Girne American University (GAU) established the first Academy of Dance in North Cyprus in 2008. Eight years later, the PERA - School of Performing Arts - GAU (PERA-GAU) was founded at the initiative of Sevim Akpinar, shifting the orientation in a new direction, from traditional methods of teaching dance towards a focus on contemporary dance pedagogy. Since 2016 this renaissance has filled the long-existing gap in opportunities for contemporary dance education in North Cyprus. Under the direction of Sevim Akpinar and Tulin Bodamyali, PERA has rapidly developed into a unique, innovative, and international school preparing aspiring dancers for the diversity of the ever-changing contemporary dance world.
As a school for contemporary dance, PERA’s educational philosophy is inherently based on embracing the ever-blurring boundaries between diverse artistic forms, and viewing dance within the broader context of the performing arts. PERA’s prime goal is accordingly to facilitate an interdisciplinary learning experience. One of its distinguishing features is the constant dynamism of artistic and creative encounters and interactions it generates through regular collaborations with guest teachers and choreographers from around the world. This dynamism gives PERA’s programs exceptional richness, as it exposes students to diverse practices and perspectives. Throughout their educational experience, the students are constantly encouraged to learn from these collaborations and from a wide range of sources of knowledge, with the aim of supporting them in developing their potential to the fullest extent as highly skilled, versatile and adaptive contemporary dance artists.
Our mission at PERA is to continue to develop, diversify and refine a learning environment that enables students to grow as versatile and autonomous contemporary dance practitioners with highly-tuned technical, creative and performance skills.
In preparing future dancers for the challenges of the current dance world, we constantly seek to expand our international network, with the aim of further enhancing and broadening a dynamic, varied, and culturally enriched educational climate that offers a wide range of training approaches and creative methodologies.
PERA's programs are designed to both focus and broaden its students' perspectives, not only through the instruction and guidance provided by its distinguished permanent team of teachers, but also through engagements in regular collaborations with exceptional guest artists from around the world. Opening up diverse and intriguing approaches, this intrinsic aspect of PERA’s programs, nourishes the students’ learning experience in a unique way by exposing them to a variety of artistic philosophies and expertise.
Our mission further focuses on the importance of fostering a teaching and learning process that encourages students to experiment, challenge themselves, and discover their own creative voices as free-thinking artists, ready to contribute to society through their art as they emerge into the global dance industry.