Introducing Güray Dinçol
Güray Dinçol has led Clowns Without Borders’ tours in his home country of Turkey. Güray received physical theater and clown training from Giovanni Fusetti at the Rosefarden Theater in Norway after his master’s degree in theater. In addition to performing on the Syrian border, Güray performs for migrants and refugees in Istanbul.
Do you wear a nose when you perform?
Yes
What is your favorite clown prop?
A darbuka, which is a kind of traditional drum. And puppets!
What’s a favorite memory from working with CWB?
We were performing in a village 50 km from the Syrian border.There were racial tensıons and this fact divided the village. The villagers were supporting two different radical political parties. This political conflict divided the children in the community as well. While we were performing, all the kids came together, watched the same show and remembered their friendship from long ago. It was so touching to see how they came together and how they enjoyed the same show, how they laughed at the same thing and after the show how they played together.
What are your currently working on?
I am a Physical Theatre teacher and director. Right now I am the artııstıc director and organizer of a program called ‘Let’s play together’ which is sponsored by The İstanbul Municipality.
The İstanbul Municipality Cultural Department asked me to do this project in İstanbul Ghettos. These are neighborhoods where refugees, Kurdısh and Turkısh people live together in very low standards.The manager of the Cultural Department remembered the tours that we performed with CWB. The idea for this program came from the seed of CWB and right now it is on the streets of İstanbul.
We performed in 80 locations. I recognize the same sense, same job, same feelings like the tours we did with CWB USA. The poverty is the same, violence is the same on the streets, there is a big drug addiction problem for kids and young people, racism is more than ever in Turkey, thousands of child workers and child brides, people forgot to smile and the big depression and chaos of the middle east is just over there in my neighborhood. This great adventure triggers me to dream about CWB Turkey again.
What is something you learned from another CWB artist?
Sarah Liane Foster and Tim Cunningham were my first inspiring masters for this field. It was an amazing experience to play with them. They were so quick to adapt to changing circumstances. Also it was great to observe their different professional clown skills like music, acrobatics, juggling … I’ve learned many clown acts and small tricks from all the clowns who came to Turkey for CWB projects.
