2003 BailaTango tour to Istanbul

Comments from the tour participants:

My impression of Istanbul, when I arrived was one of awe.   What a beautiful city with its landscape and architecture dating back to Byzantine times to now.  Jak was kind enough to arrange a very knowledgeable tour guide who took us to visit the beautiful mosques, a palace, the underground cistern, the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar, and so much more.  Some of us even experienced the wonderful Turkish baths.  Each evening we were whisked away to either a restaurant for some great Turkish fare with entertainment, or to the many milongas around town.   Jak also arranged a trip to the beach and a wonderful boat ride on the Bosphorous.  

The locals at the milongas were very hospitable and open to dancing with all of us.  What surprised me was the high quality of dancing there.   They danced with feeling and great musicality which brought the level of enjoyment to a high for me. 

Most of all was the opportunity to take such wonderful workshops with Metin and Vanessa (his partner and beautiful fiancée) and our wonderful Jak.  I must admit, I was overwhelmed with the excitement of how Metin mesmerized me with his style.  He is a fabulous teacher and a most beautiful dancer and I was left with wanting more.  We all worked very hard with the pleasure and hopefulness that we would walk away from this experience having learned something new and beautiful. 

The entire staff at Metin's studio worked very hard to insure our utmost pleasure on this trip as well.  Our classes were arranged so that, for the most part, we all had partners and his staff of beautiful and charismatic instructors kept us busy all the time on the dance floor whether during the workshops or at the milongas.

Thank you Metin, Vanessa, Jak, and everyone else for a thrilling and wonderful time in Istanbul!!
Eileen Fisher - NY, USA

The Baila Tango trip to Istanbul was FABULOUS! Thank you Jak!

Non-stop fun 20 hours each day only interrupted by 4 hours of sleep each night! I had to force myself away from the milongas each evening to achieve the 4 hours of sleep!

Tango Workshops: They were excellent - the level of instruction was high and individual attention was continual. Jak, Metin & Vanessa consistently worked with everyone to improve or reinforce execution and understanding when necessary. The classes were balanced and interspersed with Metin's "teacher -in-training" [adorable, charismatic & superb dancers] Vanessa, Metin's partner/fiancée is a beautiful person (inside & out) and kept an eye on me throughout the 10 days - reinforcing points that I kept forgetting - until they finally became part of my muscle memory!

Tours: It was a pleasant surprise to discover that 2 days of included tours turned into 4 days, with only nominal entrance fees charged at some locations. Participation was optional and many people chose to sleep late instead. But I wanted to see all I could at this beautiful country, so skimped on sleep & took half of the generous breakfast buffets with me each day!
Although the mosques were breathtaking, I have seen mosques in Egypt & Spain, consequently the highlights for me were the underground cistern & the Turkish Bath (Only 5 of us women participated in the baths)
The cruise on the Bosphorous & the trip to the beach of the Black Sea were equally enjoyable.

Milongas: These were the real highlights for me. The general level of milongas was superb, and we not only benefited from Metin's very attentive and talented group of teachers-in-training who always danced with all of us - but the local men as well were welcoming and kept us dancing all night. ...
The Turkish tango music is beautiful, melodic and mesmerizing. Augmenting this, the men had an intrinsic sense of musicality & punctuated the music with moves and embellishments that seemed tailor made for each measure. The music even seemed to tell my feet what to do & they did it without any help from my brain! I look forward to returning to Turkey some day.

Jodi Waldron - CT, USA

I was amazed at how well Jak organized this tour to Istanbul, seemingly
without any glitches.  BailaTango was a great host: Metin, Vanessa, and Jak
and the rest of the BailaTango team worked around-the-clock to keep us
comfortable and happy -- on and off the dance floor!   It was obvious from
the start that a lot of planning went into the trip, and that made for a
memorable experience.  We danced every night until the wee hours and still
made it up in time for breakfast and the day's scheduled sight-seeing.  The
hotel was simply gorgeous as were our practice spaces.  Not only did my
tango improve enormously from the intensive workshops and nightly milongas,
I also learned a lot about this beautiful, fascinating country and gained
several new tanguero friends from around the world.  I am definitely
returning in 2004!

Tina Anderson NY, USA

Dear Jak, dear Vanessa & Metin,

I really enjoyed my time in Istanbul which for I want to thank you as you
organized the whole lot. As there are always personal preferences I think
I even don't need to go into detail: I really enjoyed the time.

I enjoyed the classes and, as already mentioned, I deeply enjoyed
Vanessa's and Metin's approach of "inviting and responding" instead of
"leading and following". I found their teaching warm, vivacious and very
clear. I as well enjoyed Jaks calmer way with the same, clear break-down of
the dancing sequences.
...
I like to thank you again for everything you did. I felt hospital and
welcome. I enjoyed my time and remember Istanbul as well as you three and
all the people at Baila Tango in a wonderful and warm light!

Thank you ever so much
Warm regards
Detlef Kuehn - UK

It's been good to have a couple weeks to think about the experience. My reflections have been, for the most part, very positive. Among the favorite memories are these:
-above all - the people I met
-the hotel!! - fabulous!
-tours of the old city - Umar was a very informative guide
-Bosphorous Boat Tour - a relaxing day - much needed to rest the feet
-the tango instruction - excellent - and it was nice to experience both you and Metin with your different styles of teaching.
Dawn Jantzi - Canada

2003 pictures, stories, interviews by Roberta Zlokower http://www.exploredance.com/istanbul03.html