Jaynie Aydin Ethnographic Dance Research and Performance

Zeybeks by Davul and Zurna

Jaynie’s visual investigation of Zeybek dance and music performance began in 2005 on her first research trip to the Aegean and Mediterranean regions of Turkey. Since then she has acquired hours of digital, archival footage documenting and preserving the Zeybek “plays” from numerous regions in Turkey. Dancers in each region, district, and village offer a unique interpretation of the traditional Zeybek dance and music. Often Rom musicians are hired to play the music for the celebratory events. The rhythm and melody of Davul and Zurna become the intoxicating sound for celebratory and customary Zeybek dance rituals in the Western parts of Turkey. Jaynie’s upcoming ethnographic DVD, “Dances of Turkey Volume 2: A Zeybek Wedding” will feature the music of well known Rom musicians such as Küçük Hasan of Germencik, Aydın and the local talent and display of cultural heritage by the people of Dampınar Köyü.