REYHAN
Reyhan Tusuz is one of the best-known international teachers in traditional, home and wedding-style Turkish Roman (Roma) dance. She was introduced to teaching by a young woman from California who had been traveling in Turkey with her boyfriend, a musician studying traditional Turkish and Turkish Roman folk music. Reyhan’s ex-husband is a violinist, and when the young woman asked him for a dance teacher, he responded, “Well, maybe my wife can show you a thing or two”. Twenty years later, Reyhan has travelled around the world teaching dance as far away as Japan.
Reyhan is effusive and extremely playful, bursting frequently into effervescent laughter, no matter the subject of the conversation. She spoke to us about her journey from housewife to internationally-renowned dancer and teacher. Her work as a dancer has led to greater independence in her life, and she is deeply proud of her cultural heritage, and enthusiastic to share it with more students throughout the world.
Reyhan described to us the ceremonies of Roman weddings, multi-day affairs with practically constant music and dancing. Both of her daughters have been married recently, and she was intensely proud of this fact, showing us many pictures of her outfits and her performances at their weddings.
In the few more serious moments in our interview, Reyhan spoke a bit about how urban renewal and gentrification had displaced her community in Gaziosmanpașa, where she and her family had formerly owned a small house on a hillside that they had built. The entire neighborhood was razed, and thousands of people relocated to apartments such as the one where Reyhan now lives, similar to the apartment blocs pictured in Ayşenur and Medîne’s stories.
Reyhan’s overwhelming positivity shone so brightly throughout her interview, and she also had a playful optimism about her future and the future of her family. As Eva walked her to the bus, she said many times, “Tell your dancer friends in the US to come here and study with me!”.
To learn more about dance opportunities with Reyhan, you can contact the JIYAN team.
