Nightclubs Research Articles

Plagiarizing the Victorian Novel: Imitation, Parody, Aftertext, by Adam Abraham

Reviewed by: Plagiarizing the Victorian Novel: Imitation, Parody, Aftertext by Adam Abraham Lisa Rodensky (bio) Plagiarizing the Victorian Novel: Imitation, Parody, Aftertext, by Adam Abraham; pp. v + 282. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019, £75.00, £22.99 paper, $99.99, $29.00 paper, $24.00 ebook. "This book offers a new kind of reception history," promises Adam Abraham in his prologue to Plagiarizing the Victorian Novel: Imitation, Parody, Aftertext—a promise he fulfills in the five illuminating chapters that follow (19). That said, the book's title is a bit misleading, since Abraham is not that interested in plagiarism itself. The book's subtitle is a more accurate description of its topic. Here Abraham identifies two familiar subgenres and a third that he invents. Acknowledging Gérard Genette's earlier use of "after-text" (Palimpsests: Literature in the Second Degree, translated by Channa Newman and Claude Doubinsky [University of Lincoln Press, 1997], 399), Abraham loses the hyphen and widens the term's meaning to take in not just authorial versions/revisions, but also the varieties he specifically names in the title and subtitle (18). Moreover, Abraham renames the original-text-plus-aftertext(s) as the "work" which encompasses "the totality of a literary existence" (19). Rather than sideline what many see as mere rip-offs of an original text, Abraham argues that scholars should recognize aftertexts as significant "source[s] of literary knowledge" (20). Charles Dickens, Edward Bulwer Lytton, and George Eliot are the novelists around whom Abraham situates the aftertexts. The authors of the decidedly noncanonical productions are either anonymous or long forgotten, with the exception of William Makepeace Thackeray (a premier Bulwer Lytton parodist), along with the somewhat less exceptional Rosina Bulwer Lytton, and Edith Simcox, George Eliot's longtime devotee. Although I have reservations about Abraham's new definition of the so-called work, his analysis constitutes a significant contribution to reception history and to a deeper understanding of the marginal texts that circulated around the canonical originals. Like the Victorian period itself, Abraham begins with Dickens's The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (1836–7), a text which launched a thousand aftertexts, not to mention Pickwick cigars, breeches, and chintzes. Focusing on Pickwick imitations, Abraham examines two varieties: club imitations and prostheses (plagiaristic extensions of original characters and plots). While current Pickwick readers might have little or no interest in the club part of Pickwick (Dickens himself lost interest in it), the club imitators made it their raison d'etre. Abraham exhumes three such imitations and gives an engaging account of the ways each imagines club scenes that they believe Dickens "was going to write, meant to write, advertised in the prospectus, or neglected to write" (30). It is not that Abraham thinks these imitations give the real Pickwick a run for his money (he does not), but rather that in them we witness how another group of Dickens's readers actually read the book; in short, they become an untapped resource for reception studies. Not surprisingly, these aftertextual authors try their hands at Dickensian hyperbole, dialect, and interpolated stories, and Abraham takes them seriously—but not too seriously. Instead of trying to elevate these imitations, Abraham helps us to see Dickens through their eyes and to consider (more specifically) how they tune in to the undercurrents of racism, anti-Semitism, and sexuality that later critics have identified in the novel. So, for instance, examining the more anti-Semitic outgrowths, Abraham argues that they are derived "from the repressed Jewish origins of Samuel Pickwick"; Abraham supports his argument by adducing convincing evidence (his own and that gleaned from [End Page 612] other critical works) of the novel's anti-Semitic impulses (48). Perhaps Abraham's most provocative speculation concerns moments in the Pickwick aftertexts that evoke Warren's Blacking well before information about Dickens's past would have been publicly known. Were Dickens's imitators picking up on the references that he could not help but drop into his novels? Giving appropriate credit to Rosemarie Bodenheimer for the work she does in Knowing Dickens (2010), Abraham reads these aftertexts carefully to illuminate what Dickens's contemporary readers might have registered themselves. If Abraham's work...

Dancing Toward Freedom

Dancing Toward Freedom

Black Media Reporting on Theater, Dance, and Jazz Clubs in Canada: From Shuffle along to Rockhead’s Paradise

Canada has a history of de facto Jim Crow (1911–1954). It also has a historical Black press that is intimately connected to Black America through transnational conversations, and diasporic migration. This article argues that Canada’s Black newspapers played a pivotal role in promoting Black performance during a time when they were scarcely covered in the dominant media. Drawing on news coverage from the 1920s through 1950s of black dance, musicals, and jazz clubs this article examines three case studies: Shuffle Along (1921–1924), the first all- Black Broadway musical to appear at Toronto’s Royal Alexandra Theater, Alberta-born dancer Len Gibson (1926–2008), who revolutionized modern dance in Canada in the 1940s and 1950s, and the Montreal jazz club Rockhead’s Paradise (1928–1980), a pivotal site in the city’s Little Burgundy, a Black neighborhood that thrived in the 1930s through 1950s. The authors argue that when Black people were excluded from and/or derogatorily portrayed in the dominant media, Canada’s Black press celebrated collective achievement by authenticating Black performance. By incorporating Canada’s Black Press into conversations about Jim Crow and performance, we gain a deeper understanding of Black creative output and resistance during the period.

RESEARCH ON THE INFLUENCE OF SPORT DANCE ON PHYSICAL HEALTH IN NATIONAL FITNESS EXERCISE

ABSTRACT Introduction: Sports dance is widely known as a competitive game, but as a leisure activity, there is little research on the efficacy of human health and fitness. Sports dance, as a popular national fitness exercise, has sound health promotion effects. At present, domestic and foreign researches mostly focus on the impact of sports dance on young men and women. Objective: This study will explore the influence of regular physical dance exercises on the body shape, function, and quality of middle-aged and older adults, provide a scientific basis for the role of physical dance in national fitness. Methods: This study recruited 20 healthy middle-aged and elderly members of a leisure sports dance club without professional dance experience for three months of dance training. The first two weeks are pre-experiments five times a week. Each exercise time is 60 minutes. The last ten weeks are formal experiments, two times a week, 90 minutes each time, and no other physical exercises are involved in everyday life. By comparing part of the body shape, physical function, and physical fitness index before and after the experiment, the impact of sports dance on middle-aged and older adults’ healthy physical fitness is evaluated. Results: After three months of physical dance exercise with different dance styles, in male, BMI index, body fat percentage, waist circumference, hip circumference, and thigh circumference indicators all decreased, but there was no significant difference. In women, BMI index, body fat percentage (P<0.01), waist circumference (P<0.05), diastolic blood pressure (P<0.01), sitting body forward bending (P<0.05), and standing with one foot and closed eyes all increased. In women, the indexes of grip strength (P<0.01), forward bending in sitting position (P<0.055), and standing with eyes closed on one foot all increased. Conclusions: It is suggested that long-term moderate-intensity aerobic sport dance exercise can improve the body shape of middle-aged and older adults and help increase physical fitness; meanwhile, sports dance can effectively improve the cardiovascular function of middle-aged and elderly subjects. Level of evidence II; Therapeutic studies - investigation of treatment results.

COVID-19 pandemic: a qualitative evaluation of MSMEs survival strategies in Nigeria

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the introduction of protection measures, such as: Lockdown, social distancing, closure of event centers, curfew, closure of night clubs and the discouragement of the gathering of large crowd, among others. These protection measures have negatively impacted most business enterprises. This has equally threatened the corporate survival of most enterprises, especially micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). This study examined the chief executives of MSMEs’ perspectives on the strategies that were employed to survive during the Covid-19 pandemic in Nigeria. This study adopted exploratory research design. The study was conducted in three purposively selected states (Lagos, Kano and Anambra states) because the three states account for the largest concentration of MSMEs across the three largest ethnic groups in Nigeria. The primary data was gathered through in-depth interviews which were conducted on 24 purposively selected MSMEs CEOs from Lagos, Kano and Anambra States. The findings revealed that MSMEs were adversely impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Particularly, states that enforced strict lockdown. This led to reduction in patronage, thereby threatening the corporate survival of most enterprises, especially enterprises that do not deal on essential commodities, like: Drugs, food and health care, among others.

Entrepreneurial Environment, Information Technology Adoption and Entertainment Enterprise Performance in Kenya

This study was anchored on the diffusion of innovation theory to analyze the influence of information technology adoption on a firm ’ s performance. The study identified information technology adoption (ICT) as a mediator in the relationship between entrepreneurial environment and entertainment enterprise’ performance. A post-positivism research philosophy anchored on a deductive research approach and a cross-sectional time horizon was employed. The study target was bars and night club enterprises in Nakuru town. Slovins’ formula was used to determine the study sample size. A probability sampling technique aided in selecting respondents. Primary data was captured in a questionnaire. Data analysis comprises descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings show that bars and nightclubs had adopted low-end technology tools and applications. The study concludes that technology adoption mediates in the relationship between external contexts of entrepreneurial environment and enterprise performance (?=-.0227, p=.000). The study recommends an analysis of entertainment enterprise needs by stakeholders in the ICT sector in order to support enhanced ICT adoption.

Groove Fields. Understanding the Dance Floor from an Art-Based Research Perspective

This contribution examines groove dynamics across various spatial contexts such as the dance club and the artistic performance space. As groove dynamics do not occur in a spatial vacuum but are embedded in affective environments, they need to be approached from an interdisciplinary perspective that ties together findings from experimental field studies, performance studies, musicology, cognitive hermeneutics etc. and places them in the physical, anatomic and acoustic contexts of concrete dance situations. In that way, the dance floor can be understood as a space of entanglements where acoustic, movement and kinaesthetic grooves mark and create a fluid territory of improvisational interaction and communication.

Gatekeepers to Gateway-makers: reimagining partnerships, collaborations, and celebrations of the many movers of university campuses

ABSTRACT Many college campuses across the United States are home to numerous extracurricular dance clubs that embrace a broad range of dance styles and cultural contexts that welcome all students to engage with dance. These extracurricular clubs often exist in stark contrast to dance major programs in the US which have conventionally centred embodied Whiteness in their curricular structure and goals resulting in the exclusion of atypically trained dancing bodies from entering dance major programs. In this article we ask, where did these dancing bodies go? This research seeks to locate the dancing bodies that either by departments’ refusal to admit, or by choice, dance on university campuses outside the dance department. Using Critical Race Theory in relation to where, how, why, and what dance occurs across campus, this article asks dance educators to carefully consider if we are gatekeepers or gateway-makers when it comes to providing students access to professional aspirations via a college degree.

“You Want to Get Us Involved More”: Authorizing Student Voice in a Dance Setting

ABSTRACT Authorizing student voice to examine what facilitates motivation, interests, and learning has shown potential for supporting students in taking ownership of their educational contexts. This study was conducted as participatory action research to co-construct an after-school middle school dance club in a southwest border town. The purpose of this study is to describe what emerged from authorizing student voice in a dance setting. We describe how dancers responded to a context intentionally structured to seek their input and the dancer ownership that resulted from authorizing student voice. This paper highlights three themes of how the dancers took ownership with 1) their club environment, 2) embodied agency, and 3) the club curriculum. We discuss this with regard to how we as club facilitators also had to learn how to re-tune our ears to be able to hear and respond to what the dancers shared with us.

Knowledge, Perspectives, and Priorities Regarding Self-Care Activities: A Population-Based Qualitative Study among Iranian Adolescents

This qualitative study aimed to investigate knowledge, perspectives, and priorities related to self-care among Iranian adolescents. Through snowball sampling, the link to the questionnaire was shared in available social media apps. The results showed that 192 of 294 participants reported that they had heard about “self-care”. Parents/family and school were the most frequent sources of learning about self-care among the male and female respondents, respectively. Analyzing the participants’ statements regarding their own understanding of self-care activities, three major terms—“taking care of”, “avoid”, and “respect” were identified. When being ask about what they do for their own self-care, the results showed spending time on the Internet had the highest repetition rate among boys’ responses, followed by “going to gym”, “video games”, and “listening to music”. Regarding the desired activities, both girls’ and boys’ statements indicated that among leisure activities, “traveling” was the most frequent word, followed by being with friends. The girls showed more interest in attending night clubs or spending time outside the home late at night. Insights from this study identifying preferences in self-care activities can be used to develop intervention programs for Iranian adolescents to improve their lifestyle and, consequently, their well-being based on their needs and situation.

POS-046 ACUTE KIDNEY INJURY IN AMPHETAMIN INTOXICATION

Nowadays, drug abusedisone ofthe major health concern in society. According to the clinical observations, the prevalence of addiction to a new psychoactive drug is increased among the adolescense and youth. Amphetamine (AMPs) is used as a recreational drug to bring the sense of energy and euphoria for its user. Amphetamine may cause hepatotoxicity, rhabdomyolysis, cardiotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, and neurotoxicity separately or sometimes together as multiorgan toxicity, mostly as a serious condition which is required hospitalization. In the beginning of end-stage renal disease, substance related renal disease has been involved in 5-6% patients. Case report. A 24-years-old man came to the hospital escorted by a security from a night club with unconsciousness, he reported that the patient consumed alcohol along with a green pill, while the name of the drug and the quantity remained unknown. Right after he took the drug, his reaction was jumping followed by vomitting then he fell unconscious before he had seizures for 5 minutes. Physical examination,we found the patient unconscious, fever presented at 40,50C, the blood pressure was 90/55 mmHg,and heart rate was 160 times per minutes, also respiratory rate was 26 times per minutes and room air oxygen saturation was 98%. From blood examination, we found Hb level 17 gr / dl, WBC 19.37 × 103sel / mm3, platelets183.000 cells / mm3, BUN 34 mg / dL, creatinine serum 3.86 mg / dL, sodium 137 mmol / L, potassium 3.11 mmol / L. total bilirubin 7.91 mg / dL, direct bilirubin 7.18 mg / dL, indirect bilirubin 0.73 mg / dL, AST 191,3 U / L, ALT 56.7 U / L, elevated prothrombine time 32 second, CKMB >40 ng/ml, T-troponin was high (732 ng/ml). Blood gas analysis revealed metabolic acidosis (pH 7.31, HCO3 17.7 mmol/L, BE -8.5 mmol/L, pCO2 36.1 mmHg). Urinalysis showed proteinuria (100 mg/dl), erythrocyturia (+3), urine amphetamin was positive, marijuana and morphine were negative. Urine output was 100 cc/24 hours. We diagnosed the patient with acute kidney injury (AKI) stage 3 due to AMPs intoxication with unstable haemodynamic. Initial management was fluid and electrolyte resuscitation, 8 sessions of daily SLED hemodialysis were performed,continue with alternate day HD. After 14 days hospitalization, blood result showed increase of BUN 50 mg/dl, serum creatinine was 7.1 mg/dl, a metabolic acidosisf rom blood gas analysis then death occured after mechanical ventilator was used to improve respiratory failure. Amphetamines represent a class of psychotropic compounds, widely abused for their stimulant, euphoric, anorectic, and in some cases, emphathogenic, entactogenic, and hallucinogenic properties. Renal complication as result of AMPs use are associated with hyperpyrexia and fibrinolysis (disseminated intravascular coagulation; DIC). Also, microvascular obstruction secondary to DIC, myoglobinuria, systemic hypotension or hyperpyrexia may lead to acute renal failure which is generally presents as AKI, hyponatremia, and hypertension Figure 1. Gross haematuriaView Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT)Figure 2. Hypertermia patient A 24-years-old man came with AKI due to amphetamine intoxication. Initial management was fluid and electrolyte resuscitation, and 13 sessions of HD. Deterioration of conditions and death occured due to multiorgan failure.

The problem of conservation of XX century architectural heritage: The fibreglass dome of the woodpecker dance club in Milano Marittima (Italy)

The present study deals with the deterioration of materials in the dome of the “Woodpecker” dance club designed by the architect Filippo Monti (1928–2015) and built in Milano Marittima (near Ravenna, Italy) in 1968. This place, considered extremely valuable due to its landscape and architectural features, has been in a state of abandonment for around 40 years, but recently the local Municipality has started a process for its restoration. The dome is made of 23 fibreglass precast rib vaults hiding a steel structure, and in early 2000s a large part of its internal surface was painted with a graffito by Blu, an internationally renowned Italian street artist.Nowadays, both the dome and the graffito are safeguarded for their historic-architectural-artistic value by putting restrictions to their demolishment and modification. However, both the dome and the graffito are affected by harsh kinds of degradation, very different from those affecting historical building materials, which endanger their state of preservation.This study investigates whether the methodological approach of the conservative restoration can be applied to this structure, which is an example of contemporary architecture. Because of the lack of project drawings, a visual investigation was carried out to define geometric features and the most important technical details, and to deduce plausible hypotheses about building techniques that were adopted. The degradation affecting the dome and the graffito was then investigated, and samples of fibreglass, steel and paint were collected. Laboratory analyses on these samples, in addition to environmental studies concerning wind, ground water and relative humidity, were conducted to characterize the materials and identify their main deterioration processes.A possible restoration solution in accordance with conservative restoration principles was finally proposed, showing that the application of the same methodological approach used for ancient buildings arises many challenges, due to some key peculiarities of XX century architectural heritage materials.

The Consumption of a ‘Self-development’ Product or Service?Take the Dance Club at Copenhagen Business School as an Example

This research takes the Dance Club at Copenhagen Business School as an example to attempt to explain consumption behaviors of a ‘self-development’ product, using qualitative methods. With 3 different qualitative methods, the researcher analyzes the consumption behavior in culture perspective, consumer rituals, identity and consumption/selves in transition. The dancing classes have many virtues to contribute to the identity construction of female college students and the research gives the a clear understanding of female college students’ consumer behaviors in dancing classes. Upon understanding, marketers will have a clearer insight into the current market and trend.

Valorization of a Questionnaire Intended for Measuring the Quality of Dance Club Services

Empirical transversal study was conducted with the aim of checking the validity of the questionnaire for measuring the quality of services in a dance club. The research sample consisted of a total of 194 respondents, users of the services of the Dance Club “Gemma” Banja Luka (active members). Subsampling was performed through two research areas: (1) in relation to gender (M = 31; F = 163) and (2) in relation to the user experience-length of training in the club (up to 1 year; from 1 to 3 years; from 3 to 7 years; more than 7 years). As a research instrument, a modified questionnaire SQKC (Service Quality of Karate Club) was used to assess the quality of services in the karate club, which in this case was used as a scale for individual assessment of the quality of sports services in the dance club and consists of 15 indicators of sports services. Respondents expressed their assessment by rounding off the numbers on a five-point Likert-type scale. The results obtained by surveying the respondents show that the club provides high quality services (average score 4.16). Discriminant analysis found that user experience and gender did not affect the perception of the quality of sports services. When identifying the internal agreement of the scale used, it was determined that the scale has good internal agreement (Cronbach’s Alpha =, 932), which indicates its good metric characteristics. The questionnaire used should also be checked at other dance clubs, and the good metric characteristics of the SQDC (Service Quality of Dance Club) questionnaire are expected to prove reliable.

Ecstasy-Induced Malignant Hyperthermia with Fatal Outcome: A Case Report

Abstract3,4-methylenedioxymetamphetamine (MDMA), also known as “ecstasy”, “tulips”, or “Molly”, is an increasingly used “recreational drug” particularly among teenagers and young adults along with the widespread conviction that MDMA is a “safe drug”. The reason for this substance being abused is a desire for closeness to other people, develop a greater tolerance of their views and feelings, and even to touch them physically. According to these effects MDMA is classified also as an “empatogenic” or “entactogenic”. Although MDMA is used for the above-mentioned socially acceptable purposes, in many individuals the drug usage is followed with side-effects varying from mild to severe, potentially even life-threatening. One of the most significant complication of MDMA intoxication is hyper-thermia in the consumer. Authors presented a case of MDMA toxicity with severe hyperthermia (42 ºC) with a fatal outcome to the ecstasy-influenced subject. The aim of this article is to describe the effects of ecstasy, the “recreational drug” widely used in local pubs, dance clubs, and during open air festivals, even in the Slovak Republic.

Editors’ Note

Editors’ Note

초등학교 댄스 동아리 운영 경험에 관한 내러티브 탐구

이 연구는 한 초등학교에서 운영된 동아리 중 댄스동아리 담당 교사의 이야기를 내러티브 형식을 빌려 탐구하고자 하는 데 그 목적을 두었다. 연구를 위해 내러티브 탐구방법을 바탕으로 한 초등학교에서 댄스동아리 운영을 경험한 교사 1명을 연구참여자로 선정하였다. 자료 수집을 위해 담당교사와 반구조화 형식의 심층 면담을 4회 실시하였으며, 면담 외에 담당 교사의 허락을 얻어 실제 동아리 활동 관찰을 수시로 실시하였다. 그리고 보조적인 성격으로서 계획서, 활동 일지, 출석부, 결과보고서 등의 공식적, 비공식적 문서자료와 사진, 동영상, 학생 소감문 등을 수집하였다. 자료 분석은 넓게 보기(broadening)와 깊이 살펴보기(burrowing) 기법을 활용하였으며, 결과는 이를 토대로 이야기하기와 다시 이야기하기로 구성하였다. 이야기하기는 동아리 참여 계기와 동아리 운영 준비로 구성된 ‘동아리 운영의 시작’, 학생 활동과 교사 역할로 구분한 ‘동아리 활동의 전개’, 그리고 ‘동아리 운영의 마무리’로 구분하여 기술하였다. 다시 이야기하기는 댄스동아리 활동의 교육적 의미에 대해 분석하였으며 자율성, 교류의 장, 여학생 신체활동 접근성 향상으로 범주화하였다. 교사의 이야기를 통해 드러낸 댄스동아리는 정규 교과나 다른 형태의 학교체육과는 또 다른 모습의 신체활동이다. 동아리 활동은 고유한 특성을 가지고 있고, 특별한 교육적 효과를 거둘 수 있기에 학교체육에서 권장되어야 하며 학교현장에 안착을 위한 꾸준한 후속 연구가 필요하다.

Features of the use of sports dances in the field of physical culture and sports

The popularity of sports dances continues to grow every year. It was found that today sports dances and their elements are actively used in physical education of preschoolers, schoolchildren and students. The adult population of the country is also involved in this sport. Popular are various dance clubs and hobby classes, which are open to people of all ages. The article identifies the main directions and features of the use of sports dances and their elements in the field of physical culture and sports. The programs and methods of application of elements of dance preparation in physical education of preschool children and schoolboys are considered. A significant number of techniques are aimed at developing physical abilities and improving the health of children. The use of the programs developed by the authors promotes harmonious physical development, attention development, improvement and optimization of the educational process of physical culture in secondary schools, the formation of motivation for physical education, the development of diverse harmonious personality, improving the physical condition of school children. The ways of improving the educational and training process and various aspects of the training of dancers are outlined both through the development of leading specific physical qualities and technical training. An important task in planning the process of physical training is the rational determination of priority areas at each stage of sports improvement. The importance of choreographic training in complex coordination sports, such as acrobatics, rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized swimming, sports aerobics, figure skating, diving, trampoline exercises is substantiated. It was found that choreographic training in sport dances includes a system of exercises and methods of influence aimed at educating the motor culture of dancers, to expand the arsenal of means of expression.

Effects of dance on mood and potential of dance as a mental health intervention

Background Restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in people having to find new ways to exercise. One such way is dance, an activity that can be undertaken at home and adapted to suit most people’s abilities. Dance has been shown to have physical and psychological benefits, but little is known about the effect of dance on mood according to dance style.Aim To explore the effect of dance on mood in two groups of participants – one engaging in ballet and the other in tap – compared with a control group, and to assess whether the effect of dance on mood differs depending on dance style.Methods Eighty-two participants (78 females) recruited from three dance schools and clubs in the Midlands and the north-east of England completed the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) mood scale. Participants in the intervention groups completed the PANAS before and after participating in a ballet class or a tap class. Participants in the control group completed the PANAS before and after a one-hour wait in a similar environment to the two dance groups.Results Participating in a dance class, whether ballet or tap, resulted in greater improvements in mood than being in the control group. Both age and dance class status predicted improved mood, but age was a stronger predictor than dance class status. There was no statistically significant difference in mood improvements between those attending a ballet class and those attending a tap class.Conclusion Dance may offer a way of enhancing mood, particularly for those who are restricted to exercising at home. Mental health nurses could consider using dance as a mental health intervention in addition to more traditional therapeutic approaches, potentially as a social prescription intervention.

Ask Tesadüfleri Sever2/Love Likes Coincidences 2 (Feature by Ömer Faruk Sorak, ?pek Sorak, and Alp Tekin)

Reviewed by: Ask Tesadüfleri Sever2/Love Likes Coincidences 2 Cigdem Slankard (bio) Ask Tesadüfleri Sever2/Love Likes Coincidences 2 Feature, Starring Nesrin Cavadzade, Yiğit Kirazcı, Elif Doğan, and Uğur Polat, 2020, 121 Minutes, Directed by Ömer Faruk Sorak and İpek Sorak, Produced by Ömer Faruk Sorak and Alp Tekin Love Likes Coincidences 2 is a popular Turkish feature from husband-and-wife co-directors Ömer Faruk Sorak and İpek Sorak, which tells an implausibly intertwined tale of two love stories. One takes place in Istanbul in 1963 with the backdrop of Istanbul’s Greek Community’s mistreatment by the Turkish government, while the second story is set in contemporary Ankara. Although the title hints at a sequel, Love Likes Coincidences 2 contains a narrative independent of the first film, namely, Love Likes Coincidences 1. Yet, the fact remains that both films explore similar themes like love and coincidence. Love Likes Coincidences 2 is inspired by a true story, originally written by İpek Sorak and adapted to screenplay by Nuran Evren Şit. We first meet the main characters from the 1960s love story, Sema (starring Elif Doğan), a high school student, and Niko (starring Uğur Polat) who is training at a mechanic’s shop and is slightly older than Sema. They run into each other one day when Sema is late for school. Her dad, a local police officer (starring Erkan Can), usually drives her to school. Distracted by Sema’s tardiness, he calls her to hurry up only to find himself rear-ending a motorcycle. This scene constitutes the first coincidence of the first love story: Meet cute 1: Sema meets Niko as he opens his eyes after a gentle tumble off his vehicle. Upon eye contact with the beautiful Sema, he utters the words “Am I dead?” a line which ends up bookending their love story throughout the film. The Niko-Sema love story is contextualized in the social and family structure of 1960s Turkey where it was not uncommon for a high school girl to start considering her options for marriage at a young age. While casual dating and any aspect of premarital sex would have been taboo, this type of romance was encouraged in some families with the hope of young people entering into a marriage grounded in both logic and love. This idea is repeatedly expressed throughout the film’s narrative as the relationship between Sema and Niko unfolds, featuring their families’ reception of their love story. The film then flash-forwards to 2011-Ankara, where the audience meets Kerem (starring Yiğit Kirazcı), an attractive and charismatic young man with his soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend, Aylin (starring Türkü Turan), at a night club where the beautiful and talented Defne (staring Nesrin Cavadzade) takes the stage to perform a song, “I had a Dream Last Night.” Her voice captures Kerem’s attention. Kerem is [End Page 126] captivated by Defne and can’t keep his eyes off her despite his girlfriend’s attempts to distract him from the stage. Kerem and Defne make eye contact right before Aylin drags Kerem off: Meet Cute 2, which is followed by a montage of letter-writing from the 1960s and texting from the new millennium as couples-to-be connected on the eve of their budding romances. Indeed, all four main characters do pair up, Sema with Niko and Defne with Kerem in no time. How romantic advances are shared may have changed, but the gist of it remains the same. In presenting two intertwined and parallel love stories, the film comments on how romance and relationships have changed over time. The ease of connecting with a new potential partner in contemporary modern societies is contrasted to the slow-moving romantic communication, from decades ago, between two people via handwritten notes messengered by a young boy. The cautious conversations between a young couple of the 1960s is juxtaposed to a contemporary couple hooking up immediately after their first face-to-face encounter. The filmmakers acknowledge and highlight these changes and variations. At some points, however, this happens at the expense of an authentic representation of romance in Turkish culture...