Gülay Sargın
Artistic co-Director of Arzu Dirin Ballet Academy. She is graduated from the Ankara State Conservatory Ballet Department in 1969. The same year, she passed the "Classical Ballet Cecchetti Method”training exam in England and obtained the world-wide know“Cecchetti Diploma". In 1970, she started her career in the Ankara State Ballet as soloist ballerina. In 1972-1973 she took part in "Harkness Company" in USA. She performed as prima ballet dancer at the Ankara State Ballet between the years 1973-1987. Later, she took the role of trainer and instructor at the same institution. She’s had the "Royal Academy of Dancing" teaching diploma since 1993.
In 1991, Gülay Saygın founded Görsel Ballet School, leading School to Arzu Dirin Academy and had been the artistic director and headmaster for 25 years.
Arzu Dirin
Artistic co-Director of Arzu Dirin Ballet Academy. She is graduated from Hacettepe University State Conservatory Ballet Department at 1990 by skipping grade. The same year, she participated, as guest student, in the ballet instructor course at Vaganova Ballet Academy, in St. Petersburg, Russia. She participated in the Festival de La Baule in France in 1990 and in the International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria.
Arzu Dirin quickly became prima ballerina as she started her career in 1991 at State Opera and Ballet and performed the title roles at Sleeping Beauty, La Fille Mal Gardée (The Wayward Daughter), La Corsaire, the Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote, La Giselle, The Three Musketeers, The Idiot, Anna Karanina, The Lady of the Camelias, La Bayadère, As if flying (Uçarcasına), The Price of Love (Sevginin Bedeli), Concerto, Bolero, Beethoven 7. Symphony.
In 1995, she was invited to the "Masako Ohya ballet competition”in Osaka, Japan and competed in finals. She was given the Turkish Ministry of Culture Award for the Best Female Dancer of the Year with her successful performances of the 1995/1996 season and the TOBAV Award for the Best Female Dancer of the Year with her successful performances of the 1998/1999 season. In 2006, she performed at the“Concerto”of the world-renowned Italian choreographer Marco Cantalupo, first in Turkey then in Italy and Germany together with the Compagnie Linga.
Throughout her 25-year career, she danced in Germany, Italy, England, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Hong Kong, Hungary, Belgium, Greece, Croatia, the Netherlands, Portugal and in Cyprus and had the opportunity to work with precious choreographers of Turkey and world-renowned artists as Uwe Scholz, Andre Prokovsky, Valery Panov, Marcia Haydee, Ismael Ivo, Melissa Hayden, Lynn Seymour, James Sutherland, Mauricio Wainrot, Robert Denvers, Krzysztof Pastor.
She taught classical ballet at the Hacettepe University State Conservatory Ballet Department in academic year of 2014-2015 and is currently ballet instructor at the State Opera and Ballet General Directorate.