The Fire of Anatolia

The Fire of Anatolia is still burning!

The fundamental concept of Fire of Anatolia, Anadolu Ateşi, is the confluence of civilizations. It is a portrayal of a dance that aims for the unification of eastern and western cultures, a messenger for a wave of universal peace. By synthesizing the folk dances with ballet, modern dance, and other disciplines of dance, it presents a cultural feast to the world by modern standards. The Fire of Anatolia, which takes its inspiration from the thousands of years old mythological and cultural history of Anatolia, is an original project that includes almost 3000 folk dance figures and folk music complied from nearly all regions. The project which bears the signature of Mustafa Erdoğan aims at introducing a peaceful blend of fire from Anatolia, which has been burning in its thousands of years old cultural and historic mosaic.

In 1999, Mustafa Erdoğan, who took a step forward to realize a long-old dream, started working on an arduous project which was formerly referred to as “the Sultans of the Dance”. Initially, he placed an advertisement in a newspaper in search of dancers. Among the 750 candidates who applied, 90 young performers were elected and a compelling work pace that would go on for a year and a half began. The days of work would go up to 8 to 16 hours of work per day… The costumes were made and the music was arranged. They worked with professionals who were experts in aesthetic exercise, reliable diets, and massage. They did stretching and yoga. The works were concentrated on folk dance pacings, ballet, and modern dances. The dancers also took theoretical courses on the notation of Anatolian rhythms.

When we move onto the date May 3, 2001, the performance which was planned to stage 3-4 shows and make its presentation abroad had to be extended due to the sell of the tickets like hot cakes months before the performance. The Fire of Anatolia started its world tour in 2002 and was watched by more than 45 million art-lovers with more than 5000 shows in 106 countries (many countries were visited more than once). The Fire of Anatolia, which is regarded now as one of the most important dance ensembles in the world thanks to all the tours abroad and promotion works, has been the most grandiose project that has become a universal asset driven by the power of our national culture. The world press has watched the ensemble’s performances, including big shows such as Eurovision 2004 and Universiade 2005, with great interest. The dance company has performed in the world’s greatest landmarks such as New York Madison Square Garden in the USA, Chicago Theater in Chicago, Bercy in France, the Chinese Parliament Building in China, Kremlin Palace in Moscow, Muhammed Ali Mosque in Egypt and right before the Pyramids and received a standing ovation from the attending countries state dignitaries including presidents, prime ministers, and kings.

Since 2001, The Fire of Anatolia has performed in Israel, Germany, China, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, TRNC, Japan, Austria, Qatar, Lebanon, Russia, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Siberia, Romania, Bulgaria, Egypt, France, America, Hungary, Sarajevo, Bahrain, Malaysia, Greece, Georgia, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Dubai, Slovenia, Poland, Belarus, Latvia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Crimea, New Zealand, Tunisia, Italy, Slovakia, Albania, Palestine, Spain, Portugal, Syria, England, Martinique Island-Caribbean, and presented the Anatolian culture to the whole world.

The news about the Fire of Anatolia, Anadolu Ateşi, has exceeded 10,000 in the world press. The group can perform simultaneously in 3 different parts of the world with its 250-person dancer staff.