Well-known Turkish ballet dancer and choreographer Tan Sağtürk has become the State Opera and Ballet (DOB) general director, according to the announcement in the Official Gazette. Sağtürk is the second director with a ballet background to manage the institution.
One of the renowned figures of ballet in the country and has trained many talented ballets at the Tan Sağtürk Academy he opened, Sağtürk became the winner of the dance-ballet award at the Culture and Grand Awards, presented by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, last year.
Born in 1969 in İzmir, Sağtürk is a graduate of Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory’s Ballet Department. He is the founder of ballet and dance academies in different parts of the country – including Diyarbakır, Mardin, Gaziantep, Kayseri, Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir – and Turkish Cyprus.
