Founder, Ş. Ebru Sayın, is herself a Russian State Conservatory graduate, from the very same school as Rudolf Nureyev. She later got accepted by Mimar Sinan University and is still the only ballerina to be accepted directly from year two and graduated in just tree years.
She is the “only” ballet teacher to be accepted for the Royal Academy of Dance, “Professional Dancers Teaching Diploma” program from Turkey in the last 60 years and graduated with “Distinction”, the highest possible achievement.
She ranked 5th at International Sanlam Ballet Competition representing Turkey at the age of nineteen.
She danced professionally for 6 years at AKM. She performed in and worked with:
·Leyla and Mecnun (Barra, Ray - Artistic director of Berlin Opera Ballet, 1996),
·Swan Lake (Dean, Derek – Artistic director of the English National Ballet, 1997),
·Sleeping Beauty (Dean, Derek 1998),
·Carmina Burana (Vamos, Yuri – Art director of Deutsche Oper am Rhein, 1999),
·Ferhat and Sirin (Grigorovich, Yuri - Artistic Director and Chief Choreographer of the Bolshoi Ballet, 2000, considered as “greatest living choreographer”)
·Nutcracker (Grigorovich, Yuri, 2001)
School’s director of advanced ballet is Prof. Alev Meral Tokgöz. There are only two professors on ballet in Turkey and she is the one to start classical ballet and modern dance programs at university level. She adapted Vaganova system for Turkey. Ebru Sayin is one of her first graduates.
Head of modern dance, Pınar Ataer, is a talented choreographer and dancer. She is awarded many times as the “best dance choreographer” and is also working with top professional dance groups and theatres in Turkey.
Ainura Alseitova is a Russian State Conservatory graduate and is a specialist in classical ballet and chararter dances.
Besides ballet and dance, the school provides academic piano teaching with the help of two conservatory graduates; Bilge Demirkazan and Serden Bircan.
Ballet teaching at the school is one of a kind, sustaining the perfectionism of Vaganova without losing the motivational teaching aspects of the Royal Academy of Dance method.
Teachers are fluent in English, Russian and Turkish, while the language of ballet is French. Generally more than 50% of the students are of different nationalities.
The school can shortly be described as “for the more serious moms” and expectations are higher. Teachers are very experienced in motivating the children and pushing them a little bit further, while the kids would only remember how nice the games they played and show you the beautiful awards they got.
On the average, one teacher is assigned for every 5 students. For the primary, prep and grade 1 classes there are 5 different day alternatives, including two weekend days. Children can attend any two or tree and can compensate for any missed classes in the same way.
A full fledged ballet recital is performed in the year ends at one of the top theatres in İstanbul. It has same format with a professional performance and is a real stage experience for both the children and the parents.
