Catch up - abit of Saturday wanderings and other sights

So I think I left off a few days ago.
I went to visit the "Blue Mosque" Sultan Ahmet Camii on my wanderings on Saturday. I couldn't decide if I wanted to go to Sophia or Topkapi or Blue Mosque and as I stumbled about I was overwhelmed by the crowds so I aimed for the Sultan Ahmet Camii. The outside is contains a large courtyard which had some shade and a breeze. There was an entrance for "visitors" around the corner, a sign on how to behave, which included being quiet, taking off your shoes, etc. So I amble my way into the entrance which asks you to cover up as well. So I took off my shoes and placed them in my bag took out my gift from Afet and placed it over my head and put my long sleeved shirt on. I wondered if the part of wearing a skirt was going to imposed. There were 2 men (1 really young man and an older gentleman) who were passing out long or large blue pieces of material. I gestured to him if i looked ok and he took my hand and said - yes ok. I managed a thank you and went it.
I was struck with a little tingling sensation as I entered. Then by foot odor and the amount of people sitting down all over the place. It is 1 large room with a wooden barrier placed for those visitors and those who worship to enter. IT was awfully loud in there for asking to be quiet. There were some tours being conducted in english and in italian and some of those ladies were NOT wearing any head coverings. My camera battery died in the middle of taking some initial pictures and so I backed up to experience the awesomeness of this architectural presence and i was struck with sadness, when I turned and noticed that i was standing in front of the WOMEN onky section of the mosque. An enclosed area at the rear with benches on the outside for shoes and inside some women hanging out some in genuflection praying. There was a feeling of chaos for an active mosque and it seemed strange at the time. I really was struck by the beauty of it.

There was the Istanbul Tango Festival's milonga in Haydarpasa Gari (train station) - this was on Saturday night - it was crowded, chaotic and a bit disorganized. (I guess that's what happens when you have a milonga in an active train station!) I did manage to see people i knew from other parts of the world: Santiago and his girlfriend, Eva, Nelusha, Ari... tango is such a small world!!! I didn't dance but 1 song of a tanda but did see Chicho and Juana perform and videotaped it. They looked really good. It was so so hot and humid in there too. It was good to observe. I also saw, whom I refer to as, The Turkish Brothers - i saw them perform in buenos aires in december (maybe?).

Sunday during the day Zeynep and I were driven, by Yrfan, about 1 hour outside of Istanbul to Rumelifeneri - we drove along the coast through Bebek and Sariyer. We were on one of the northern most points where the Bosphorous meets the Black Sea. AWWW - it was so nice. We had a snack and took pictures and chatted. Sunday was the beginning of Zeynep's conference so we rushed back just in time for her to begin that!!!

Yrfan waited for me as I changed and he took me with him to see the Tango Show that was part of the Festival - this was Chicho and Arce's "creation". It was called something like "Exodo" - anyway - it was about 45 minutes of dancing tango non stop more or less - the lighting was weird and not conducive to the dancing, the dancing was expected to be great and it was but what the heck were they dancing about?
NOW coming from a person who has definitely made dances about "nothing" more than spatial concepts or design elements i"m not asking for a story but something to hang onto. There was the duet between Mariana and Juana and there were a lot of reaching gestures and sitting in their short dresses in a wide second position UGH! some developpe's (extensions of the leg) but i had no idea why they were on stage together and doing this?
There was some nice spatial ideas - there were times that i thought they were supposed to be in unison and they weren't (on purpose?). some of it looked over-acted - i don't want to be acted to - be it - show it to me. The music sounded like - now it's playing not it's stopped now it's playing now it's turned off. Really abrupt transitions with the sound. There was an interesting mix of music. There was 1 transition where each one of them carries a chair onto the stage - it hand a funeral weightedness to it - ugh...
I spoke to Santiago last night and he actually saw bits of a story line - hmm - good for him! Wish i could have grasped that might have helped me along. Mariana punches too much so she looks like a caricature on stage. Everyone else needed to rise to her level her she needed to tone down. Again some clever moments but needing some serious shaping and rehearsal directing. So many of these tango dancers need a really good choreography class - man... it would help them so much...