Announcement February 11-2023
BOTH TOURS CANCELLED! The trip to Oriental Turkey in September exactly covers the region that has been devastated by an earthquake, a disaster that will have a huge, long-term impact. Energies need to be focused on rebuilding. It would also be inappropriate to celebrate or dance with people who have been confronted with deaths and casualties so recently.
Because a number of participants booked both the tour to Turkey and the preceding tour to The Netherlands, this also touches the Scenic HollandTour. We don’t have enough registrations left to make the Dutch Tour happen.
TOUR to THE NETHERLANDS and/or TURKEY September 2023
This time we focus the spotlight on our own country, the Netherlands. It is with great pleasure that we show you the beautiful places that our country has to offer.
In 2018 we have organized the very successful 'XXL TOUR' to Georgia, Armenia and Turkey in cooperation with Ahmet Demirbağ. He is THE researcher of dance, well-known all over Turkey and founder of the folk dance teacher training at Istanbul Technical University.
Together with Ahmet we explored southeast Turkey and were impressed by its multicultural and oriental atmosphere. The next step didn't take long. We decided to organize another tour to Turkey to share these experiences - the 57th Van Geel Dance and Culture tour. It will be an enjoyment to work with Ahmet again.
Option 1 – SCENIC HOLLAND CULTURE TOUR - September 2 - 13
PRICE: € 2450 - early booking discount (before 1st of March): € 2350
Flights are not included.
This culture tour is both for folk dancers and non-dancers. There will be limited dancing. Minimum of 20 participants.
Option 2 – ORIENTAL TURKEY CULTURE AND DANCE TOUR - September 13 -26
PRICE: € 2150 - early booking discount (before 1st of March) € 2050
Flights are not included.
This dance and culture tour is both for folk dancers and non-dancers. There will be dance workshops, but lots of places to visit if you are a non-dancer. Minimum of 20 participants.
Option 3 - HOLLAND AND TURKEY TOUR - September 2 - 26
PRICE: € 4200 - early booking discount (before 1st of March) € 4400
Single surcharge HOLLAND TOUR: € 390 - Single surcharge TURKEY TOUR: € 375
SCENIC HOLLAND
If you think of The Netherlands, flowers, windmills and wooden shoes come to mind - but our country has so much more to offer! It has a rich history, which is reflected in the famous Amsterdam canal houses. But Amsterdam and its surroundings have a lot more to offer, like old crafts at the Zaanse Schans and medieval Muiden castle. It is easy to travel to Amsterdam by train and explore the city center on foot or by tram. For the first part of our tour we will stay in Weesp, a picturesque town 9 minutes by train from the capital. It is located on a river and was created more than 650 years ago. A quiet location in a nice hotel with vibrant Amsterdam just a stone's throw away.
Leaving Amsterdam, we will take you on a tour through the Netherlands and want to surprise you with the hidden gems, diversity of landscape and picturesque villages. We will visit the religious village of Staphorst with its authentic charm where a local inhabitant will tell us all about the traditional costume. On our full day tour to the national park Hoge Veluwe art goes hand in hand with nature. Visit the largest sculpture garden in Europe, the Kröller Muller Museum with masterpieces of world famous painters and enjoy a cycling tour of the Veluwe. One day of dance classes will be included in the program. Before driving back to the west of the country, we will enjoy a nice dinner at Tineke and Maurits' home, a farm house dating from 1810.
And best of all, all this and much more is within a two hour travel distance. Welcome to Scenic Holland!
ORIENTAL TURKEY
This is a great tour to see some amazing places in Turkey. We will begin our travels in Capadocia. An intriguing landscape with unusual peaks and cave houses instantly catches the eye. We will take our time to explore these geological formations and see how the inhabitants have made use of these robust rocks to build their settlements.
Visiting a special ceremony we can see the Derwish dances, religious dances to get closer to Allah and the Universe.
Gaziantep is located in the southeast of the Anatolian region with its extensive olive groves and vineyards and one of the oldest cities of Hittite origin. In the mosaic museum Gaziantep's wealth and the craftmanship of its former inhabitants can be seen in a huge collection of mosaics of ancient villas. Enjoy the street and fleas markets and being the center of pistachio nut cultivation you will certainly get a chance to taste Baklava (sweet pastry) and enjoy Turkish cuisine at its best in this gastronomic city.
Our tour brings us to Şanlıurfa, also known as Urfa, a pilgrimage town and spiritual center. This is where the prophets Job and Abraham left their marks, and the complex of mosques and the holy Gölbaşı area is filled with a fascinating feel of the Middle East. This city has a very open atmosphere with connections to Christian and Islamic traditions. But there will be much more to see on our travels.
This is a dance and culture tour: local teachers will offer dance classes in different cities or villages. It is obvious that the melting pot of cultures in this region is reflected in the dances. From Halay to Debka or even Arabic types of dances are part of the local repertoire and culture.
If you love history, culture, dance, village life, bazaars, excellent food and like to experience the diversity of the southern Anatolian culture: join us to Oriental Turkey.