Three Unforgettable Days in Ankara, the Capital of Creative Drama
In the morning of Friday, November 11, 2016 we met with the fellow members of the Turkish Drama Club to set out for Ankara for a creative drama training to which we have been looking forward.
The energy, enthusiasm and the excitement of the club members were evident from the trip to Ankara. After arriving in the capital at noon, we settled into our rooms, started breathing the cool Ankara weather and had something to eat before the workshop. Then we went to Dikimevi, the neighborhood hosting the training, where six hours of training just flew by. By the time we were dismissed for the day, we each had learned many new things about drama. We played games about group communication, stage information, and focus in acting and shared a lot of laughter along the way. It was very valuable for us to have the new prep students well integrated into our drama group and we were able to reach this aim to a great extent by the end of the first day.
On the second day of the traning, a new trainer and another six hours of training was waiting for us. We used the first day’s wealth of information on this second day, reflecting and acting upon each new learning. We had breakout groups in which we performed creative drama games. As theatre enhusiasts, we eagerly received every bit of information that the trainer taught and were awarded certificates at the end of this two-day training. Our faces reflected the sense of achievement and intense learning as well as our appreciation for having this opportunity. We then used our free time visiting main attractions of Ankara with our club teachers Önder Şit, Mikail İncir and Niyazi Pavlaz, whose combined energies were as intense as the students’. On the day of the return trip, which was Sunday, we visited Anıtkabir, Ataturk’s mausoleum, which would truly be memorable as we were in Ataturk Week. Waiting for our turn to enter the shrine of our nation’s great leader, we strolled through the Lion Road then walked up the steps to the monument accompanied by the changing of the guards. We also visited the museums and left Anıtkabir with intense longing wishing for Ataturk’s presence today.
After some free time at a shopping mall, we left for a trip to Adana. We thank everyone who organized the trip.