced for a while in a tense atmosphere with the audience's reaction due to the arrest of the Turkish troops. Yet, the tense atmosphere reversed as the Americans started displaying dances from the Bingol region. The Americans who finished their show with great applause from the audience carried their teacher Ahmet Luleci on their shoulders after the performance. The Americans who arrived at Bursa for the Golden Karagoz received applause in place of protests after dancing Bingol region dances finishing with a halay. The American folk dancers subjected to protests in the Bursa Festival due to the arrest of Turkish officers in Iraq by the U.S.troops this time came in front of their audience under a complete different identity. As in the frequently viewed "Cola Turca" commercial on TV these days, the Bostonian dancers shocked the audiences by becoming "Turkified" and dancing a Bingol dance. This secret of the Americans that changed the protests to applause was revealed later on. It was learned that the person who taught the "Johnnies" (an endearing term used for Americans in Turkish colloquial language) how to dance Turkish line dances was Ahmet Luleci,a Turkish choreographer living in the U.S.A. As their leader. Luleci went to the U.S. 18 years ago as a choreographer. He said, "I am happy to be the architect of such a performance in Bursa." He said that he understood the symbolic protest coming from the audience, "If I were in the audience I probably would have reacted similarly. But the current crisis of mistrust between the U.S.A. and Turkey should not reflect heavily on this festival of peace and friendship."
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Review of MayFest, April 24, 2005 "NEW YORK'DA DANS ZIYAFETI " 24 Nisan Pazar günü, Türk-Amerikan toplumu icerisinde organize edilen iki etkinlik aras?nda hayli bocalad?ktan sonra, MayFest’05 festivali çerçevesinde düzenlenen, Kolaj Dans Toplulu?u’nun (Collage Dance Ensemble) gösterisini izlemeye gittim. Zira ayn? gün Central Park’ta, 23 Nisan kutlamalar? yap?ld?. Bir taraftan küçük o?lumu, 23 Nisan etkinliklerine mi götürsem yoksa “Collage”m? izlesem aras?nda bir hayli bocalad?ktan sonra, yeti?kin yan?m a??r bast?. Fashion Institute of Technology'e Kolaj Dans Toplulu?u’nu izlemeye gittim. Kendi ad?ma do?ru bir seçim de oldu. Zira, “dans” ile birlikte, dansta “kolaj” kelimesinin; ritmik co?ku ta?an enerji bir çok enerji tablolar?ndan ne kadar çok zengin ve dü?ündü?ümün ötesinde anlamlarda kullan?ld???n? da böylece bilfiil kavrad?m. Çok ya?ayan de?il çok gezen bilir diye bo?una dememi? atalar?m?z! Zira “Collage” toplulu?unu izlemeye gitmeseydim, bildi?im “kolaj” kelimesinin dansa adaptasyonuyla, “Collage” grubunun performans?ndaki “kolaj” yorumunun, farkl?l?lar?n? birbirinden ay?rt edemeyecektim! Programdan edindi?im ilk izlenime göre, “Collage”in performans?n?n, “kolaj”? ,daha çok ayn? ülke danslar? aras?nda folklor, klasik, bale ya da modernden kesitler olu?an bir dans gösterisinin tümü ya da farkl? ülke danslar?ndan olu?an bir seçki oldu?u fikriyle kendimi sabitleyecektim, etkinli?i izlemeseydim. Tek bir ülke merkez al?narak, her tür dans?n temsil edildi?i bir gösteri de, kendi içinde bir kolajd?r, kan?mca. Farkl? ülkelerden bir seçkinin bir buket misali sunulmas? da, kolajdir. Ancak, kareograf Ahmet Lüleci’nin yapt??? bu öngörüden çok farkl? ve cesur bir kolaj. Bu kolaj?n farkl?l???, program?n içindeki her bir performans?n de?il, her bir hareketin, müzi?in, ad?m?n, motifin, kostümün, rengin, duru?un, yürüyü?ün, her birinde, farkl? bir de?er, motif ve gelene?in o dans?n her bir iç bölümünde, cok net ve öne ç?kmas?na özen gösterilerek, her bir dansta, yeni ve orijinal bir dans kolaj yaratm??. Kolaj?n özgünlü?ü, ayn? zamanda grubun dansç?lar?n?n her birinin bireysel olarak geldikleri kültür ile hepsinin bir bile?kesini de yans?t?yor. Çünkü, Ahmet Lüleci’nin kareografisinde, Collage grubu, kendi içinde bir çok kültürü ve karakteristik özelligi de her boyutta ta??yor. “Collage”in dansç?lari Tugba Ba?c?, Ann Cox, Elisa Lüleci van Dam, Vadim Dribinsky, Kate Engle, Bulut Ersava?, Pelin Ersava?, Seda Ertürk, Ba?ak Ülker Karbeyaz, Janice Lichtman, Isaac Niederman, Reidun Vold, Volkan Vural, Emine Y?lmaz, Metin Y?lmaz. Bu isimlere yanyana ve birarada bak?nca, Ahmet Lüleci’nin cesur ve modern kareografisindeki yorum ve yeni sentezleri, ayn? zamanda, her bir dansç?n?n dans kültürünün özünün her bir dansta farkl? bir boyutta i?lenerek, dans?n her bir detay?na ve bütününe sindirilerek, ortaya ç?km?? oldu?unu farkediyorsunuz. Kostümde, müzikte, tempoda, kültürleraras? kesitten, kelimenin bütün anlamlar?n? dansa uygulad???n?zda, zengin bir kolaj yorumu ve uygulamas?yla karsilasiyorusunuz. Collage Dance Ensebmle’yi (Kolaj Dans Toplulu?u) izlemekle, örne?in bir Flamenco Dans motifi ile Karadeniz motifinin, üstelik ne Flamenco kostümü ne de Karadeniz olmayan, hatta üniforma ya da askeri giysileri ça?r??t?ran bayan erkek, kostüm ve estetikde tekdüzelik, agresif ve bask?n gücü, bu kez müziksiz; ritm, tempo ve ayak vuru?lar?yla sembolize ederken, ayn? dans Flamenco’daki el tempo ve kol dönü?leri ile Karadeniz yöresindeki danslar?m?z?n ilginç bir kolajini ve bile?kesini izledik. Kolaj Dans Toplulu?ue dans ve dans kültürlerinde, bir çok ?eyin içiçeli?ini çarp?c? ve yepyeni yorumlarla, her bir dans?, orijinal bir kolaj olarak ba?ar?yla sergiledi ve izleyicileri co?turdu.
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Karen Campbell
Thedore
Bale
Marcia
Siegel 
Debra
Cash
| Bircan Ünver