OSMAN SENGEZER: 46 YEARS OF DECOR AND COSTUME
Ballet
Dame Ninette de Valois, who established State Ballet in England and Turkey, noticed while he was still an assistant with the State Opera and Ballet Company and obtained a scholarship for him to go to England to study ballet staging and costume. Osman Sengezer used the expertise he gained through this training to put his signature to many decor/costume designs for the Opera and Ballet in which he showed his understanding of contemporary modern design. For example, Sengezer’s first work for the ballet, "Sylvia", was so successful that the Ankara Arts Institute began their programme of awards for decor/costume by giving this ballet their first prize. "Hurrem Sultan", first performed in 1977, was the first ballet to depart from the classic ballet costumes and use caftans and ‘ kavuk’ (Ottoman turbans).