Didem of Turkey

[LauraLevana]

I'm absolutely amazed by this dancer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkSdXlS62K0

Does anyone know anything about her? It almost looks like she appears on some type of talk show.

[eugeniaargentina]

I think she does appear in that show...and I read that that show is like "new talented dancers" kinda thing

she is awesome, wish she has a www

but i couldnt find anything

[Michelle75]

Didem has tons of vids. on you tube. She dances a little bit of everything. She even has a bollywood video.

[palmier]

I really like Didem too.
The talk show she appears on is the Ibo show, hosted by the very very very popular singer Ibrahim Tatlises. He likes dancers and often have a dancer on the show but it is not a show about dancing. he use to date Asena , i think that is how she got well known, and he produced the great CD called Asena for her. Now his favourite seems to be Didem, but i have seen many clips on Youtube with other dancers as well.

but if anyone knows where we can see Didem outside of the Ibo show I would love to know.

[aasiyah]

the ibo show does have new talent, but didem is a regular. its a variety show wiht music, dancing, contests, interviews, etc.

[janaki]

I read it somewhere that she is Russian. I can't remember her real name. She is very famous Turkish dancer now! She dances to both egyptian and turkish music also i have seen her dancing bollywood. Her style of dancing is turkish/american belly dance /acrobatic fusion. Beautiful girl though!!! Not too crazy about her. I am a die hard fan of egyptian dancers like fif and randa!!!
Cheers
Janaki

[Slave]

i just saw her video tonight thanks to that awesome feature on the first bhuz page featuring vids! great resource!

anyways, she frickin blew me away - awesome, awesome control and her movements are so insanely fluid and precise, great dancer!
then i watched a few more of her videos...
then i saw her doing a very very bad@$$ solo to a song that my troupe performs as a huge group number!!! it is so so so surreal to see other moves performed to a song that you know forwards and backwards, upside down.

oh yeah, that's the other thing - she seems to know her music beat for beat, and i really think that's impressive. i dig her.

[lizajuk]

Like Janaki, I am a die hard Randa and Fifi fan but I'm off to Turkey in July and if I could see someone of that quality dance I'd be a very happy bunny.
Not my style but very entertaining for a change.

[jody]

There is something very stiff and cold about her. I appreciate her classical training, but even for Turkish style, I did not care for it. More Fifi please!

[stardancer]

my gosh, she is sooo teenie! Lots of fun to watch though.

[kahire]

Didem is not Russian - she is Romani with mother from Selanik and father from former Yugoslavia. She was born on 1986 so she is still very young and she grew up at Romani quarters of Istanbul and has one older sister and one brother. Her family consists of musicians and dancers like so many other Romani families: her sister is singer, grandfather was well known ud-player, father plays drums, and her mother Tülay was also a dancer. She started dancing very young (and quitted school after just couple of years) and studied with Sema Yildiz at the age of 13 - 14 even though she says that her mother naturally taught her basic dance knowledge (and to play zills, what she unfortunately does not do at Ibo Show).

Before being discovered by Ibrahim Tatlises she had already danced several years, mostly at weddings and henna parties. Nowadays Ibo has more or less "exclusive right" on her so it is not very likely to see her at Istanbul nightclubs but she dances where Ibo sings and of course she is seen a lot at TV (both at Ibo Show and also some other shows)

I am not a fan of hers: I think that she is cute, young dancer who does not (yet) have originality or her own style. She is very flexible and often her dancing is more acrobatics than real dancing - she often also seems to copy other dancers as even at YouTube there have been several clips of her dancing almost exact copies of Jillina´s, Amar Gamal´s and even Rachel Brice´s dances and some Bollywood. I hate these copies but when she is dancing Romani style she is absolutely wonderful - and also when she dances to live (Turkish) music she seems to "come alive" in contrast to her typical gimmicky and always similar drum solos.

[janaki]

Tks Kahire! detailed background information about Didem's background!!!

Cheers
Janaki

[eugeniaargentina]

I know she has lots of vids in youtube, i just want to contact her cos i a thinking of going to turkey in a few months

[Mirabai]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iM8-5...elated&search=
Here she's doing a bit more Turkish Rom. The first time I every saw Didem on YouTube she was doing a stunning Turkish Rom number. I haven't been able to find it since. I think she's great fun to watch, but like any dancer, or artist for that matter, you win some and loose others. Some of her performances I could watch again and again. Others I click away from pretty quickly. The one's I could watch again and again I think maybe she gets closest to her distinct self...

[NandaDncer]

Thanks Mirabai, I was told she was rom but couldn't find any romani clips of her on youtube. Thanks again

[ChristinaRizkallah]

I have only seen one clip of her-she was doing a drum solo on a talk show in Turkey. It was very impressive. Yes, she is very tiny, too.

[kahire]

That clip Mirabai linked is nice - my favourite Didem clip is perhaps this one where she is dancing to Ibo´s song "Kara uzum habbesi"

BTW there is another clip of this music at some ancient Ibo Show with dancer Sivga, which at least in my eyes is even better than the one by Didem

(Turkish alphabet does not seem to work here so some words and names are not necessarily written correctly)

[vron]

I think she's a good dancer, but I think a lot of our dancers here in the U.S. are much more enjoyable to watch. Just mho.

[eshe]

I looooooooooooove her!!!!!!
This was posted on Tribe a little bit ago:
****************************************
I'm Under Protection Courtesy of Mr. Tatlises

Didem, known by many as the belly dancer of Ibo Show, raised much curiosity due to the talk-ban issued on her by Ibrahim Tatlises. Widely known by her smile while dancing, contrary to the serious expression worn by many others, Didem decided to breach the talk-ban and answered many questions about her for Yeni Aktuel Magazine.

* I was born in 1986 in Gaziosmanpasa. Since I was raised in Kustepe, I'd rather say I'm from Kustepe (neighborhoods of Istanbul, t.n.) I have a brother and a sister. We are 'Romans' (oftentimes, 'Roman' people were attributed extraordinary talent in belly dancing and performing music for it, t.n.); mother immigrated from Saloniki, father from Yugoslavia. I spent all my childhood in Roman district, where we still live.

* I dropped out at my third year in primary school, then began dancing. I needed to work, but I loved dancing too much. Everywhere in our house are mirrors. Sometimes I dance for 24 hours on a stretch. When I feel like it, I turn the music on and begin dancing. Also, there's this Roman tradition; they put cymbals under a newborn daughter's pillow so she becomes a belly dancer when she grows up.

* I can't say I had a very happy childhood. I always wanted a bike but never had one due to financial reasons. I dropped out on my own decision, not my family's. I was a successful student except for maths. But I still want to study. I decided to complete my education. I'll even get a university degree.

DISCOVERED IN A CONTEST
* Dancing talent runs in my family. My mother, Tulay, is a belly dancer as well. My father is the drummer Zeki Kinali. My grandfater is a retired ud (a kind of lute in Turkish Classical music) artist. My sister sings in weddings. My mother only taught me how to play cymbals. But I remember very well when my mother used to dance for extra pay; I used to hold onto her skirt. Then, I used to climb onto a table, dancing there while she danced on the stage. I was very enthusiastic about belly dancing. When my teacher asked me what would I be when I grew up, I always answered 'belly dancer'. But I couldn't dance this well if I weren't a Roman. I'm proud of being one.

* In wedding ceremonies, they called me to dance. Since my body is very flexible, my nickname was 'rubber-girl'. Now they call me 'Ibrahim's Belly-Dancer'

* I met Sema Yildiz, a belly-dance instructor. 'Let's find you a stage' she suggested. I was 13 or 14 years old then. I got transferred from the night clubs of Avcilar to touristic venues in Taksim. I used to dance in 7 or 8 different venues in one night.

* I danced at the wedding ceremony of a wedding contest TV show. Some epole who watched me then, mentioned about me later. Mr. Ibrahim told them to find me and call me. His agent, Eyup Kanat, contacted me. When he said Mr. Ibrahim wanted to talk to me, I thought someone was pulling a joke on me. When we met, I was very excited and drenched in cold sweat. All of a sudden, I found myself in Ibo Show. I stand witness to how a person's life changes in one day. What I was yesterday, what I am today, what I will be tomorrow...

* I feel like the Snow White. Thank God. Thank God first, then thank Mr. Ibrahim. He is a person whose hands are to be kissed (an expression of respect and gratitude in Turkish culture; t.n.) In fact, even his feet can be kissed (an EXTREME form of expressing gratitude; t.n.) He's a boss who possesses and protects. I'm under protection even if I go to the other end of the world.

* I never thought of working for him but I dreamt of it. I used to loathe myself as nobody noticed me. When I went up on stage, audience used to talk to each other, never bothered to look at me. I used to close my eyes and say to myself: 'Help me, God, to take the stage in a beautiful place, where everyone would watch and applause me'

'IT'S HARD NOT TO TALK'
* I try to distinguish my style from those of other belly dancers. I want to do Cha-Cha or Samba on the stage. I want to dance to the tunes of Indian music. My favorite is artistic gymnastics. Who knows, maybe if I did not drop out, I would be a gymnast one day.

* Mr. Ibrahim issued a talk-ban on me as he wanted the people to remember me by my dancing. In fact, it was good for me. Everybody was curious about me, asking 'Who's this girl, where's she from, who are her parents?'. When I went to Germany, people asked me if I was a deaf-mute. It's really hard not to talk at all. People rumoured about me, saying 'She can't speak Turkish, nor has she any manners'. I asked for Mr. Ibrahim's permission to prove them wrong, he kept saying 'All in good time...'

[Michelle75]

Thank you for sharing Eshe, it's always nice to hear something from the horses mouth rather than second hand.

[Gwoofer]

I just love this girl ... and she is very much girlish and young and a work in progress.

I would agree that some of her efforts are wince enducing but give her time. If she continues to dance I would guess we'll have someone truly fabulous in another ten years or so. Even right now she has exuberance and excellent skills.

[gympie4570]

For such a skinny girl with no hips, man she can move!! she is a real cutie. I work in Turkish resturants the owners idealize her they love her. The owner of the resturant who is a women (very cool!!) said that the man on the show Mr. Ibrahim created her, and you can see her progression on the show from okay to excellent. I have all the shows that she has ever done, from the first on his program to the last on dvd. she is super fit and dedicated she is really famous there now. the new asena!! she has great isolation and flexability !!!

[Gwoofer]

Originally Posted by gympie4570

For such a skinny girl with no hips, man she can move!! she is a real cutie. I work in Turkish resturants the owners idealize her they love her. The owner of the resturant who is a women (very cool!!) said that the man on the show Mr. Ibrahim created her, and you can see her progression on the show from okay to excellent. I have all the shows that she has ever done, from the first on his program to the last on dvd. she is super fit and dedicated she is really famous there now. the new asena!! she has great isolation and flexability !!!

It's kinda of interesting. Most of the Turkish dancers who are of the younger generation seem to have that body type, i.e., long slim torso with flat rib cage from the side. They certainly do have lovely curvature though and I find the up to down undulations to be particularly effective in that body type - it's like an envelope folding in two

[asimatiyat]

Um, is it just me, or is there something a little odd about the relationship she describes with Ibo in the article -- "he is a boss who possesses and protects"???