BOSTON GLOBE, February 11, 2005 Christine Temin, The least predictable and most enjoyable, work of the evening paired H. Pinar Zengingonul's Mavi Dance and the Brookline Academy Performance Companies, directed by Melissa Wells. The theme was the American melting pot, express through folk flavored and vaguely tribal dances performed by alternately by the two troupes. What seemed about to veer off into political correctness rescued when the two companies got together for a gloriously feisty dance-off that was the high point of the evening.

TURKOFAMERICA, April 2005 Mustafa Aykac MAVI DANCE Founded in the fall of 2002, Mavi Dance has rapidly progressed to become a dynamic force in the Boston arts scene. Its founder, H. Pinar Zengingonul, Ph.D, has long taken an interest in a wide range of folk dance styles, from those of her native Turkey to Irish, Russian, and many others. She sought to create a dance group that would bring together dancers from diverse backgrounds that would express one of her central philosophies: dance is a universal language that brings the world together. Ms. Zengingonul's mission with Mavi Dance is to bring the ancient dance traditions of various regions of the world into the 21st century so that they can become more accessible to today's audiences. Mavi Dance initially started with a group of talented Turkish folk dancers, but quickly diversified. With the increasingly multicultural make-up of the dancers, the repertoire soon expanded beyond the borders of Turkey. Today, Mavi Dance is the only dance company in New England to boast a repertoire that includes Anatolian, Georgian, Ossetian, Russian, Chinese, Flamenco and Tajik pieces. In fact, only a handful of other dance groups in the entire United States perform some of these styles, let alone including all of them in one repertoire. As such, Mavi Dance has staked out a unique position within the Boston dance community, and has become increasingly known for the unique and exotic traditions that its performances shed light on. Mavi started out with performances at various folk dance venues in the Greater Boston area. In September 2003, Mavi Dance was featured in the Boston Arts Festival, an annual celebration of arts and culture that showcases various groups and individuals that contribute to Boston's arts scene. Being selected for the Boston Arts Festival was a great achievement for Mavi Dance, particularly since it had been in existence for less than a year. Only a few months later, in February of 2004, Mavi Dance organized its own show, which featured a number of its own pieces as well as some by the Brookline Dance Academy, Kieran Jordan's Irish Dance ensemble. The following month, Mavi flew across the country for a guest performance at Anatolian Spirit, a celebration of Turkish folk dancing organized by the Yore Dance Ensemble held in San Francisco, California. Before a sold-out audience, Mavi performed a selection of Turkish, Georgian, and Ossetian pieces, and received an extremely positive response from the audience. In April of 2004, Mavi once again organized a show at MIT, which marked the culmination of their hectic spring performance season. Rather than be satisfied with the significant successes of the preceding months, Ms. Zengingonul set her eyes on what would be Mavi Dance's greatest challenge to date – securing a place in February's Dance Straight Up, one of the most prestigious and competitive venues in Boston. Sponsored by Crash Arts, a division of World Music, Dance Straight Up showcases original pieces created by Boston's most talented choreographers. Despite the intense competition, Mavi Dance was selected over numerous other dance companies, many of them older and more established. For this prestigious performance, Ms. Zengingonul prepared a piece called "New Land" which showcases Anatolian, Georgian, Russian, and Tajik dancing, and reflects some of the diverse heritages of the group's members. Their performances in Boston's new Zero-Arrow Theatre was called "gloriously feisty, the least predictable and most enjoyable" by Boston Globe. For Ms. Zengingonul, Mavi Dance represents the fulfillment of a long-cherished wish. Most importantly, however, she enjoys the ability to grow as a dancer along with the members of her group. Not content with simply directing on the sidelines, she learns alongside them when the group is exploring a new tradition that is unfamiliar to her. Given the multicultural nature of the group's repertoire, this has required her to familiarize herself with dance styles that differ significantly from what she was used to, such as Tajik dancing from Central Asia. Similarly, despite their various folk dance backgrounds, none of Mavi's members were familiar with all the styles in the repertoire before joining. The result is an atmosphere of collective learning that strengthens the bonds between the individual dancers. Despite its comparatively short existence, Mavi Dance has demonstrated that with ambition, dedication, and hard work, it has been able to exceed the expectations of all who have been involved with it. Under Ms. Zengingonul's capable leadership, only time will tell what Mavi will do next.

HURRIYET, http://www.hurriyetusa.com/, 4 June 2005 Nafiz Albayrak DANS 'ZIYAFETI' Boston'da, 'Turkiye havalari' yansitan ikinci etkinlik, halkoyunlari grubu Mavi Dans'in gosterisi oldu. Brighton Lisesi'nde sahneye cikan Mavi Dans hem Turk hem de Amerikali izleyicilere Turkiye'nin degisik bolgelerine ait halkoyunlarinin yanisira, Gurcu ve Tacik danslari ile buyuk alkis topladi. Yoresel kostumlerle sahneye cikan Mavi Dans'in gosterisine The Boston Globe gazetesinin yani sira oteki yerel gazeteler de genis yer verdi. Mavi Dans, Arjantinli Dansoz Seyyide ve Brookline Dans Akademisi ile sahne paylasti. Mavi Dans ve Brookline Dans Akademisi uyelerinin, Irlanda dansi ile Karadeniz halkoyunlarini ortaklasa sergilemeleri izleyicilere iki ayri kulturden kesitler aktarirken, Dansoz Seyyide de gobek dansi ile ilgi odagi oldu.

HURRIYET, http://www.hurriyetusa.com/, 13 Nisan 2004 Nafiz Albayrak Mavi Dance buyuledi Mavi Dance grubunun, Cambridge'de, MIT Kresge Auditorium'da sahneledigi halk oyunlari gosterisi, izleyicileri adeta buyuledi. Birbirinden ilginc yoresel giysileri ile, Turk ve Gurcu halk oyunlarindan ornekler sunan Mavi Dance, salondaki izleyiciler tarafindan alkis yagmuruna tutuldu. Dansoz Seyyide, mimik ve gulduru sanatcisi Pipoca ve Brookline Dans Akademisi ile donusumlu olarak sahne paylasan Mavi Dance'in gosterisini yaklasik 300 kisi izledi. Degisik etnik ve kulturel baglarina karsin, muzigin evrensel dili ile MIT salonunda biraraya gelen oyuncular ve izleyiciler Anadolu'dan, Karadeniz kiyilarindan gelen esintilerle butunlesti. Elektrik Muhendisi Pinar Zengingonul'un kurdugu Mavi Dance grubunun, degisik etnik kokenli 16 uyesi bulunuyor.