Gloria Aspendos Arena opens with 'Troy'

The Gloria Aspendos Arena in the Mediterranean city of Antalya opened with a performance of "Troy" by the dance group Fire of Anatolia on Saturday. The show was first staged in the city July 18, playing to a full house.

Monday, August 18, 2008

Gloria Aspendos Arena, one kilometer away from Aspendos Ancient city and next to the Aspendos Ancient Theater, was constructed by 400 workers in 42 days, said Mustafa Erdoğan, Fire of Anatolia's art director, at a press conference at the Gloria Golf Hotel in Antalya's Belek district before the performance.

He said the arena had a capacity of 4,700 viewers. "The arena's stage design has been inspired by Mediterranean places of worship and fire-resistant materials have been used in its decoration," he added.

Erdoğan said the Ministry of Culture provided support for the arena. "Since the opening of the stage July 18 more than 100,000 tourists have visited it. Our target is to reach 250,000 people by the end of the year. The show will be staged in November in Istanbul and go abroad in the new year. We will perform in Israel, German and Romania," he added.

Erdoğan said the 175-person dance group would stage a musical celebration for Istanbul Capital of Culture 2010. "After realizing this project, we will prepare for a show on the epic of Çanakkale," he noted.

Erdoğan added that the group would start an aid campaign to help victims of recent forest fires in the Serik and Manavgat districts and that each ticket sold after that date would go towards the planting of one tree. The goal is to plant 2 million trees overall.

News Source: Turkish Daily News

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