Tatavla's Street Culture: How a Istanbul Suburb Created the Tatavliano Hasapiko

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:12][music] [music] >> Thank you.

[00:00:39]>> [applause] >> So, this was called the Tavli Anoh Esati. Because the Tavla is a suburban of Istanbul. For centuries, the Greeks would live there.

[00:00:48]And [snorts] it was famous for a summer festival after Easter sometime. And [snorts] it was a music festival. And you would know that it's the day of the festival because from the whole of Istanbul, and [snorts] people would just walk on the streets and sing. And this would be people from all backgrounds, Muslims and Turks and Greeks and Bulgarians, Armenians. And you would know when you see people singing and dancing on the street, oh, it's the time to walk there. So, there would be rivers of people going to this suburban to go there. And they would listen to different dances, they would eat different food, and so on. Uh now, what's important, not to put it remarkable, is that young men would dance to attract young girls. You would be a very good in the eyes of the girls if you were able to dance well. So, they would dance and the girls may choose them or may not.