Thread: Turkish Roman Dance with Elizabeth Strong

I just came across this trailer, it looks cool:


I wonder what the difference to Raw Roman is before I think about getting it?
does anybody here own both or know both instructors (or, all three, actually)? What is interesting to me is that all two American productions seem to be inspired a lot by one Turkish Romany dancer, Reyhan Tuzsuz. I have seen Turkish Romany dancers have very very distinct individual styles even more so than regional differences in many folkloric dances (where individual steps are different to similar rhythms). My impression then is that Romany dance is a very free and individual dance - I wonder if this impression is correct at all and if yes if more variety with more dancers instructing American dancers and inspiring instructionals will emerge..

AAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!! I heard about this ages ago but was afraid it would never come to fruition! How awesome!!!!

Dina -- thank you for bringing this to our attention!!

I ordered my copy last week, can't wait for it to arrive! This has been in the works for several years, and I am excited that it finally came out.

I took a workshop and a private with Liz and have worked with Raw Roman. Liz is one of the first American students who took lessons with Reyhan and from what I recall (my old brain is prone to failing me, so do not take this as gospel or quote me), she is also one of the dancers who contributed to Reyhan's popularity and openness to teaching. Given that, I expect both DVDs to be rather similar. And, she is also very focussed on the correct use of muscles, braking down moves carefully and the timing of the music, so another aspect of both DVDs that is similar. Liz has a background as a fusion dancer in San Francisco, so I expect her to bring more of a sense of theatrics and stage craft for performance into her instruction, which is suggested by the more fusion-ish use of a skirt in the clip.

I think Raw Roman is fantastic, and I have high hopes for Liz' DVD as well.

Thanks a lot steffi!!! And you're very welcome, Aziyade

Hi, I am also wondering about these two . Has anyone worked with them? I'm dying to get them but can really only afford one right now, so ... if anyone has any input i'd be interested to hear your thoughts. thanks.

If I could only pick one, I would get Rayhan's DVD (Raw Roman). While both were inspired by her, Raw Roman actually features her teaching. The vintage video clips in Elizabeth's a cool but not the same as Reyhan actually teaching you. Reyhan is a great teacher. I danced with her last November in Istanbul with Hadia's tour. I was so thrilled to buy her DVD directly from her and have it autographed.

Elizabeth's DVD looks thoughtfully done, though so if I were committed to really learning and performing Roman Dance, I'd work with both (as well as actually go to Turkey and dance with real teachers). Reyhan's would be the one I'd start with and if I had extra cash I'd work with Elizabeth's too.

Thanks for your help, I kept looking at the clips and both looked so good and kind of similar, but I really could not make a decision. I'll definitely start with Raw Roman.

It depends so much on one's personal preferences - both are excellent and the only choice I can imagine is having both :-) Perhaps the most important difference for a student who has to decide between the two is that Liz' DVD has a long follow-along section, whereas RR has longer demonstrations of the moves by Reyhan. Liz seems to include more variations taught, RR shows a lot of variations in the demonstrations, but not everything that Reyhan does to illustrate the versatility of step is taught. RR tends to be very math-driven in the explanation of the music and the counts, whereas Liz tends to be a little bit more intuitive in how she conveys the rhythms (she knows exactly what she is doing and her explanations are 100% correct, of course). RR covers arms and gestures more as part of combinations, Liz tends to have them a little bit more separate during instruction. In summary, both DVDs are outstanding.

I should add - I have been studying Turkish with Artemis in depth for quite a while and attend her Turkish intensives. My fellow Turkophile students with whom I have talked about the DVDs at the most recent event all have good things to say about both. I don't recall that I heard a single negative comment, which is remarkable when you have a group of passionate dancers who specialize in the topic together in one room :-) Artemis sells Reyahn's and likes it a lot. A friend who was hesitant about Liz's after watching the trailer loves that DVD. You can't go wrong with either.

Ferda Bayazit, originally from Vancouver Island lives in Turkey and is also a student of Reyhan. She was so popular at the IBCC in Toronto in 2007 that she was brought back by Yasmina Ramzy as a featured instructor for 2008. She's also fabulous to watch. Very passionate!