Sports in Turkish-British Relations: The British Influence on the Development of Dance and Ballet in Türkiye

Abstract

With the proclamation of the Republic, under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, radical transformations were carried out in the fields of education, culture, and sports as part of modernization policies. During this process, foreign experts from developed countries were invited to Türkiye to develop fields such as dance and ballet. This research examines, within a historical and analytical framework, the appointment processes, activities, and impact on Turkish sports of British experts working in the fields of dance and ballet during the Republican era. Using a qualitative research method, specifically the historical document analysis approach, the study systematically examined various archive and library sources, primarily the Presidential State Archives, as well as periodicals. The data obtained were evaluated using content analysis. The study shows that eighteen British experts officially worked in Türkiye in the fields of dance and ballet during the early years of the Republic, and that the British Council played a significant role in their arrival. Furthermore, it is understood that these experts were not limited to the transfer of technical knowledge but were also decisive in the formation of pedagogical approaches, training models, and stage aesthetics; and that figures such as Ninette de Valois played central roles in the institutionalization of their fields. Furthermore, the study reveals that physical education and ballet training in Türkiye is not a one-way process of knowledge transfer; rather, it is a multi-layered interaction process reshaped according to local conditions, and points to significant gaps in the historical writing of this field due to the presence of numerous foreign experts who are given limited space in the literature.